Cold calling nausea
I'm mostly writing this to vent and share, but if anybody has good suggestions or feels the same way, please share!
Fear is a weird thing.
Right now I'm making a script for cold calling. The niche I'm exploring is pretty small, and all the experienced salespeople I asked said to call rather than e-mail.
I'm a developer and a bit of an introvert. I'm fairly empathic and a decent communicator, but approaching total strangers over the telephone asking for feedback just scares the absolute shit out of me.
I haven't even made a call yet, just writing the script literally brings on nausea. Riding a motorcycle through a snowstorm (terrible idea, by the way) makes me bubbly and excited. Risk rejection and disapproval of a total stranger for a few seconds, and I'm terrified.
Maybe there's a firmware bug in my amygdala or something.
I know in the end I'll do it. I kind of have to. Nobody knows the product better than me. Besides, if this business fails, I don't want it to be because I was too scared to make a phone call.
What kind of state of mind would be the most helpful in this process?
Thanks, that's a good question to keep in mind!
So what would be your answer :)
Oh, I thought this was one of those "left as an exercise to the reader" type questions :)
For me the best state is probably curious, helpful, with a hint of cheerfulness.
Well, it could be :). I just thought that if you mention what it is, maybe I or someone here can help with advice on how to set it up.
As an idea (and I will be curious to know whether it would work for you or not), when I want to get into more cheerful and playful state the videos from this project help me kidsplaybook.com
For example https://youtu.be/nkAYY-BRyd4 https://youtu.be/YJBavuIkq10
they are quite contagious :)
That's an interesting one. Although for me music seems to work better :)
And by the way, if you want to talk about that I'm happy to have a chat
I've had terrible experiences cold calling. It was very taxing and demoralizing 99% of the time, and I burned out quickly. And I'm an extrovert; I make a good living in my day job interacting with people and selling them stuff. I can't imagine what it would be like for an introvert.
That said. I think who you call is more important than what you say on your call. Can you get some warm intros? If not, can you get to a decision-maker on the phone? (If you can't get a decision-maker on the phone, your script doesn't even matter even if it's excellent.)
Work on a short 30-second pitch (people are generally very impatient with phone calls, which are considered disruptive in 2020), and then either try to get a face-to-face meeting, or set up another call in the future. Never settle for emailing them or asking them to email you -- they won't respond either way.
I find that the best way for cold calling to work is if they're cold calling you. Not what you're asking but still putting it out there. Cold calling is rarely the answer for your marketing/sales strategy. It should be a last resort.
Thanks for the advice. Probably I should have mentioned that this is more for market research than a marketing/sales strategy. I'm trying to determine if this small niche of highly technical people is a good fit. If sales result from that, so much the better. Will definitely focus on making the pitch short!
Visualizing success helps me gain confidence for doing tasks I'm terrified about (including cold calling and emailing). Before the phone call, I picture the other person being happy that I contacted them and picture myself confidently assuming I've already made the sale with them. I don't know if this helps, but I wanted to share. For me, it's all mental. If I can get past the fear by envisioning success, I usually do a lot better than I would have otherwise. Keep trying!
Will do, thanks!
I can empathize. Phone calls are not my strongest area for sure, but like you I've just decided there's no getting around it. My approach has been to try and set up calls via LinkedIn, but I'm at zero so far! I'll deal with the nerves issue assuming I can get a single call arranged!
i can help, what are you selling?
Hi Lucas, may I ask 3 questions, please: Q1: What script? Roast me if already asked here. Q2: Why on phone? Do you have a very good reason to go by phone. Q3: Can you offer them a newsletter?
1: I'm still writing the script :) Almost done.
2:
We've built a prototype of a new kind of product. Most potential markets require more features than we currently have. But there's a niche that we can already serve with what we have now. However, it's not a huge niche.
The tech is new and we don't have customers yet. Also, using our product on a project requires giving us source code access to that project. Between those two, building trust is important. Which is easier to do with geographically close companies, since you can meet in person without significant travel costs. Once we have some customers who are happy with us, this should get easier.
Conclusion: the geographically close companies of an already small niche, is a pretty small pool of ideal launching customers.
I was initially planning to email them. I asked some sales folks for advice, and they unanimously recommended calling first, because it's such a small pool of leads.
3: Maybe? Do you mean in general or as an alternative to calling?
Thanks for replying by the way!
Thank you. I see. Seems you're on the best path one could be at that point. What might be the larger obstacle to your success, -A- lack of real interest in your product or -B- difficulties in building up enough trust fast enough even IF there's substancial interest in your product. Do you have first results on that, if I may ask?
Why don't you write down a list of other channels through which you can find your customers which aren't cold calling. You might find you uncover something easier and more effective. You can start with these and think of more specific to your domain:
https://blog.wobaka.com/15-ways-to-find-customers-for-your-startup/
I guess it depends on your market but I wouldn't even answer an unknown number, let alone entertain a pitch. Cold emailing has been working well for me.