Cold Calling Is Not Dead….It’S Just Not For Everyone!

IS COLD CALLING DEAD? MAYBE, IT’S JUST NOT FOR YOU!

Firstly, I’ll introduce myself. My name is Dean Thornton & I am one of those people that call you when you are not expecting it. Some people hate me, some people appreciate me. That’s just part and parcel of what I do and I’m fine with that. I currently work for a company called United SEO who are one of the leading Digital Marketing agencies in the UAE. I have been cold selling for around 10 years now. I have knocked on doors persuading people to switch their Gas & Electric providers & sold software over the phone to businesses all over the world. I have made a decent living out of it and don’t plan on a career change anytime soon!

The reason for this article is because I am continuously seeing posts that suggest “cold calling is dead”, or “it doesn’t work anymore”. I respect everyone’s opinion, as we base our judgments on experiences. Personally, I couldn’t disagree more. I have built relationships through cold selling for over 10 years. Whether that be over the phone, through cold emails or knocking doors. I wouldn’t consider myself an expert OR a master of cold selling, however I do understand the fundamentals of what’s needed in order to get results.

There’s no doubt that the times are changing in terms of how we promote our products/services & interact with our audiences. We are very fortunate & quite frankly spoilt in terms of the variety of online platforms we have available to us. However, that does not mean that we should disregard the traditional ways such as cold calling and even knocking on doors.

Think of it from this point of view. Any form of marketing is essentially cold, it’s only the format or the approach that differs. For example, if you are advertising on Facebook or Instagram, you will define your audience & ensure that the people who are viewing your Ads are potential buyers. But, you haven’t been given consent by the audience to place it on their timeline, you are just giving yourself the opportunity to generate interest. There is no difference when it comes to cold calling, you are or should be defining your data of customers who fit the description and trying to generate interest. The fact is, the latter one is a lot more direct & quite daunting to some people.

Now, I want to be clear, I am not against Social Selling, I am very much PRO social selling, after-all , I sell it for a living. However, I firmly believe that human interaction & a conversation is a far better way to build relationships and generate trust!

Over the past 10 years, I have experienced a lot of highs and lows. There are certainly some things to consider before you attempt cold calling which are as follows:

**It’s without doubt THE toughest ways to generate leads.

**Be prepared to make over 100 calls a day.

**You’re going to get tonnes of rejection and maybe an ear bashing every now and then

**There will be periods of the day/month/year that you consider quitting.

**The list goes on……

If you don’t think you can handle the above, then focus on another form of selling. Each person possesses different skills and attributes which are better suited to different roles.

If you are RESILIENT, driven and persistent, then pick up the phone and start creating opportunities, because I can assure you, if you apply yourself in the right way, trust the process, accept that you will face those challenges but keep pushing forward….

YOU WILL, sell your product/service and help your customer grow their business.

YOU WILL, build great relationships from those small minority of customers who do buy from your cold calls

YOU WILL, generate referrals from those customers who appreciate your efforts, trust you and benefit from your great product/service

YOU WILL, Have a feeling of immense job satisfaction

YOU WILL, work in an exciting and energetic environment with like-minded colleagues.

YOU WILL, put yourself into the position where your earning potential can exceed what you ever imagined.

I am fortunate enough to have been surrounded by great people who have helped me develop my skills over the past 5 years. I have always tried to learn from those around me and use the training & development sessions that were and still are available. I am not the finished article, in-fact I never will be, I am still learning and will continue to face daily challenges, like the ones I mentioned above. However, I will remain determined and focused on the end goal, which is to improve my quality of life and promote my companies services in order to help others. What’s the harm in that?

If you are a cold caller, do not get ill-tempered with someone who has maybe been abrupt or a little frosty. Just move onto the next prospect. As for the people on the receiving end of the calls, just remember that the people calling you are just doing their job, just hang up the phone.

I’m blabbering on now, so I’ll bring this to a close. Until phones are no longer a form of communication or a new legislation has come into play which banishes cold calling completely, it will continue to be fruitful for business across the globe and will generate millions in revenue

So, on that note, If you ever get a call from me or my colleagues and you don’t like cold calls……, just hang up! We won’t take it to heart