What I Learned From Cold Calling 300 People Out of a Directory

Many people think the art of cold calling is dead. I still think cold calling is alive, but there are just a lack of people willing to give it a shot.

When the hustle gets serious enough in entrepreneurship, you should try cold calling. Cold calling is an easy way to test your market, validate a product, and generate sales for your business.

Yesterday, I picked up the yellow pages and started calling random individuals who I felt would be prospective customers for my product.

This was the first time I had really ever cold called a mass group of people, but I learned a lot from the experience. Here’s what I learned from cold calling 300 people out of a directory:

1. Write Your Pitch Down

Before I began pitching, I took some time to craft a well-writen pitch. Every time I picked up the phone, I had my pitch sitting right in front of me to limit any mistakes I could be making.

If you write your pitch down, you’re much more organized and calm on the phone. Being organized and prepared are extremely important to successfully cold call.

2. They Just Hang Up…..

If people weren’t into my pitch or the product I was selling, they would simply hang up. It’s really not as bad as people think!

The worst thing someone can do is just hang up on the phone or say a few mean words. Once I realized that, I was far more confident.

3. Don’t Stop Calling

I got a lot of voicemails when I started, but that didn’t stop me from continuing. I left voicemails and kept calling. I spent over 4 hours cold calling person after person through the directory.

Cold calling is truly a numbers game. The more numbers you call, the higher chances of conversion you have for your product or service. Never stop calling!

4. Experiment 

Test and experiment pitches with different people. See which pitches have the highest success rates and which ones don’t.

Once you figure that out, you can consistently use one pitch that you know has the best chance of working.

5. Analyze Your Audience 

I quickly found out that a certain ethnic group wasn’t going for the product. I was also able to isolate an ethnic group that was far more interested in the product and decided to focus on them.

Before cold calling, it’s very important to analyze who you’re calling and how they’re reacting. If you can figure out a more targeted audience to call, your closure rate dramatically increases.

Conclusion

No matter what anyone says, cold calling is not dead! It just takes the right mindset and attitude to successfully cold call individuals. Share your best tips for cold calling success below.

photo credit: How can I recycle this via photopin cc