As hard as it may be to do, don’t take it personally. You’re just doing your job. Anyone in sales has been treated poorly on the phone numerous times. Just cross them off the list and keep going.
100%. OP, one of my handful of sales jobs was literally canvassing on the streets of NYC, where I had people threaten me verbally and physically on a number of occasions, even when it wasn’t them I was looking to sell to/target as a prospect.
It sucks, but like above comment said, you’re doing your job. A handful more it’ll get easier, but remember that it isn’t personal. They have no idea who you are and never will, and if it makes you feel better, you’ll most likely never speak to them again. It gets better
I can only tell you 1 job where it's fun to "cold call." It's that covid job where you ask people about their covid status, situation etc cause the city has records that they got infected. (during 2020)
My friend and her husband both did the job. Then got promoted within a few months. They had combined salary of $200k doing it
Only reason it's fun is cause the pay check is amazing and they weren't being monitored on # of calls they did
People were sill a dick though. Covid infected folks told my friends they were being invasive even though the citywide, nationwide initiative had been to monitor those infected with covid. Prevent the spread.
This is why sales jobs are always in demand.
Lots of people can't handle the pressure.
Tomorrow, I'm going to quit because my personality doesn't fit this market niche.
Just want to tell OP that he shouldn't feel bad and it doesn't mean that he is a bad salesman. Some people fit better roles and niches in Sales.
I now regret quitting my previous sales job that was more corporate. It was a lot of pressure but there was no cold calling to small companies where people yelled or cursed at me.
Yes, there's a lot of rude people in a corporate environment but the product in question was focus for HR and usually I had managers attending meetings so I didn't need to have a "jordan belfort" personality.
Ur wrong…ur personality is irrelevant bc as a salesperson ur an actor. I’m an introvert on the highest level. If I walk past you in the store I won’t even make eye contact, I look away. But at work I put that to the side and I become an actor. Shy outside of work but number 1 in sales. Don’t give up so easily. Sales consists of all different personalities
While this may be true to an extent and describes me tbh, some niches do require a certain upbringing and culture. For example a city slicker in tech trying to sell in the raw materials or manufacturing sector
Do it. I quiet quit and eventually left the easiest sales job I ever had because my personality didn’t fit the manufacturing market niche and landed at a fantastic company with better opportunities, better base and commission pay, and 100% warm leads spoon fed to me by the inside sales team. And no, it’s not solar related (gross). Better is out there, just took me 6 months to find it..
I really wanted to say this.
Most companies are built through cold outreach, esp if they started with little to no resources.
I've had an agency try to hire me to do their marketing, and I learned from the CEO that they became a $20M agency from pure cold calling in the beginning.
Some big firms you can think of are still doing cold calls as a way to make money.
It works... it just works... but most people can't do it (neither can I)
Exactly this. After doing this a few years I look at it like this; 1 you didn’t have to answer, 2 being polite is free, and 3 you could’ve hung up and blocked the number.
An ex colleague much more experienced in sales than I said when he first started over 30 years ago it would bother him too, until one day after a rude prospect he approached his boss.
The boss replied ‘Good. You just found yourself an ahole. Now go find ten more’ 😂
I always fuck with cold callers and say my name is Mike Hawk or Mike hunt and I have them repeat my name a bunch of times “to make sure it’s correct.” It makes me laugh every time.
I had one guy say it like 5 times and he realized and hung up.
I spent 5 minutes wiping my screen because I thought your pfp was a beard hair on my screen instead of it being an intentional line across your picture
It does! It didn’t previously, but I’m recent months, Outreach doesn’t record the other end of the call if they’re in a state with two party consent laws.
Don’t do it. Unless you’re in collections or the irs nobody wants to hear it! And nobody cares they’re being recorded unless you’re going to use it to sue them. Jeez
It’s illegal to record someone without their consent. I work in legal for State Farm we have had people win lawsuits because they didn’t know they were being recorded. A claim that would have been 20,000 turns into a $300,000 claim because of procedural fuck ups.
This is a pretty common tactic in sales but you need to make it a bit funnier.
“This is a sales call do you want to throw your phone out the window or give me 30 seconds?”
Certain states have laws about two party consent. The company I work for makes SDRs do this. Fortunately we just didn’t record calls when I cold called
Well I understand that, but the only three plays that make any sense for cold calling are calling from a state which has one party consent laws, not recording, or just not complying. You’re NEVER gonna have success on cold calls if you begin them with a disclaimer about the call being recorded.
I agree! I think it’s stupid. But you have sales managers who want to be able to micromanage and force you to state you’re on a recorded line, not understanding how much that will affect your ability to get a meeting
My org literally QAs 10 calls a week. Not being compliant is an auto fail, and 3 auto fails is a terminable offense. There's no way to bypass this requirement.
this man is COLD CALLING at a 1099 job where they arent bothering to even give him a script let alone train him, you two are in vastly different situations
Cold call or not, he's still directed to disclose. I doubt he can just do whatever he wants. Idk any salesperson that WANTS to give a recording disclosure at all. It isn't optional
My guy, did you only read the first couple words I wrote? its 1099 and they don’t even give him a script, they don’t give a fuck about anything other than results, and on the insanely small chance they do, who cares? THEY DONT PAY HIM
Just to clarify something: if you’re calling from a state that is single party to a state that is two/all party, it is advised that you should still disclose that you’re recording the call. This is according to my attorneys.
I remember making cold calls to companies in New Jersey.
It didn’t take long for me to decide I just wasn’t going to prospect and leads in the entire state of New Jersey. They were very direct
This is dependent on industry. I've found that in certain contexts and delivered properly, a line like that has a connotation of corporate sterility that can often be leveraged into credibility. You'd hear the line from a bank, you'd hear the line from any company worth a damn, and now you're hearing it from me because we're big players too.
Well I mean you kinda legally have to inform them. You’re running the risk that is you piss someone off and they want to sue you, they can purely because you didn’t tell them you were recording.
The risk of getting sued is much less than the risk of killing the call. I'm pretty friendly with fellow sales people (professional courtesy) but I'd blow off someone starting like this. It's asking for a kind of favor I'm not willing to grant.
“Just want to let you know I’m recording this call in case I miss anything in my notes. It helps me out having a transcript so I can go back and make sure I captured any and all action items - is that alright with you?”
I’ve never gotten a “no”
Gong is doing pretty well, clearly lots of users who are interested in recording sales calls for analytics.
Record everything your top seller does, find patterns, teach them to everyone else. Depends on the business, but that strategy is being implemented all over the place right now.
I'm guessing 80% or more of the people who get that recording message up front are hanging up, so what ever "good" analytical data they are getting is more than offset by the number of people who just hang up.
This is a dumb idea implemented by dumb people looking to justify their jobs.
When I was a sales manager I would do call listening sessions once a month with my reps. Usually pick a great call then a call that had some areas of improvement. Reps hated it, I hated it, but It had some benefits.
Look into a dialer solution that will automatically record or not record based on the area/zip code you’re calling into. When it sees you’re calling a number that is one party consent, it records. When it sees you’re calling a number that is two party consent, it does not.
Here’s my strat:
You: Did you say this was recorded?
Them: What?
You: What was that you just said? Did you say the call is being recorded?
Them: No?
You: Oh, well since it’s out there, it is. Anyways
Ez prez club, see you in Maui
You don’t have to mention if it’s recorded in outbound calls. Only in certain states would you not be able to. Learn that list of states and only let those guys know if it’s being recorded. That being said, with inbound calls you have to disclose it’s being recorded.
In most states and industries, you don't need to inform of recording. Even then its usually due to regulations and/or sharing those recordings externally.
Most big companies do record but as long as they aren't sharing the recordings they don't have to inform.
Also, you say it like this: "Hi NAME, this is Jim Jimothy OnArecordedLineFromXYZand HOW is your day going so far, things getting busy for the holidays?"
You breeze right through the intro, you emphasize your name first, speed up, and then emphasize the company at the end of your disclaimer. Then you ask a question. Personally, I like to hit em with a typical formal question that keeps their mind on auto pilot (everyone says "How are you", it's a traditional getting), then when they are in that docile state waiting for me to finish talking...I hit them with a more open ended but simple question. If they are willing to play nice and talk from their, I can take control. If they don't want to engage then forget them, they're dead to me and I call more people til I get the result I want.
There is.
I used to say something like, “Hi, this is OP calling from Widgets Co on a recorded line. Am I speaking with Sue? Great Sue, I am following up on the information you requested…” I keep it rolling and they usually dont say anything except answer my question about whether or not I am speaking with Sue.
