It’s extremely difficult to leave an overwhelming impression in only a matter of seconds… over the phone, calling from an unknown number.
I say extremely difficult, but not impossible – and the factors behind the microscopic possibility are leaning more towards luck than actual skill.
“Volume negates luck”? More like volume increases your chances.
In retrospect it’s a whole lot easier to leave just enough of an impression in only a matter of seconds, to keep the person on the other line on the call, to establish and then maintain a conversation… and consequently, it’s a whole lot easier to leave an overwhelming impression in a matter of minutes.
I don’t believe I went through it wrong. I still think the approach to just jump in and get straight to the point with what I was selling was respectful to the person on the other line. In my mind, if they were looking for it, then they’d stay… and if not, I wasn’t going to push it – again, with respect to the other person’s time.
I mean, I’m just an unknown number. It doesn’t help that I’ve heard from some people who either picked up or texted that the number I used was apparently flagged as possible spam or even a scam.
With all that written down I believe that in order for me to provide maximum impact in the least amount of time, I ought to know when to push for a longer conversation, and when to just go straight to the point.
In order for me to know this, I should be able to gauge the person on the other line in a matter of seconds. Factors out of my control – quality of the connection, other person’s choice of using loudspeaker or not; surroundings, environment, disposition, legitimacy of the person on the other end.
Factor within my control – Script.
Conclusion: In cold-calling, the odds are stacked against you.
I’m reminded of ads that pass through my feed, particularly of those calling for workers willing to work on offshore oil rigs; They tell you about how you’re fed nicely, how there’s a gym on the rig, and, most of all, how you have the potential of getting paid pretty high for a couple of month’s work… but they don’t tell you much about how the odds are quite possibly stacked against you.
I don’t blame my childhood friend, or my manager. In fact, through this short run, I’d like to believe they’re better friends now. And I know I just said it’s a short run, but I’d like to believe that I pushed enough to get enough exposure, to have enough experience, enough scar tissue to confirm my aforementioned conclusion, and, also, stuff that they said along the way:
Cold-calling is a cold world. It’s difficult by default.
With that in mind, you already know it’s a war – so prepare for battle.
The stress becomes manageable because it’s predictable.
I don’t think it’s something just anyone can do… and I don’t think it’s something just anyone can do, for an extended period of time. It just so happened that my manager was someone who crushed it.
With all that in mind, I say again, if I was younger, I would have probably endured the path, learned a different skill set, and, sure, I’d be a different man today.
But… yeah. I am who I am now. By the grace of God, I am who I am now… apparently, for better, and for worse.
Rewind to when we were negotiating and formalizing things, the week before I actually started work. My manager and I eventually came to the agreement that I would be working 8 hours, but the first hour would always be reserved for training. In retrospect, the said hour was spent with me listening to him making calls, listening to my best, medium and worst rated calls, talking about the script, talking about how to approach certain business categories, and so on. I appreciated him making the time – it was clear that I wasn’t the only cold caller on board, and there were other people to manage, train and listen to.
The busy schedule of my manager meant that I didn’t always spend the entire hour with him – and in the times that he would need to head out, he had me watch videos, or listen to e-books: By Alex Hormozi, and then Jim Rohn.
We may have listened to Jim Rohn at the tail end, but I am still thankful because he hit me with something: “Become a millionaire not for the million dollars, but for what it will make of you to achieve it.”
Off the bat this hit me because, yeah, he was right – the goal isn’t to get a million dollars, it’s to develop yourself (in my words, to learn, to apply, to reflect, to adjust, to reiterate, to compound) so you earn a million dollars. You become a millionaire before you get the million to KEEP the million, and even grow it.
Then as it lingered, it hit me harder, it hit me deeper; Perhaps it was the same, the other way around.
I lost millions because I wasn’t a millionaire. I lost relationships because I wasn’t a partner.
The way I listened to Mr. Rohn was well coordinated, because after this realization, my manager had me listen to one of his speeches, uploaded as a YouTube video, entitled: “Jim Rohn – The Major KEY to Your Better Future is YOU – Full Seminar (Greek Subtitles)“
In this video, Jim talked about how it was important for us to prioritize personal development… and, also, how it was absolutely critical for us to set goals. Not verbatim, but he said something like, if you don’t have goals, chances are, you lose your capital. Or your savings. Or your resources.
He went on to talk about how these goals should be split, I believe, two ways, then three ways: First, short term and long term goals, and then economical goals, goals for ‘things’, and then personal goals.
I just updated my resume, for some reason. In the process I realized, if my business started, the notches I add to this document and the items I add to my LinkedIn profile (representing my career) wouldn’t matter.
It’s one time to change to a totally different line of work, compared to changing from working for a business to running a business.
Maybe that’s the change that needs to happen. At the very least, it’s looking to be part of my short and long term economical goals.
And speaking of goals, I remember Alex Hormozi – and to keep it in my head (at least, for a longer period of time), I’d like to share two things that help all the way to the core, whether I be cold-calling, or just doing sales overall… it’s solid confidence (in yourself, in the product you’re selling), and genuine curiosity (sincere compassion to the general public, and to each and every person you encounter). Yeah, that’s definitely something I’m picking up and using, from this day forward.
Side note: I still agree with Naval when he mentioned that we all need to learn how to build and how to do sales, in order to be unstoppable. The only difference now is that I know for a fact that in order for us to make some serious sales, there are many more things to consider on top of cold-calling.
But, sorry, going back to goals, Alex reminded us of a better way to approach them, just as there’s a better way to approach problems. He calls it the Brick Exercise:
“Think of a brick. Write down as many different uses for it as you can in a short time (paperweight, doorstop, plant holder, trophy if painted, weight for training, wedge, etc.). Then consider changing its size, material, or shape — and the list expands further.”
He shared this idea to help us in creating what he calls a Grand Slam offer… But I’d like to think it also applies in our setting of goals. So, here, let’s go ahead and fuse it all into what I’m calling the Rohn-Hormozi approach:
- Pray. Pray again. Acknowledge the Lord, and proceed, knowing that He is true to His Word, particularly where we read that as we acknowledge Him, He will establish and direct our goal-setting.
- List down all short term goals. List down all long term goals. Categorize these goals further into economic goals, material goals, and personal development goals.
- For each goal, list down any and all problems we will face on the way (not just the main one — all the friction points, fears, and obstacles along the journey).
- Turn each problem into a solution… Analyze data, and add/edit/delete. Clarify, consolidate and eliminate. Generate the full list first, then later decide which solutions to deliver, how to deliver them, and which ones to keep or trim when you stack the offer.
It’s been a wild ride, man. I’ve spoken to thousands of people over the span of a month and change… Even if I spent literal seconds with a majority of them, I can go ahead and confirm that Australians are some of the friendliest people you could ever meet. I mean, I was a potential spammer, and (1) one in three or four people still decided to pick up, (2) and though I got my share of “piss/fuck/sod offs” the overwhelming majority of people still had the decency to be courteous by way of telling me, nicely, that they weren’t interested.
I jumped into this with little to no expectations… but even then, I did my best, what I thought was best, and/or what my manager thought was best. One thing I realized is that this is certainly something for folks younger than me… something for folks like me to experience, but not necessarily to endure.
I have learned. I have served. I will be of service… elsewhere.
With all of this said, I have a total of three lists I owe myself.
Time for the next chapter. These are extremely interesting times.
May the Lord continue to bless us all.
May the Lord continue to be glorified in all things.
Amen, and amen.
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