The Dumbest Cold Call I’ve Ever Heard

via nevercoldcall.com

You’ve probably figured out from my previous articles that I’m a big fan of the movie Wall Street, and, true to form, I usually live out Gordon Gekko’s famous quote: “Lunch is for wimps!”

However, once or twice a week, I let myself slip and have lunch, and it’s almost always at the same, hole-in-the-wall, but phenomenal, Vietnamese noodle soup house.

They sat me right near the counter yesterday, and so I got to hear all of the phone conversations that went on. And, sure enough, the restaurant received a cold call while I was eating!

Before I tell you that story, though, you need to know a bit of background about the restaurant: It’s been there forever. It’s consistently rated the best noodle house in the entire Dallas metro area. And it’s ALWAYS packed – any time of day, any day of the week.

As a result, they don’t need any marketing. (If anything, they need more tables!)

Not surprisingly, since they’ve been around since before the Internet, and because they already have all the business they can handle, they don’t have a website.

The Dumbest Cold Call Ever

Ever since the housing crash happened and the recession began, a “get rich quick” cottage industry has sprung up, teaching people how to start their own businesses doing web design and related services.

As I was enjoying my soup, one of these people cold called the restaurant, trying to sell them a website. The owner, who isn’t very friendly to begin with, answered the phone. “No we do not have a website,” I heard him say. “No, we don’t want a website!” I heard him yell. Finally he slammed the phone down and hung up on the annoying cold caller.

What Went Wrong? 

Why didn’t this restaurant owner want to meet with the cold-calling web designer? What made him slam the phone down in anger, when the cold-caller refused to take “no” for an answer?

That’s simple: He wasn’t a qualified prospect! 

And therein lies one of the two biggest problems with cold calling: It simply fails to find enough qualified prospects to keep you fat and happy. (The other major problem is that it’s an unacceptably huge time drain, but that’s a topic for another blog post.)

The study done by Baylor University I recently told you about concluded that it takes an experienced salesperson 7.5 hours to get one qualified appointment. A lot of people balked at that and emailed back, “I get way more than one appointment in that much time!” But they’re missing the key point: The study only considers a qualified appointment with someone who is ready, willing, and able to buy – now. 

And cold calling simply doesn’t find enough of them to make it worth your while. So do yourself a big favor: STOP cold calling, and START using effective, intelligent, Information Age methods to start bringing qualified prospects to YOU!

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the Never Cold Call Again® System and has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s top 30 most influential people online. To learn more, and to download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system, visit http://www.nevercoldcall.com

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