As someone who has made a zillion cold calls, I can assure you that its pretty annerving even after all the years of experience behind me. The very thought of irritating someone and getting rejected on the phone is not pleasant. But, its a numbers game and seems to work.
I have been always curious to find out what it feels to be on the other side of the fence? How does it feel to be badgered by cold calls, especially from people who speak with an alien accent and introduce themselves with the most complicated names?
I can bet my last Dollar on the assertion that the a VP of Engineering, CTO, and even the CEO of a startup or a mid-sized company receives at least 1 cold call or a voice mail in a day. Please share your experiences. Should we ban cold calling completely (for businesses)? Or would you be interested in taking a call for monetary consideration or an opportunity to sell your services?
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Srini - good topic to discuss. Cold calls work, if done correctly - as many of your visitors have suggested. Its time consuming if done the traditional manner and requires a lot of discipline on the sales person's part.
You can actually practice your pitch to a near perfection and if you have your list in order your returns on cold calls can also be predicted. Its amazing and no wonder that despite people hating cold calls, mandating regulation against cold callers - you still get a lot of cold calls – why?? because they do produce tangible business returns. It still remains the most cost effective way of generating new business.
However - a good cold caller doesn’t make a good sales person.
Many times a sales person forgets that the only reason you are talking to a prospect is to get his business. Everything else between a “cold call” and a “close” is best described as a "journey". It can be never ending if you let the passenger drive or it can be disastrous if driven rashly or without direction.
If you treat the person on the other end of the phone with respect, convey a conviction on your voice and genuinely believe that your offering will be valuable to him - you will get the desired result. Then work on the magic of your offering to reduce the "journey" to a minimum and land the deal.
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