Cold Calling

[Deleted User]FriendlyFemale (deleted user)
in General

I'm not sure why these types of sales/marketers exist. I don't know of anyone in my life (and I am old) who said, "oh yeah, let me hear your pitch", including myself. I do want to hear if any one has, though, and what the product/service being sold was. These calls still happen for a reason, so I'm thinking that enough people stopped and listened to them at least.

Comments

  • Will564Will564

    I'm certainly not an expert on these matters, but one thing I've heard is that they only need a very small percentage of people to agree to whatever it is they're offering in order for it to be beneficial/profitable.

    What's hard to say is if the few people that do agree to it are people who the product/service was actually right for and they finally found the right match, or if the person was tricked/hoodwinked into buying something they didn't really want.

    But, I guess you could make the same claim for any kind of advertising. How many of us fall for psychological tricks, whether conscious or subconscious, to buy things we wouldn't have otherwise?

    It gets into a kind of complicated philosophical conversation about what's important for us to buy. No one goes through life ONLY buying for need, because then we kind of feel like we're not enjoying life. But how often do we buy things that we could have happily done without?

  • [Deleted User]WriterGF (deleted user)

    There are people, especially older people, who are lonely and happy to hear from anyone, even a telemarketer. And if they are pressured, they don't always think clearly about what to do. Heck, some of these places just need to get you to say "Yes" to anything ... they record it, and then claim you agreed to something you never meant to agree to.

  • [Deleted User]FriendlyFemale (deleted user)

    I appreciate you both for your input.

    @WriterGF That makes sense now that I think about it. In Jr High, I used to volunteer at a convalescent home and yeah, all the people there were soooo happy to see me as if I was a long lost relative, when, in fact I was a total stranger. They do like talking to anyone and everyone. True about the sneaky ones, I didn't think about that, but you see it all the time on the news how some senior citizen got scammed by a sleazy salesman or con artist.

  • BrianOceanBrianOcean

    Cold Calling is in many cases definitely a nescessity and most businesses simply don't have the luxury of customers who are coming to them so they have to advertise to get their name out.

    Any business owner has cold called in some for or another or they will inevitably go out of business. It's that simple.
    Some will pay a firm to do it for them or hire people to specifically prospect potential customers

    Like any business or really anything in life -there are honest people who may cold call you to sell you and dishonest people who may try to take money from you.

    I am in the investment business and many million dollar Real Estate/Oil an Gas/Precious Metal deals have been initiated by a cold call.

    Many stocks that are now household names were once pitched in a cold call while they were completely under the radar and not yet public- Those who did answer and did their due dillengence and invested are now Millionaires set for life.

    Cold calling has steadily and consistently paid the bills for many families in this country for decades.

    Construction-Medical Devices-Home Security-Precious Metals-Solar-Insurance-the list goes on and on.

    The US economy would be drastically affected if cold calling were to come to an end.

    Everyone calling you is not a charlatan. Just FYI

  • [Deleted User]FriendlyFemale (deleted user)
    edited June 2024

    I never said all they were. Sounds like a sore spot was hit, and that was not my intention.

  • BrianOceanBrianOcean

    No sore spot and I certainly did not mean to suggest you personally said they are all bad.

    There is clearly a stereotype about Sales in general-
    Just like Lawyers- Everyone hates them until they need one and then they may end up being your saviour.

  • [Deleted User]FriendlyFemale (deleted user)

    @BrianOcean =)

  • JustPlaneCuddleJustPlaneCuddle

    Honest to goodness, cold calling drives me insane. I get at least 20 solicitors at my door a week. It does not matter how many signs you put up, what you say to the sales people, nor if you have a dog trying to eat them alive. It's unreal how pushy they get.

