A Blog On Cold Calling

As a real estate agent, my wife receives a lot of cold calls. TONS of cold calls. Each and every day.

Overhearing the calls she receives, and thinking back to the 30,000 or so cold calls I personally have made in my life, I believe that the best way to spark someone’s ire is to ask them a question after they say they aren’t interested. I’m constantly amazed by how many callers will ask my wife for more information or continue to push after she’s told them once or even twice she’s not interested. In fact, just a few minutes ago she rolled her eyes and hung up on a person who just would not get off the phone. Like after the second “no” she would just suddenly change her mind and write the person a check for whatever they were offering. Instead, she rolled her eyes, hung up on him, blocked his number, and the caller actually wasted extra time they didn’t need to waste pushing the envelope farther than it should have been pushed on a cold call.

Whether I’m asking a prospect who has said “no” why they aren’t interested, or asking for clarification on any information they’ve given me after they’ve said they’re not interested, I’m running a major risk by asking for more detail after they’ve declined my services.

ME: “I’m calling because (insert elevator pitch here).

PROSPECT: “No, thank you, I’m good. I already have one of those.”

ME: “Oh, really. Do you mind my asking which one you’re using?”

At this point, I’ve just put my bare hand into the lion’s cage. It’s possible the lion won’t bite me. Or maul me. And it’s even possible the lion may humor me by licking my hand or giving my hand a casual sniff. But what is the reward (a licked hand?) vs. the risk (getting my hand gruesomely detached by the lion’s teeth)?

Me, I don’t like to be overly pushy (rude). And I don’t like to get yelled at. Getting yelled at ignites my adrenaline and makes me feel partly angry (“Oh yeah, screw you!”) and mostly feel like crud wherein I probably need to take a break for a little bit, which in turn means I’m not being productive. So why ask any questions at that point? Why not simply graciously accept the “no thank you” as an answer in itself, thank the person for answering my call, wish them a good day, and then move on to the next person or task? Heck, I can even try this person again in six months or year;  I’ve found that most people will even respond positively if they tell me no and I just casually call them again in year to check back in. Often at that point, they’ll even give me more information. Usually it goes something like this:

ME: ”Hi, we talked a year ago, and you weren’t interested, but it has been a year and I thought I’d check in to see how things are going and whether anything has changed.”

PROSPECT: “Thanks for checking back again. Actually, nothing has changed. In fact, we’re just starting year three of a five year agreement with (enter competitor name here) and there’s no chance we’ll make a change anytime soon. (Pauses to think for a moment). I’d say check back in with me again in a year, because at that point we’ll just be starting our internal discussions to see if we’re going to want to renew or to consider other options at this point.”

And now I have a potential in. And I built some trust with the person by not being a sleazy salesperson who asks for information so that I can offer a rebuttal. By accepting no and then casually staying in touch, now I have really useful information when I follow up again in a year. This scenario happens quite often, actually. Because most people are willing to consider what I have to say if I’m respectful and not too pushy when trying to say it.

There are a lot of decision makers out there. And there is a lot of time to stay in touch with each decision maker. I don’t need to push the envelope and risk irritating a prospect by asking them for more information when they say no. Because no usually means no, but it also usually means “no for now,” so rather than angering a customer and getting ourselves blocked I just like to move on to another person and follow up again later.

My thought for today. Thank you for reading.

NOTES:

• Inspired by a cold call my wife just received where the person responded to “I’m not interested” with repeated questions that resulted in her hanging up on the person.