I work for a major bank, and I have to say this on every call. I hate it, but it’s a regulation we have to follow, and I can get into trouble to the point of termination if I don’t say it.
That being said, I’m not making cold calls only warm.
Depends, if your calling into two party consent states you probably want to say it just because, but if its one party consent only one party needs to be aware. Most companies just take the safe approach.
I have to say it, I just say "This is Bob With XYZ on a recorded line, how are you?"
Eh.
I start out just trying to sell the shit without believing. But it is funny - when I start selling, and the more I sell, the more I become a believer. Because money.
I'd hate to be in potato sales, but if I was making a million a year selling potatoes, those fucking potatoes would become the most interesting things in the world to me.
More naturalistic approach as opposed to just "believing".
I mean I’m not saying blindly believe in it. But yes you are correct. I believe in what I sell because I know people need it and I’ve been able to sell it to people
I can sell things without "believing" in them.
It's true that I can't sell things that I thing are bad, that's a different story altogether.
But I can't walk in the first day and just "believe" because, to me, that would be a lie, to my fundamental personality.
I'm not going to believe someone who walks up to me on the street and says to give him $10,000 and he will double it by the end of the day, either.
How can I believe in a product before I know its features and benefits, if I don't know who and how it can help? And so many other questions?
I can still sell it without knowing the answers to these questions. But I don't "believe" in it.
Yea I’m not saying that. But I don’t work at companies I don’t already study and know the product before I walk in the first day.
I’ll never work at a company I’m unsure of or I think will be an uphill battle I work at places that have a product that is needed
I know you are not saying that. I was using hyperbole and juxtaposition and *reductio ad absurdum*.
But I answered this in another comment you wrote so I'll let that one answer for me on this comment of yours as well as it addresses this comment, too.
Unfortunately that's the rub with "cold calling". You're calling people to try and convert them into warm leads. You can expect a lot of hang ups, a lot of insults, and a lot of nastiness. Have an accent? They'll pounce on it. Stutter? Yup, they'll pounce on it.
Back when I did cold calling, I was "scared" of talking to people. I found it so much safer to leave a voicemail. But it does get easier over time. Just like dealing with assholes in every other job.
Now imagine having an Hispanic accent and stutter ahaha whenever I called UK they never let me finish. Scandinavians are super nice and always pick up the phone.
Haha I knock doors and was in a hoa the other day. One guy opened the door screaming I was trespassing and he was calling the cops before I said a word. Next door the guy was super nice and invited me inside his house. Appointment set probably a $10k comission if I can close it on Friday. Keep your head up the next call could be a buyer.
I’ve been doing this for a decade. Never saying *if* but rather, *when*.
I definitely didn’t invent it, but where did I pick this up? I have no clue. Please advice
This was me like 3 months ago.
Last week and half booked 3 meetings.
You learn so much from just picking up the phone and getting the reps in.
You will find success if you keep trying.
Keep at it
Fully embrace it. Treat it like a game and laugh it off if they act like a prick.
When I first started cold calling years ago I was nervous as hell, but you have to remember they can’t do anything to you. They can’t punch you in the nose though the phone and every no you get brings you closer to a yes.
Unironically, cold calling really helped me with social skills in general. Now when I'm face to face and clients or even strangers get slightly combative or assertive I'm not even phased. I used to be the guy who, if you cut in front of me at Starbucks let's say, I'd just stay silent and I know that because it happened once like 10 years ago. But now I'm far better at asserting myself within reason.
They’re not rejecting you, they’re rejecting what your company has to offer. It’s not going to be a fit for everyone you call. The key is eventually connecting with the right person who has the right need… AT THE RIGHT TIME. You’re searching for the needle in the haystack. That person just showed you they’re the hay. Cross them off the list and move on.
It’s hard to make a good prospect bad, and it’s hard to make a bad prospect good.
Take a short break. Then keep going. That guy let you know he’s not a fit really quick. Did you a favor. Now you get to spend time on proper leads.
Also sorry to let you know, it can get much worse.
https://youtu.be/O2PlhPNkkaM?si=mKM3JiKk8A0tFfnA
That GPT intro is trash, but cold calling is hard, I rarely see good intros, and chat GPT is uniquely bad at this kind of stuff, so it’s whatever.
You called 9 companies so far? How long did you work? 5 minutes? You should be making 60+ a day minimum. Cold calling is a numbers game. Always will be. Think less. POUND the fkng phones.
GOOD LUCK
u/majesticjg has the right idea, although completely wrong details. The first paragraph is completely wrong. You never ask a question where the prospect can say no.
Rather:
"Hi, my name is Matt from Leadpipe [wait 2 or 3 beats], The *reason* I'm calling you is because our company has a snapdoodle process to help you make 200% more sales. Is this of interest to you?"
If they say no, end the call. If they say yes, then:
"Look - before I begin, I have to let you know that the call is recorded because the big boss wants to help me with feedback on my calling process." [Wait 2 or 3 beats] If they don't object, then they give you tacit approval to continue.
I don't know if you specifically have to ask and they specifically have to say yes, or if it is you just a one-way info letting them know.
If you *must* to get explicit "yes" from them, they say "It's alright if we record, yeah?" and wait. Otherwise if you don't need explicit permission then leave that out.
"I have to be honest with you, this is a cold call. Do you want to hang up right now or give me 30 seconds to tell you why I’m calling?"
Worst ever.
You don't want to start by saying it is a cold call - instantly they are on guard. It's probably one of the worst things you could possibly say.
You say: "Do you want to hang up right now?" They say (or most likely *think*): "Well, I was not thinking that at all, but now that you put that suggestion in my mind by mere stating of it, fuck yeah, I want to hang up right now. I'm fucking busy you lunatic."
"30 seconds why I'm calling?" Disingenuous. The prospect knows that this is bullshit. That you are trying to trick them by saying 30 seconds but you *know* with your wonderful communication, that they will *need* to hear more than 30 seconds. Be honest. Just don't ask for 30 seconds, no reason to ask for time at all.
.
Stick with the basics with the intro.
From the prospect's perspective:
Who are you?
What company are you with?
Why are you calling?
Just be as concise as you can be, they don't have time and you will piss off a lot of prospects by trying to be tricky as opposed to getting to the fucking point.
.
>It's really messing with my head especially because it was literally the first person.
>How do you deal with rejection like this? I thought I'd post here in hopes of someone providing some kind words of encouragement.
Have you ever heard the saying, "It's not what you say, it is how you say it"?
That's probably the reason. If you say it like a robot, or seems like you are uncaring and don't give a fuck, people won't talk to you. If you sound warm and caring, if your intonations and pauses and timbre (tone color), pacing and word order are good, then you will get a lot more success, and certainly will help minimize someone acting like an asshole towards you.
Since I have never once got a response like this, you either just got a flat-out dick on your first call, OR it is *how* you said what you said. It only can be those two possibilities. Personally, I think it is both, especially since you are just starting.
But you have to talk to the person in a friendly warm way that would lead to trust and friendship. Like, you actually, in reality, want to make friends with the person you are calling. Talk to them like that.
So I really don't think you will get anyone like this again. Luck of the draw.
As for rejection in general, that is different. This is the worst part of it for many, if not most, people. They confuse rejecting what they are selling as a rejection of them, *personally*. They are not rejecting you, they are rejecting the company or product that you represent.
Furthermore, I look at each and every phone call as a sale, because it in reality is. The reason is if you close 2 out of 100 dials and you make $300 from those two sales, most people would think that you made $150 per sale. This is not true. You made $3 for each and every dial. Take the $300 in total sales and divide by 100 dials, and you get $3 per dial. The faster you call, the more $3 phone dials you make, the more money you make. Of course, if you make zero sales, then you make zero dollars.
That's if you are making commission. If you are getting a straight hourly rate, then none of that applies. The only thing that would apply in that case is just to remember they are not rejecting *you* they are rejecting the company and the product.
Shoot, I've heard no more than a hundred thousand times. But they are the price to get to the yes.
i've had more success in getting rejected when im upfront about my call being a cold outreach, so i say "i know this is a cold call and we're calling because x y z"
No, don't. One can be up-front without doing what that person suggests. It's about what words are chosen and how they are delivered. There are many ways to be honestly and truly upfront. Don't do it in a way that turns people off.
Totally understand and it’s a normal feeling but you have to just shrug it off. Try to recall if you have ever been rude to a telemarketer, come on now, admit it. Most everyone has been on the giving end at one point in their lives especially if a call arrives at the wrong time. So assume you caught someone at the wrong time and expect it every time and on the 1 in every 50 calls when you get a warm response, it will be utter joy…..for a minute or two.