    I do see a flip-side to this. I think there is a very specific decorum that should be presented in selling or suggesting a service to someone. I'm a photographer. I had out business cards on a constant basis. I would not exactly consider it cold calling if things happen to flow in a direction that dictates an in. I walk up to strangers all the time and tell them that I would love to photograph them. Granted, I am speaking free of charge and it's never a bad thing to pay someone a compliment. It all depends on set, setting, and intention. If you're working for say a MLM, it's going to be visible a mile away. People honestly hate that. If you want to find a target audience : be yourself. Find events and situations that call for suggesting your line of business and your particular scope of work. I went to AustinWitchfest this year as a vendor and I was the only photographer there. It was an absolute blast, I made some fantastic new friends and networked the death out of myself. I also gave away raffle prizes and actually involved myself with the guests and community by providing a photo-booth and a free photo. This is the perfect example of proper marketing and doing so in a minimally invasive yet memorable way.

    Just my 2 - cents!

  • CharlieBearCharlieBear Mod
    edited June 2024

    I hate cold calling. I have encountered people that are genuine and just doing their job and I am not hating on them when they are not being pushy or anything, but most of my experience is with people that will not leave you alone and it’s infuriating for someone like me because I am not the type to tell them to piss off. I can easily be taken advantage of because of this so I try not to engage at all, no matter what it is that they are selling.

  • SoosonSooson

    @CharlieBear A friend was a supervisor at a call center of a company that offered consulting services to small businesses. They would cold call all day. His top performer never ended a call. The only way to get him off the line if he callled you was to end the call yourself. By hanging up.

  • SoosonSooson
    edited June 2024

    @JustPlaneCuddle I don't even open the door anymore. They stand there for a minute. I suspect there is a tracking device that measure how long they were at the door and hanging around for a while may falsely indicate they actually talked to you and make their stats better.

  • OhioMikeOhioMike

    Anybody remember this when cold calling?

  • CuddleHugs01234CuddleHugs01234

    @BrianOcean I’m glad you share that. I learned something about cold calling from that! :)

  • SoosonSooson
    edited June 2024

    The owner of a warehouse for replacement parts by Ohare Airport listed his cat's name in the yellow pages as the VP of marketing. I helped him there for few months. whenever someone called and asked for the cat, we knew it was a cold call trying to sell some product or service. it was very helpful since once of the common tactics of cold callers when calling a business is mislead the person who picks up the phone to make them believe they already know the person they are asking for and have talked to the before.

  • [Deleted User]FriendlyFemale (deleted user)
    edited June 2024

    They do that at my work, too. I'll even bait them. Best when I worked at the roofing company a couple years ago...."When did you last speak to Jim about this?" They'll say...oh a week or two ago. I'd reply, I'm not sure how to help you with that one since Jim passed in 2015.

  • JustPlaneCuddleJustPlaneCuddle

    @Sooson, I stopped opening the door when a man tried to intimidate me by putting his hand high on the door to push it back open. Moron did not realize I would kick him if he tried to cross the threshold. Absolutely ridiculous. Since then, I speak to them through my door bell and they get so annoyed when I tell them I can handle my house repainting on my own. 🙃

  • SoosonSooson
    edited June 2024

    @JustPlaneCuddle I'm sure they are more aggressive with women. also, believe it or not, holding the hand up high against the door is a common sales tactic that is often used by the sub-humans that sell cars for a living. One will stand at the door kind of blocking the entrance with his hand while another is talking to you. it's another form of psychological pressure
    but trying to push the door back open is concerning.

  • JubalJubal

    I have a very dim view of cold callers, to me, it's just barely this side of being a predatory practice. Especially with all the resources of the internet at one's disposal nowadays. Such callers often prey upon people who lack the ability to assert themselves to say NO to the caller.

    Even if, by some incredible chance, the person calling me is selling something that I need or might want AND is by some miracle at a price that's worthwhile to me, I'm still not going to buy it simply because of the sales method being used. To me it's not much different than an aggressive door-to-door sales pitch.

    Both are rude, and I do not abide rudeness.

  • panda619panda619

    I had a sales job that required cold/calling. I didn’t last long.

  • SeekerInVASeekerInVA

    Unfortunately it works at least well enough for the practice to continue.

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