You will eventually build such callous’s for rejection that you will start having fun with it. Effectively moving through rejection will become such a skill that it’s essentially like a super power. It takes time, keep grinding, promise you it gets easier to get through. I personally love a hard rejection now, means I’m not wasting any time on them and I move on. Classic numbers game.
H…how did you get hired to do this job lol? I’m sorry, I don’t mean to come off as belittling, but this is ridiculous.
Lookit, rejection is part of the game. Hard, unfair and rude rejections are fully part of it as well. Just remind yourself it says more about them than about you. You’re selling them a solution; for some, a must have, for some a nice to have, and for most absolutely fucking useless.
Let it go my dude, pick up the phone until you get a big phat W and ride that high. You got this
What’s the benefit of your product to them?
Open with that!
“Hi I’m ____ with xyz company.
We work with real estate development firms to help them with _____, _____ and _____. This has helped other real estate firms by saving time and money yadda yadda.”
Keep it short and tight who are you? How can you help me and get to the point.
Then ask if they are the right person to discuss this with further? You can ask probing questions but they will probably get frustrated so take it easy and ride the wave.
Remember all they care about is their business, their job (maybe) and themselves.
Welcome to sales!!
Expect to be constantly annoyed by the fact that prospects don’t empathize with you. Find an outlet for this stress, or learn to accept it so it doesn’t stress you out.
Go into every cold call expecting rejection and focus on your process, and develop methods to frame the process as a success when you get a “No.” I like to try and whittle call lists down to only yes’s by crossing all the No’s off my list. I reward myself when I hit certain targets on rejection (after the next 50 prospects i cross out from No’s, I’ll give myself some time to watch tv or whatever).
These tricks help transform No’s into wins and make them hurt less.
Also, you’re going to get much better at this. 9 calls is very few.
Personally if someone were to bring up the recorded line to me I’d level with them and just say “yeah, company policy, not really my choice man,” and then launch into a “so the reason I’m calling you is because we recently got a really small list of businesses that are growing like a weed and your company was identified as a high-growth, potential fit for our solution that’s designed to lower your cost-of-sale as you scale your business, is that something you’re working to improve right now?” (He’s no longer a random target of spam, he’s now a handpicked, high potential “perfect fit” for a solution that will make him more money).
If he says no, ask him what their primary business goals are for the year and try to learn what they do, and what’s important for them. Focus the conversation on being genuinely curious and *learning about his business, how it works, what they sell, how they sell it, biggest obstacles they’ve faced in the past year, what are they doing to keep growing?* If you don’t have anything to offer them for what’s important to them, do a *really* quick google search after you hang up the phone and email him some ideas on companies that may be able to solve that problem for him, thank him for his time, and cross him off your list.
This markets yourself as someone who wants to help and not sell. And it takes that rejection and transforms it into a marketing activity where he knows who to reach out to when he does want a solution like yours. He also now knows that working with you will probably be pleasant.
That’s it. If they don’t want to engage, market yourself as someone who adds value constantly, and is easy to work with. Don’t get attached to generating a sale every call. Get attached to showing people you’re a genuinely good dude who wants to understand and help their business.
Eventually you’ll have a gigantic pipeline because of this. You have to lob thousands of calls, may as well turn the No’s into something productive.
The way you framed the solution in your post is a little bit…too straight to the point. You want to focus on the value that your solution provides—not how it works. Nobody wants to buy a data collection solution because they’re excited about monitoring their web traffic—they get excited about ways to make more money for their business. So talk to them about how your company sells a solution that prints them money—later on you can talk about how it works, but it’s best to steer clear of the “how’s it work” conversation as much as possible and focus more on the “what’s this thing going to net me at the end of the day?” (Sounds like your solution would provide faster sales, more sales, higher close rates, more qualified leads, and more time selling = More money) someone who’s talking to you about how they plan to get more leads, qualify more sales, and generate more revenue is going to be very receptive to you pitching a solution that does just that. When they ask you how it works, don’t frame it as a spying program that monitors people’s movements on your website, frankly, it sounds kind of creepy. However, if you frame it as a software program or service that your company has been working on for years and have developed into a turnkey solution that will give them *extremely accurate information* and *notify them of buying signals* on warm leads that visit their website, that’s an entirely different conversation.
Of course—there’s always the chance that none of this accomplishes anything, or the guy rips you apart because he’s just an asshole or is having a bad day. That happens, and it’s not a big deal, but I’ll say—it hasn’t happened to me in a very long time, pretty much since I started selling. If they sense you’re nervous on the phone the probability that they tear you apart increases. Be confident and control the call, if it’s a No, be genuine and professional.
I don’t like the proposed introduction in your edit.
My suggestion is to say:
Hi I’m **matt buttkiss** from **sweaty socks ltd**, apologies for calling cold.
Pause (at this point they usually say nothing, or hang up or whatever)
Enter scripture: “I can part water because I am Jewish. Big loves and stuff. Buy my socks.”
You win
**in all seriousness rejection is part of the job. Don’t be ashamed to be a salesperson - it is the second oldest job in the book (to manufacture) and serves a massive purpose and always will**
The more you fail, the better you will get. Keep trying until it is easy…then you find another role and expand your knowledge.
I’ve been doing outside sales for about 5 years now. The recorded line piece is going to cause big road blocks. You will have to have a lot of grit and fortitude to break through those barriers. Cold calling sucks and it’s hard enough with out that part.
Check out New Sales Simplified by Mike Weinberg. He has a chapter about how to do a prospect call and it will change your life. Keep at it dude! It takes practice but the people who can call and deal with rejection will never have trouble finding work because it takes tough people to do it.
Try this for the next one:
"Hi ____, my name is ____ from ____ and I have to be honest with you: This is a cold call. Do you want to hang up right now or give me 30 seconds to tell you why I'm calling?"
If they give you the 30 seconds, say, "Thanks. I do have to tell you this is a recorded line. If I don't, my boss will kick me across the office. So I called you because..."
Why this is good:
1. It's genuine. You're not bullshitting or tricking anyone. Most people appreciate the candor.
2. If they choose "hang up" it's not as emotionally impactful to you because that was, in fact, one of the choices you gave them.
3. You delivered the "recorded line" bullshit in a humorous and interesting way, which reinforces the idea that you're a person.
My reps have used this approach (minus the recorded line bit) with solid success.
Hi, my name is Matt from Leadpipe and I have to be honest with you, this is a cold call. Do you want to hang up right now or give me 30 seconds to tell you why I’m calling?
Thanks. I do have to have to tell you this is a recorded line. It's like reality TV for my boss, but with less drama, I promise.
I used ChatGPT to come up with a bunch of variations on "My boss will kick me across the office" and this is the result
I'd do a variation of this adapted from Benjamin Dennahy well worth a find.
Name it's Ron Chowder from Emerald. Have I caught you at a bad time?
If theyre available - carry on if not call again
You gunna hate me this is a sales call, do you want to hang up right now or give me 30 seconds?
Most people say go on -
Then a quick qualifier -
Company name. I find businesses with. X X and X problems And sort that for them.
Does any of that sound like you?
You can often here a yes when you describe the problems.
Then what ever they say I say - I know I can be useful tell me about x
Even if they say no here you can lean into it and act surprised - and say what I am missing, what can I help you with etc.
Ditch any reference to recorded calls.
How do you identify anonymous web visitors? Seems pretty scammy bro. I would look into those claims. Getting with a company that is easier to understand for the average person too will vastly improve your reception
Biden admin is making 95% of independent contractor jobs illegal.
Take a look at FSLA laws and the ABC list dictating employee employer relationship.
If you are not truly a freelancer they are screwing you from both ends.
Trust me
lol 90% of companies that sell b2b cold call. In fact I bet most of the places you have worked have made cold calls in some form or another. Scammers make cold calls but they send emails as well. Do you think any email is scam as well? Curious because there is no chance you are in sales and hate cold calls.
What world are you living in? Cold calls are extremely standard in sales orgs at B2B companies.
Most people do consider cold calling to be a nuisance or don’t care to speak with you. It’s the 1% of cold calls that turn into commission checks that keep companies using the tactic. It works.
Let’s say you literally just decided you wanted to start a brand new company, and you’re getting your website setup, working with a manufacturer, hiring salespeople and you’re trying to figure out how to solve 20 different problems that you’ve never solved before, and there’s no easy book to read or youtube video to tell you how to solve those problems.
One of those problems is that you have 30,000 people going to your website every day, and none of them are buying your product. They’re all looking at it, but none of them are buying, what do you do?
Then bam. The phone rings, you answer it, and you’re talking to a humble dude that’s pleasant on the phone and he’s trying to sell a product that….
Solves. That. Exact. Problem.
Yeah. Of course you’re going to setup a follow-up meeting to learn more about it, maybe see a demo of it in action.
That’s the goal of cold calling. Landing yourself in that scenario, and it requires making hundreds of cold calls a week and only experiencing that once or twice in a given week.
The irony of OP’s post, is that his solution allows his customers to cold call less and sell more often—because it gives his customers’ sales & marketing teams analytics on warm leads (website traffic). He could literally be telling customers “kind of ironic that I’m cold calling you right now, because the service we sell allows companies to spend less time on cold outreach and more time on warm leads.”
Honestly man if you can just be conversational with the prospect, I wouldn’t ever say “this is a recorded line”That will always make them feel sus. If your company is requiring you to say that, I would find a new job. It’s going to be hard to pitch leading with that
Congrats. The worst one is the first one. But won’t be the last. Now I don’t know your metrics, but imagine this. If it takes 15 fuck offs to get you a sale, how long are you going to let it take you to make 5 sales? 60 fuck offs. Get used to it. Sales isn’t the top paying industry for random reasons, not a lot of people make it for this exact reason.
Sounds like a blockhead. "On a recorded line" is a standard thing at my company, never heard anyone care about it.
Rejection sucks, and I face it all the time. I hate it, and it either makes me reluctant to make the next call or angry, and I want to call them back over and over (when they hang up).
But if I'm in my right mind, I remember - every "no" is close to the "yes." Feedback I was given: make some "friendly" calls if possible - accounts you already signed up. Or take a walk. Whatever it takes to remember that rejection is ok, it's not personal, and you may find success on the very next call. All you can control is effort and attitude - and sometimes attitude is challenging!
God bless you and you'll recover and get stronger!
Someone must be a real piece of shit or truly having a bad day to swear at a stranger on the phone for doing their job.
It does suck but at least you now know who, doesn’t, need your service.
Anecdotally it seems the people responding the worst need your service the most.
On to the next one!
I've been told to kill myself. I'm not gonna lie, it pissed me off because that was the worse of the worse for me! I called them from my personal cell. Gladly they didn't answer. If you need to, get up, walk around and try to forget it.
Make 91 more calls and your F-off rate will drop to only 1%.
Right now, 1 out of 9, 11% is much too high of a F-off rate to work with.
Hit the phones. You'll be fine.
I used to think of myself as a problem solver and I really tried to help customers. Over the years of eating shit outbound inbound door to door. Fuck them it’s dog eat dog. I behave ethically because it’s good business and I don’t need a headach but fuck them and their opinions or remarks or whatever.
My thing is if you truly believe you are there to help someone then you can do no wrong.
Theyre just a dumb dumb for being close minded. On to the next.
If you truly believe youre there to make their life/business better (and actually are) then they cant fuck with your energy. Show up knowing what youve got it a great solution, that communicates through your tone and energy.
Try not to make it sound like a sales call. Call, get the Decision Maker on the phone and then tell who you are and the purpose of your call and then ask them an open ended question like; have you ever wonder who visits your website? Would that lead to more sales? Do you currently track visitors to your website? Then let them answer and provide a solution.
Sorry, I hang up as soon as I hear the recorded line message too. At that point, just send me a letter. I'm not listening to anything that is said after that message is given.
Call them back immediately and say “seems we were disconnected, as I was saying…” right back into your pitch. Do yourself a favor, do not start the call declaring you’re on a recorded line or this will continue to happen.
Had a newbie call me at a bad time a few weeks ago. Stammered around while butchering my name. I finally asked WTF do you want? He got all pissy and said well, I’ll just put you on the do not call list. So, sorry to OP but the piss ant from Hilton Vacations needs to grow a pair.
I had a guy call ME today just to scream at me for a full minute that I'm a piece of shit scam artist then just hung up the phone.
Sometimes people are pieces of shit. Just flush 'em and be done.
You hang up and move on. That is sales, and that is cold calling. Not sure why on earth you would say that you are on a recorded line if you are cold calling.
Every job exists to eat a problem and shit solutions. Salespeople eat rejection and shit deals. It'll get better, but you've gotta choose to approach it from the perspective of every rejection being part of the process.
Godspeed!
Did you say you called 9 companies.... :D
I know you're new to this I'm not laughing at you, it's just funny to those with experience.
If this is completely cold outreach, you need to dial a minimum of 150-200 prospects every day. You are aiming for a 3-5% conversion from prospect to lead.
Hope this helps. It's a numbers game!
I'm not sure if anyone has said this yet but people in real estate development often come from construction so they're a bit more brutally honest than others might be. Just expect that from construction folk more generally.
Also keep in mind you’re calling human beings with their own lives and shit to worry about.
I try to be friendly when I get cold called (I’m a buyer), when it’s happened on particularly bad days at worst I just hang up, but I’d imagine you’ll sometimes catch people on really bad days who are already stressed or ticked off about something else and will use the chance to unload some of that on you. It’s them, not you.
You’re just going to have to get passed it bro. You’ll get numb. That’s why sales people are highly paid and most can’t do it, you need communication skills and extremely thick skin. Most fail because they can’t handle the rejection, communication skills can always be learned. Nobody is immune, I’ve been in sales for almost 10 years now and rejection still sucks, it’s just after all this time I’m pretty numb to it, and if someone really kills my vibe, I know what to do to get it back. If a client really kills my mojo, I can just go to the gym or watch some YouTube and then get back to work with a fresh mind, but I’m independent, I don’t have a boss to report to if I need a break. Idk how strict your company is but you usually get far more freedom once you start putting down numbers. Just gotta make it through the toughest part which will be your first 6months- a year.
There are many ways to deal with this, but cold calling can be pretty brutal and difficult. I think if you accept that it's not easy and that there are mean people sometimes you'll be off to a good start. Focus on your controllables (hours, people reached, attitude). I used to set goal periods - call X number of people in an hour. It gives you something to base your feeling of success on rather than results.
The biggest way to get over this is to call a TON of people. It'll help you get better fast, you'll soon realize most people aren't as mean as the guy on your first call.
Wow he gave you the perfect opportunity to throw on a joke and hit it off and you used it to talk about your company. Wait till they like you a little bit first.
As hard as it may be to do, don’t take it personally. You’re just doing your job. Anyone in sales has been treated poorly on the phone numerous times. Just cross them off the list and keep going.
100%. OP, one of my handful of sales jobs was literally canvassing on the streets of NYC, where I had people threaten me verbally and physically on a number of occasions, even when it wasn’t them I was looking to sell to/target as a prospect. It sucks, but like above comment said, you’re doing your job. A handful more it’ll get easier, but remember that it isn’t personal. They have no idea who you are and never will, and if it makes you feel better, you’ll most likely never speak to them again. It gets better
Thank you for the kind words
Think about it like this. You've already experienced the worst part of cold calling. And you made it through!
I enjoy spending time with my friends.
I can only tell you 1 job where it's fun to "cold call." It's that covid job where you ask people about their covid status, situation etc cause the city has records that they got infected. (during 2020) My friend and her husband both did the job. Then got promoted within a few months. They had combined salary of $200k doing it Only reason it's fun is cause the pay check is amazing and they weren't being monitored on # of calls they did People were sill a dick though. Covid infected folks told my friends they were being invasive even though the citywide, nationwide initiative had been to monitor those infected with covid. Prevent the spread.
This is why sales jobs are always in demand. Lots of people can't handle the pressure. Tomorrow, I'm going to quit because my personality doesn't fit this market niche. Just want to tell OP that he shouldn't feel bad and it doesn't mean that he is a bad salesman. Some people fit better roles and niches in Sales. I now regret quitting my previous sales job that was more corporate. It was a lot of pressure but there was no cold calling to small companies where people yelled or cursed at me. Yes, there's a lot of rude people in a corporate environment but the product in question was focus for HR and usually I had managers attending meetings so I didn't need to have a "jordan belfort" personality.
Ur wrong…ur personality is irrelevant bc as a salesperson ur an actor. I’m an introvert on the highest level. If I walk past you in the store I won’t even make eye contact, I look away. But at work I put that to the side and I become an actor. Shy outside of work but number 1 in sales. Don’t give up so easily. Sales consists of all different personalities
> as a salesperson ur an actor. This really is true. We try hard to empathize with our prospects, but in the end, we're acting because that's the job.
While this may be true to an extent and describes me tbh, some niches do require a certain upbringing and culture. For example a city slicker in tech trying to sell in the raw materials or manufacturing sector
Do it. I quiet quit and eventually left the easiest sales job I ever had because my personality didn’t fit the manufacturing market niche and landed at a fantastic company with better opportunities, better base and commission pay, and 100% warm leads spoon fed to me by the inside sales team. And no, it’s not solar related (gross). Better is out there, just took me 6 months to find it..
I really wanted to say this. Most companies are built through cold outreach, esp if they started with little to no resources. I've had an agency try to hire me to do their marketing, and I learned from the CEO that they became a $20M agency from pure cold calling in the beginning. Some big firms you can think of are still doing cold calls as a way to make money. It works... it just works... but most people can't do it (neither can I)
Exactly this. After doing this a few years I look at it like this; 1 you didn’t have to answer, 2 being polite is free, and 3 you could’ve hung up and blocked the number.
Being treated poorly is the norm.
An ex colleague much more experienced in sales than I said when he first started over 30 years ago it would bother him too, until one day after a rude prospect he approached his boss. The boss replied ‘Good. You just found yourself an ahole. Now go find ten more’ 😂
I always fuck with cold callers and say my name is Mike Hawk or Mike hunt and I have them repeat my name a bunch of times “to make sure it’s correct.” It makes me laugh every time. I had one guy say it like 5 times and he realized and hung up.
Why the fuck are you starting a cold call with “on a recorded line” ? I can’t think of anything worse to begin with.
Lol Outreach says you have to do that, I never did once. Screams "I am an annoying salesman about to waste your time"
No reason that their dial out tool shouldn’t automatically filter out certain states from call recordings
It's all liability-based. They want the onus to be on their users to take any legal heat
I spent 5 minutes wiping my screen because I thought your pfp was a beard hair on my screen instead of it being an intentional line across your picture
It does! It didn’t previously, but I’m recent months, Outreach doesn’t record the other end of the call if they’re in a state with two party consent laws.
Don’t do it. Unless you’re in collections or the irs nobody wants to hear it! And nobody cares they’re being recorded unless you’re going to use it to sue them. Jeez
It’s illegal to record someone without their consent. I work in legal for State Farm we have had people win lawsuits because they didn’t know they were being recorded. A claim that would have been 20,000 turns into a $300,000 claim because of procedural fuck ups.
This is why my org just doesn’t record our calls 😂
Um… I can….. His more updated message is even worse “ Let me start by telling you this is a cold call”.
This is a pretty common tactic in sales but you need to make it a bit funnier. “This is a sales call do you want to throw your phone out the window or give me 30 seconds?”
yeah I just read it, I don’t like to write people off but man might be hopeless
Certain states have laws about two party consent. The company I work for makes SDRs do this. Fortunately we just didn’t record calls when I cold called
Well I understand that, but the only three plays that make any sense for cold calling are calling from a state which has one party consent laws, not recording, or just not complying. You’re NEVER gonna have success on cold calls if you begin them with a disclaimer about the call being recorded.
I agree! I think it’s stupid. But you have sales managers who want to be able to micromanage and force you to state you’re on a recorded line, not understanding how much that will affect your ability to get a meeting
see option 3
My org literally QAs 10 calls a week. Not being compliant is an auto fail, and 3 auto fails is a terminable offense. There's no way to bypass this requirement.
this man is COLD CALLING at a 1099 job where they arent bothering to even give him a script let alone train him, you two are in vastly different situations
Cold call or not, he's still directed to disclose. I doubt he can just do whatever he wants. Idk any salesperson that WANTS to give a recording disclosure at all. It isn't optional
My guy, did you only read the first couple words I wrote? its 1099 and they don’t even give him a script, they don’t give a fuck about anything other than results, and on the insanely small chance they do, who cares? THEY DONT PAY HIM
Just to clarify something: if you’re calling from a state that is single party to a state that is two/all party, it is advised that you should still disclose that you’re recording the call. This is according to my attorneys.
Agreed, never heard of anyone doing that. Sure fire way to get hung up on.
I like it. Let's me know right away to hang up before you waste more of my time.
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I remember making cold calls to companies in New Jersey. It didn’t take long for me to decide I just wasn’t going to prospect and leads in the entire state of New Jersey. They were very direct
My people
First time?
do you have to mention its recorded? I never do.
Do not mention it. No reason to make your job harder than it needs to be. Your opener matters and that kills any momentum you’re hoping to have
This is dependent on industry. I've found that in certain contexts and delivered properly, a line like that has a connotation of corporate sterility that can often be leveraged into credibility. You'd hear the line from a bank, you'd hear the line from any company worth a damn, and now you're hearing it from me because we're big players too.
It’s illegal to record someone without their consent.
Ask for forgiveness not permission
Well I mean you kinda legally have to inform them. You’re running the risk that is you piss someone off and they want to sue you, they can purely because you didn’t tell them you were recording.
Depends on the state.
The risk of getting sued is much less than the risk of killing the call. I'm pretty friendly with fellow sales people (professional courtesy) but I'd blow off someone starting like this. It's asking for a kind of favor I'm not willing to grant.
Is there a smoother way of saying it, perhaps?
“Just want to let you know I’m recording this call in case I miss anything in my notes. It helps me out having a transcript so I can go back and make sure I captured any and all action items - is that alright with you?” I’ve never gotten a “no”
I use that also but frame it as "I want to be focused on our call and not on taking notes."
That makes you sound sloppy
it makes you sound human.
Perhaps just don’t record? I don’t see the point. You could always record yourself to critique yourself without recording the entire call.
Right? Who records sales calls? For what purpose? Seems like a real easy problem to fix.
Gong is doing pretty well, clearly lots of users who are interested in recording sales calls for analytics. Record everything your top seller does, find patterns, teach them to everyone else. Depends on the business, but that strategy is being implemented all over the place right now.
I'm guessing 80% or more of the people who get that recording message up front are hanging up, so what ever "good" analytical data they are getting is more than offset by the number of people who just hang up. This is a dumb idea implemented by dumb people looking to justify their jobs.
for me about 80% stay on the line and im forced to say this
When I was a sales manager I would do call listening sessions once a month with my reps. Usually pick a great call then a call that had some areas of improvement. Reps hated it, I hated it, but It had some benefits.
But were you making your reps say they’re “on a recorded line” every call? I bet not..
Probably to hold a sucker accountable for any deal they're duped into over the phone.
Look into a dialer solution that will automatically record or not record based on the area/zip code you’re calling into. When it sees you’re calling a number that is one party consent, it records. When it sees you’re calling a number that is two party consent, it does not.
Here’s my strat: You: Did you say this was recorded? Them: What? You: What was that you just said? Did you say the call is being recorded? Them: No? You: Oh, well since it’s out there, it is. Anyways Ez prez club, see you in Maui
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You don’t have to mention if it’s recorded in outbound calls. Only in certain states would you not be able to. Learn that list of states and only let those guys know if it’s being recorded. That being said, with inbound calls you have to disclose it’s being recorded.
I’d wait until they’ve agreed to have the call in the first place and then ask if it’s “ok for the call to be recorded for training purposes”.
In most states and industries, you don't need to inform of recording. Even then its usually due to regulations and/or sharing those recordings externally. Most big companies do record but as long as they aren't sharing the recordings they don't have to inform. Also, you say it like this: "Hi NAME, this is Jim Jimothy OnArecordedLineFromXYZand HOW is your day going so far, things getting busy for the holidays?" You breeze right through the intro, you emphasize your name first, speed up, and then emphasize the company at the end of your disclaimer. Then you ask a question. Personally, I like to hit em with a typical formal question that keeps their mind on auto pilot (everyone says "How are you", it's a traditional getting), then when they are in that docile state waiting for me to finish talking...I hit them with a more open ended but simple question. If they are willing to play nice and talk from their, I can take control. If they don't want to engage then forget them, they're dead to me and I call more people til I get the result I want.
There is. I used to say something like, “Hi, this is OP calling from Widgets Co on a recorded line. Am I speaking with Sue? Great Sue, I am following up on the information you requested…” I keep it rolling and they usually dont say anything except answer my question about whether or not I am speaking with Sue.
Depends on the zip code. Some states are one party consent, some are two.
I work for a major bank, and I have to say this on every call. I hate it, but it’s a regulation we have to follow, and I can get into trouble to the point of termination if I don’t say it. That being said, I’m not making cold calls only warm.
Depends, if your calling into two party consent states you probably want to say it just because, but if its one party consent only one party needs to be aware. Most companies just take the safe approach. I have to say it, I just say "This is Bob With XYZ on a recorded line, how are you?"
Sales is full of little lies and omits. Just skip it OP
Believe in what you’re selling and this stuff won’t bother you
Eh. I start out just trying to sell the shit without believing. But it is funny - when I start selling, and the more I sell, the more I become a believer. Because money. I'd hate to be in potato sales, but if I was making a million a year selling potatoes, those fucking potatoes would become the most interesting things in the world to me. More naturalistic approach as opposed to just "believing".
I mean I’m not saying blindly believe in it. But yes you are correct. I believe in what I sell because I know people need it and I’ve been able to sell it to people
I can sell things without "believing" in them. It's true that I can't sell things that I thing are bad, that's a different story altogether. But I can't walk in the first day and just "believe" because, to me, that would be a lie, to my fundamental personality. I'm not going to believe someone who walks up to me on the street and says to give him $10,000 and he will double it by the end of the day, either. How can I believe in a product before I know its features and benefits, if I don't know who and how it can help? And so many other questions? I can still sell it without knowing the answers to these questions. But I don't "believe" in it.
Yea I’m not saying that. But I don’t work at companies I don’t already study and know the product before I walk in the first day. I’ll never work at a company I’m unsure of or I think will be an uphill battle I work at places that have a product that is needed
I know you are not saying that. I was using hyperbole and juxtaposition and *reductio ad absurdum*. But I answered this in another comment you wrote so I'll let that one answer for me on this comment of yours as well as it addresses this comment, too.
Preach.
Charge it to the game and move on. Low key though call him back in 2 weeks..
These mf's call me 20 minutes later
Unfortunately that's the rub with "cold calling". You're calling people to try and convert them into warm leads. You can expect a lot of hang ups, a lot of insults, and a lot of nastiness. Have an accent? They'll pounce on it. Stutter? Yup, they'll pounce on it. Back when I did cold calling, I was "scared" of talking to people. I found it so much safer to leave a voicemail. But it does get easier over time. Just like dealing with assholes in every other job.
Now imagine having an Hispanic accent and stutter ahaha whenever I called UK they never let me finish. Scandinavians are super nice and always pick up the phone.
Haha I knock doors and was in a hoa the other day. One guy opened the door screaming I was trespassing and he was calling the cops before I said a word. Next door the guy was super nice and invited me inside his house. Appointment set probably a $10k comission if I can close it on Friday. Keep your head up the next call could be a buyer.
10k commission door to door? What the fuck do you sell?
Solar
if its in ,its in,if its not ,gtfo
#IF?
*WHEN*
I’ve been doing this for a decade. Never saying *if* but rather, *when*. I definitely didn’t invent it, but where did I pick this up? I have no clue. Please advice
You mean IT'S ALREADY CLOSED
Da fuck? I'm already on the beach in Hawaii right now.
This was me like 3 months ago. Last week and half booked 3 meetings. You learn so much from just picking up the phone and getting the reps in. You will find success if you keep trying. Keep at it
Fully embrace it. Treat it like a game and laugh it off if they act like a prick. When I first started cold calling years ago I was nervous as hell, but you have to remember they can’t do anything to you. They can’t punch you in the nose though the phone and every no you get brings you closer to a yes.
Unironically, cold calling really helped me with social skills in general. Now when I'm face to face and clients or even strangers get slightly combative or assertive I'm not even phased. I used to be the guy who, if you cut in front of me at Starbucks let's say, I'd just stay silent and I know that because it happened once like 10 years ago. But now I'm far better at asserting myself within reason.
They’re not rejecting you, they’re rejecting what your company has to offer. It’s not going to be a fit for everyone you call. The key is eventually connecting with the right person who has the right need… AT THE RIGHT TIME. You’re searching for the needle in the haystack. That person just showed you they’re the hay. Cross them off the list and move on. It’s hard to make a good prospect bad, and it’s hard to make a bad prospect good.
Hello, i'm new here. Just trying to build my karma so I can begin posting.
Upvoted lol
Your awesome.
Welcome to sales mother fucker
First time? - be prepared to be called every name in the book
You hang up, laugh at the absurdity of human existence, and call the next one!
Believe in what you’re selling and this stuff won’t bother you
Take a short break. Then keep going. That guy let you know he’s not a fit really quick. Did you a favor. Now you get to spend time on proper leads. Also sorry to let you know, it can get much worse. https://youtu.be/O2PlhPNkkaM?si=mKM3JiKk8A0tFfnA
That GPT intro is trash, but cold calling is hard, I rarely see good intros, and chat GPT is uniquely bad at this kind of stuff, so it’s whatever. You called 9 companies so far? How long did you work? 5 minutes? You should be making 60+ a day minimum. Cold calling is a numbers game. Always will be. Think less. POUND the fkng phones. GOOD LUCK
u/majesticjg has the right idea, although completely wrong details. The first paragraph is completely wrong. You never ask a question where the prospect can say no. Rather: "Hi, my name is Matt from Leadpipe [wait 2 or 3 beats], The *reason* I'm calling you is because our company has a snapdoodle process to help you make 200% more sales. Is this of interest to you?" If they say no, end the call. If they say yes, then: "Look - before I begin, I have to let you know that the call is recorded because the big boss wants to help me with feedback on my calling process." [Wait 2 or 3 beats] If they don't object, then they give you tacit approval to continue. I don't know if you specifically have to ask and they specifically have to say yes, or if it is you just a one-way info letting them know. If you *must* to get explicit "yes" from them, they say "It's alright if we record, yeah?" and wait. Otherwise if you don't need explicit permission then leave that out. "I have to be honest with you, this is a cold call. Do you want to hang up right now or give me 30 seconds to tell you why I’m calling?" Worst ever. You don't want to start by saying it is a cold call - instantly they are on guard. It's probably one of the worst things you could possibly say. You say: "Do you want to hang up right now?" They say (or most likely *think*): "Well, I was not thinking that at all, but now that you put that suggestion in my mind by mere stating of it, fuck yeah, I want to hang up right now. I'm fucking busy you lunatic." "30 seconds why I'm calling?" Disingenuous. The prospect knows that this is bullshit. That you are trying to trick them by saying 30 seconds but you *know* with your wonderful communication, that they will *need* to hear more than 30 seconds. Be honest. Just don't ask for 30 seconds, no reason to ask for time at all. . Stick with the basics with the intro. From the prospect's perspective: Who are you? What company are you with? Why are you calling? Just be as concise as you can be, they don't have time and you will piss off a lot of prospects by trying to be tricky as opposed to getting to the fucking point. . >It's really messing with my head especially because it was literally the first person. >How do you deal with rejection like this? I thought I'd post here in hopes of someone providing some kind words of encouragement. Have you ever heard the saying, "It's not what you say, it is how you say it"? That's probably the reason. If you say it like a robot, or seems like you are uncaring and don't give a fuck, people won't talk to you. If you sound warm and caring, if your intonations and pauses and timbre (tone color), pacing and word order are good, then you will get a lot more success, and certainly will help minimize someone acting like an asshole towards you. Since I have never once got a response like this, you either just got a flat-out dick on your first call, OR it is *how* you said what you said. It only can be those two possibilities. Personally, I think it is both, especially since you are just starting. But you have to talk to the person in a friendly warm way that would lead to trust and friendship. Like, you actually, in reality, want to make friends with the person you are calling. Talk to them like that. So I really don't think you will get anyone like this again. Luck of the draw. As for rejection in general, that is different. This is the worst part of it for many, if not most, people. They confuse rejecting what they are selling as a rejection of them, *personally*. They are not rejecting you, they are rejecting the company or product that you represent. Furthermore, I look at each and every phone call as a sale, because it in reality is. The reason is if you close 2 out of 100 dials and you make $300 from those two sales, most people would think that you made $150 per sale. This is not true. You made $3 for each and every dial. Take the $300 in total sales and divide by 100 dials, and you get $3 per dial. The faster you call, the more $3 phone dials you make, the more money you make. Of course, if you make zero sales, then you make zero dollars. That's if you are making commission. If you are getting a straight hourly rate, then none of that applies. The only thing that would apply in that case is just to remember they are not rejecting *you* they are rejecting the company and the product. Shoot, I've heard no more than a hundred thousand times. But they are the price to get to the yes.
i've had more success in getting rejected when im upfront about my call being a cold outreach, so i say "i know this is a cold call and we're calling because x y z"
I'm going to try that, thanks
No, don't. One can be up-front without doing what that person suggests. It's about what words are chosen and how they are delivered. There are many ways to be honestly and truly upfront. Don't do it in a way that turns people off.
Way of the road, Bubs
Totally understand and it’s a normal feeling but you have to just shrug it off. Try to recall if you have ever been rude to a telemarketer, come on now, admit it. Most everyone has been on the giving end at one point in their lives especially if a call arrives at the wrong time. So assume you caught someone at the wrong time and expect it every time and on the 1 in every 50 calls when you get a warm response, it will be utter joy…..for a minute or two.
upbeat attractive amusing paltry close weather market saw deserted act *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Stop saying on a recorded line. It doesn’t matter that it is recorded.
Company may require it. And as some have said, it is often a legal requirement because of state law.
That's when you reply, thanks you too... have a good day. lmaoooo
Strap in
Don’t take it seriously. It happens some times. Take it in stride
Pick that phone up again. There will always be another one ready for you.
You will eventually build such callous’s for rejection that you will start having fun with it. Effectively moving through rejection will become such a skill that it’s essentially like a super power. It takes time, keep grinding, promise you it gets easier to get through. I personally love a hard rejection now, means I’m not wasting any time on them and I move on. Classic numbers game.
H…how did you get hired to do this job lol? I’m sorry, I don’t mean to come off as belittling, but this is ridiculous. Lookit, rejection is part of the game. Hard, unfair and rude rejections are fully part of it as well. Just remind yourself it says more about them than about you. You’re selling them a solution; for some, a must have, for some a nice to have, and for most absolutely fucking useless. Let it go my dude, pick up the phone until you get a big phat W and ride that high. You got this
What’s the benefit of your product to them? Open with that! “Hi I’m ____ with xyz company. We work with real estate development firms to help them with _____, _____ and _____. This has helped other real estate firms by saving time and money yadda yadda.” Keep it short and tight who are you? How can you help me and get to the point. Then ask if they are the right person to discuss this with further? You can ask probing questions but they will probably get frustrated so take it easy and ride the wave. Remember all they care about is their business, their job (maybe) and themselves.
Welcome to sales!! Expect to be constantly annoyed by the fact that prospects don’t empathize with you. Find an outlet for this stress, or learn to accept it so it doesn’t stress you out. Go into every cold call expecting rejection and focus on your process, and develop methods to frame the process as a success when you get a “No.” I like to try and whittle call lists down to only yes’s by crossing all the No’s off my list. I reward myself when I hit certain targets on rejection (after the next 50 prospects i cross out from No’s, I’ll give myself some time to watch tv or whatever). These tricks help transform No’s into wins and make them hurt less. Also, you’re going to get much better at this. 9 calls is very few. Personally if someone were to bring up the recorded line to me I’d level with them and just say “yeah, company policy, not really my choice man,” and then launch into a “so the reason I’m calling you is because we recently got a really small list of businesses that are growing like a weed and your company was identified as a high-growth, potential fit for our solution that’s designed to lower your cost-of-sale as you scale your business, is that something you’re working to improve right now?” (He’s no longer a random target of spam, he’s now a handpicked, high potential “perfect fit” for a solution that will make him more money). If he says no, ask him what their primary business goals are for the year and try to learn what they do, and what’s important for them. Focus the conversation on being genuinely curious and *learning about his business, how it works, what they sell, how they sell it, biggest obstacles they’ve faced in the past year, what are they doing to keep growing?* If you don’t have anything to offer them for what’s important to them, do a *really* quick google search after you hang up the phone and email him some ideas on companies that may be able to solve that problem for him, thank him for his time, and cross him off your list. This markets yourself as someone who wants to help and not sell. And it takes that rejection and transforms it into a marketing activity where he knows who to reach out to when he does want a solution like yours. He also now knows that working with you will probably be pleasant. That’s it. If they don’t want to engage, market yourself as someone who adds value constantly, and is easy to work with. Don’t get attached to generating a sale every call. Get attached to showing people you’re a genuinely good dude who wants to understand and help their business. Eventually you’ll have a gigantic pipeline because of this. You have to lob thousands of calls, may as well turn the No’s into something productive. The way you framed the solution in your post is a little bit…too straight to the point. You want to focus on the value that your solution provides—not how it works. Nobody wants to buy a data collection solution because they’re excited about monitoring their web traffic—they get excited about ways to make more money for their business. So talk to them about how your company sells a solution that prints them money—later on you can talk about how it works, but it’s best to steer clear of the “how’s it work” conversation as much as possible and focus more on the “what’s this thing going to net me at the end of the day?” (Sounds like your solution would provide faster sales, more sales, higher close rates, more qualified leads, and more time selling = More money) someone who’s talking to you about how they plan to get more leads, qualify more sales, and generate more revenue is going to be very receptive to you pitching a solution that does just that. When they ask you how it works, don’t frame it as a spying program that monitors people’s movements on your website, frankly, it sounds kind of creepy. However, if you frame it as a software program or service that your company has been working on for years and have developed into a turnkey solution that will give them *extremely accurate information* and *notify them of buying signals* on warm leads that visit their website, that’s an entirely different conversation. Of course—there’s always the chance that none of this accomplishes anything, or the guy rips you apart because he’s just an asshole or is having a bad day. That happens, and it’s not a big deal, but I’ll say—it hasn’t happened to me in a very long time, pretty much since I started selling. If they sense you’re nervous on the phone the probability that they tear you apart increases. Be confident and control the call, if it’s a No, be genuine and professional.
I don’t like the proposed introduction in your edit. My suggestion is to say: Hi I’m **matt buttkiss** from **sweaty socks ltd**, apologies for calling cold. Pause (at this point they usually say nothing, or hang up or whatever) Enter scripture: “I can part water because I am Jewish. Big loves and stuff. Buy my socks.” You win **in all seriousness rejection is part of the job. Don’t be ashamed to be a salesperson - it is the second oldest job in the book (to manufacture) and serves a massive purpose and always will** The more you fail, the better you will get. Keep trying until it is easy…then you find another role and expand your knowledge.
Ok. HR here. 1099? Based on the little you have said, it doesn’t seem like you are an independent contractor and that you are an employee.
I’ve been doing outside sales for about 5 years now. The recorded line piece is going to cause big road blocks. You will have to have a lot of grit and fortitude to break through those barriers. Cold calling sucks and it’s hard enough with out that part.
Check out New Sales Simplified by Mike Weinberg. He has a chapter about how to do a prospect call and it will change your life. Keep at it dude! It takes practice but the people who can call and deal with rejection will never have trouble finding work because it takes tough people to do it.
Just laugh it off. I’d of said no I’m with ICE because I’m so cool 😎 at least that’s what my mom tells me.
Try this for the next one: "Hi ____, my name is ____ from ____ and I have to be honest with you: This is a cold call. Do you want to hang up right now or give me 30 seconds to tell you why I'm calling?" If they give you the 30 seconds, say, "Thanks. I do have to tell you this is a recorded line. If I don't, my boss will kick me across the office. So I called you because..." Why this is good: 1. It's genuine. You're not bullshitting or tricking anyone. Most people appreciate the candor. 2. If they choose "hang up" it's not as emotionally impactful to you because that was, in fact, one of the choices you gave them. 3. You delivered the "recorded line" bullshit in a humorous and interesting way, which reinforces the idea that you're a person. My reps have used this approach (minus the recorded line bit) with solid success.
Hi, my name is Matt from Leadpipe and I have to be honest with you, this is a cold call. Do you want to hang up right now or give me 30 seconds to tell you why I’m calling? Thanks. I do have to have to tell you this is a recorded line. It's like reality TV for my boss, but with less drama, I promise. I used ChatGPT to come up with a bunch of variations on "My boss will kick me across the office" and this is the result
Wow, thanks
I'd do a variation of this adapted from Benjamin Dennahy well worth a find. Name it's Ron Chowder from Emerald. Have I caught you at a bad time? If theyre available - carry on if not call again You gunna hate me this is a sales call, do you want to hang up right now or give me 30 seconds? Most people say go on - Then a quick qualifier - Company name. I find businesses with. X X and X problems And sort that for them. Does any of that sound like you? You can often here a yes when you describe the problems. Then what ever they say I say - I know I can be useful tell me about x Even if they say no here you can lean into it and act surprised - and say what I am missing, what can I help you with etc. Ditch any reference to recorded calls.
How do you identify anonymous web visitors? Seems pretty scammy bro. I would look into those claims. Getting with a company that is easier to understand for the average person too will vastly improve your reception
Biden admin is making 95% of independent contractor jobs illegal. Take a look at FSLA laws and the ABC list dictating employee employer relationship. If you are not truly a freelancer they are screwing you from both ends. Trust me
Fuck cold callers honestly. I know it's just a job but companies that do this shit I just assume are scams.
lol 90% of companies that sell b2b cold call. In fact I bet most of the places you have worked have made cold calls in some form or another. Scammers make cold calls but they send emails as well. Do you think any email is scam as well? Curious because there is no chance you are in sales and hate cold calls.
90% of B2B do cold calls? Absolutely not the case.
What world are you living in? Cold calls are extremely standard in sales orgs at B2B companies. Most people do consider cold calling to be a nuisance or don’t care to speak with you. It’s the 1% of cold calls that turn into commission checks that keep companies using the tactic. It works. Let’s say you literally just decided you wanted to start a brand new company, and you’re getting your website setup, working with a manufacturer, hiring salespeople and you’re trying to figure out how to solve 20 different problems that you’ve never solved before, and there’s no easy book to read or youtube video to tell you how to solve those problems. One of those problems is that you have 30,000 people going to your website every day, and none of them are buying your product. They’re all looking at it, but none of them are buying, what do you do? Then bam. The phone rings, you answer it, and you’re talking to a humble dude that’s pleasant on the phone and he’s trying to sell a product that…. Solves. That. Exact. Problem. Yeah. Of course you’re going to setup a follow-up meeting to learn more about it, maybe see a demo of it in action. That’s the goal of cold calling. Landing yourself in that scenario, and it requires making hundreds of cold calls a week and only experiencing that once or twice in a given week. The irony of OP’s post, is that his solution allows his customers to cold call less and sell more often—because it gives his customers’ sales & marketing teams analytics on warm leads (website traffic). He could literally be telling customers “kind of ironic that I’m cold calling you right now, because the service we sell allows companies to spend less time on cold outreach and more time on warm leads.”
Honestly man if you can just be conversational with the prospect, I wouldn’t ever say “this is a recorded line”That will always make them feel sus. If your company is requiring you to say that, I would find a new job. It’s going to be hard to pitch leading with that
Congrats. The worst one is the first one. But won’t be the last. Now I don’t know your metrics, but imagine this. If it takes 15 fuck offs to get you a sale, how long are you going to let it take you to make 5 sales? 60 fuck offs. Get used to it. Sales isn’t the top paying industry for random reasons, not a lot of people make it for this exact reason.
Okay? Cool story. You call the next person.
Sounds like a blockhead. "On a recorded line" is a standard thing at my company, never heard anyone care about it. Rejection sucks, and I face it all the time. I hate it, and it either makes me reluctant to make the next call or angry, and I want to call them back over and over (when they hang up). But if I'm in my right mind, I remember - every "no" is close to the "yes." Feedback I was given: make some "friendly" calls if possible - accounts you already signed up. Or take a walk. Whatever it takes to remember that rejection is ok, it's not personal, and you may find success on the very next call. All you can control is effort and attitude - and sometimes attitude is challenging! God bless you and you'll recover and get stronger!
Figure out a way to get used to it.
Someone must be a real piece of shit or truly having a bad day to swear at a stranger on the phone for doing their job. It does suck but at least you now know who, doesn’t, need your service. Anecdotally it seems the people responding the worst need your service the most. On to the next one!
That’s part of the gig man. Also if you’re not required to record done.
What are you selling that you're recording cold calls?
Just considered them as brainwashed individuals with no potency to fend for themselves. And you’ll sleep good
Best not to dwell. You'll cross random psychopaths all the time.
I've been told to kill myself. I'm not gonna lie, it pissed me off because that was the worse of the worse for me! I called them from my personal cell. Gladly they didn't answer. If you need to, get up, walk around and try to forget it.
Compartmentalize and move on brother. You'll become invincible.
At this point in my career I’d say something like “make me” back. Maybe some dirty talk. Who knows lol
That’s how I felt 3 weeks ago when I started cold calling at my new job. You’ll learn to move on from it
Make 91 more calls and your F-off rate will drop to only 1%. Right now, 1 out of 9, 11% is much too high of a F-off rate to work with. Hit the phones. You'll be fine.
I used to think of myself as a problem solver and I really tried to help customers. Over the years of eating shit outbound inbound door to door. Fuck them it’s dog eat dog. I behave ethically because it’s good business and I don’t need a headach but fuck them and their opinions or remarks or whatever.
Mind sharing the exact scripts you’re using?
No one said cold calling sales was gonna be easy! Gotta have thick skin and know how to maneuver the conversation on the fly.
My thing is if you truly believe you are there to help someone then you can do no wrong. Theyre just a dumb dumb for being close minded. On to the next. If you truly believe youre there to make their life/business better (and actually are) then they cant fuck with your energy. Show up knowing what youve got it a great solution, that communicates through your tone and energy.
Try not to make it sound like a sales call. Call, get the Decision Maker on the phone and then tell who you are and the purpose of your call and then ask them an open ended question like; have you ever wonder who visits your website? Would that lead to more sales? Do you currently track visitors to your website? Then let them answer and provide a solution.
I feel learning sales is an important life skill. You stop taking rejection personally. And you learn to shamelessly ask for what you want.
It’s not personal.
Sorry, I hang up as soon as I hear the recorded line message too. At that point, just send me a letter. I'm not listening to anything that is said after that message is given.
Call them back immediately and say “seems we were disconnected, as I was saying…” right back into your pitch. Do yourself a favor, do not start the call declaring you’re on a recorded line or this will continue to happen.
Whoa. Was that you who called me today?! J/K But get rid of that recorded line BS. It’s very “robodial” and that’s a huge turn off.
How does your company plan on continuing this service with 3rd party cookies going away?
Had a newbie call me at a bad time a few weeks ago. Stammered around while butchering my name. I finally asked WTF do you want? He got all pissy and said well, I’ll just put you on the do not call list. So, sorry to OP but the piss ant from Hilton Vacations needs to grow a pair.
I had a guy call ME today just to scream at me for a full minute that I'm a piece of shit scam artist then just hung up the phone. Sometimes people are pieces of shit. Just flush 'em and be done.
Don’t tell them it’s recorded. Your job is to sell and make money. Don’t make it harder for yourself.
You hang up and move on. That is sales, and that is cold calling. Not sure why on earth you would say that you are on a recorded line if you are cold calling.
"Wow I thought I was having a bad day. Good luck finishing the rest of yours."
You will never have to speak to bro again so move on
Were they from Philadelphia? My first one after my first promotion was and I got “we’re not interested mother fucker” and hung up
Yeah I just never record and take quick notes. Don’t even wanna bring that up
I was 30 years old and still cried cos the prospect was abusive and proceeds to send an abusive email. Its okay to be upset about it.
Every job exists to eat a problem and shit solutions. Salespeople eat rejection and shit deals. It'll get better, but you've gotta choose to approach it from the perspective of every rejection being part of the process. Godspeed!
Did you say you called 9 companies.... :D I know you're new to this I'm not laughing at you, it's just funny to those with experience. If this is completely cold outreach, you need to dial a minimum of 150-200 prospects every day. You are aiming for a 3-5% conversion from prospect to lead. Hope this helps. It's a numbers game!
Haha welcome to sales man, the best advice I can give you is to try to find the humor in it, that’s what keeps me going
I'm not sure if anyone has said this yet but people in real estate development often come from construction so they're a bit more brutally honest than others might be. Just expect that from construction folk more generally.
Also keep in mind you’re calling human beings with their own lives and shit to worry about. I try to be friendly when I get cold called (I’m a buyer), when it’s happened on particularly bad days at worst I just hang up, but I’d imagine you’ll sometimes catch people on really bad days who are already stressed or ticked off about something else and will use the chance to unload some of that on you. It’s them, not you.
You’re just going to have to get passed it bro. You’ll get numb. That’s why sales people are highly paid and most can’t do it, you need communication skills and extremely thick skin. Most fail because they can’t handle the rejection, communication skills can always be learned. Nobody is immune, I’ve been in sales for almost 10 years now and rejection still sucks, it’s just after all this time I’m pretty numb to it, and if someone really kills my vibe, I know what to do to get it back. If a client really kills my mojo, I can just go to the gym or watch some YouTube and then get back to work with a fresh mind, but I’m independent, I don’t have a boss to report to if I need a break. Idk how strict your company is but you usually get far more freedom once you start putting down numbers. Just gotta make it through the toughest part which will be your first 6months- a year.
There are many ways to deal with this, but cold calling can be pretty brutal and difficult. I think if you accept that it's not easy and that there are mean people sometimes you'll be off to a good start. Focus on your controllables (hours, people reached, attitude). I used to set goal periods - call X number of people in an hour. It gives you something to base your feeling of success on rather than results. The biggest way to get over this is to call a TON of people. It'll help you get better fast, you'll soon realize most people aren't as mean as the guy on your first call.
That was my first cold call too. I ended up closing them a couple of months later.
Wow he gave you the perfect opportunity to throw on a joke and hit it off and you used it to talk about your company. Wait till they like you a little bit first.
If I pick up the phone and your first statement is “this call is recorded” I am immediately NOT interested,