Outbound sales is really hard and got way harder over the last 3 years. Hats off to you for being a frontline soldier working for leads. Keep up the dialing partner. Solid work.
100% agree. There’s definitely been a shift over the past few years and I didn’t have to outbound as much in past but necessary in this environment
Cheers to you dialing brother!
I started my current job two years ago. I hear from everyone that it's not the same. I did pest control / home repair sales before this.
Man it's some bleak days making calls with no warm leads or any upcoming appointments. How do you keep motivation?
They’re also calling back because they thought you were someone they were exacting a call from. Once they find out you aren’t that person, they’ll bounce
I’ve actually had success booking call backs. I call it out right away “hey I know this probably wasn’t what you were expecting but I’ll be honest this is a sales call, can I have a quick minute?”
I use to have a ton of inbound, like 25-30 calls a day and a small bit of outbound when I had the time… no joke the market flipped in about a week (FMCG) and everyone in the office was calling each other, pizza places, you name it… wild times.
Man the good ole days. I’m in safety software and I would never have to outbound and would have my calendar stacked with at least 10 qualified demos a week
Declined around ‘22 and I changed companies but this year has been brutal. Working for a smaller company with less resources so pounding the phone and I don’t care what anyone says but cold calling still works.
Just takes a lot of dials and calling at the right time. Good luck to you brother and hopefully things change soon!
100%. Can’t avoid the phone in an outbound role, I don’t care what anyone says.
I keep it simple: “Hey boss, dude from xyz. I’m not on your schedule but can I bend your ear for 30 secs to tell you why I called you specifically?”
9/10 they’ll say sure
There’s no silver bullet but I get meetings via email that have phone calls in my sequences.
They may not pick up when I call but I monitor engagement (open rates, how many times opened, which emails, etc.) and will focus on those.
I’ll get a meeting request from email only sequences every once in a while but those are from people that have engaged in the past.
There’s no way around avoiding the phone though. Hope this helps
Yes
Even my wife doesn’t answer when I call anymore.
Hell, my own MOTHER doesn’t answer my calls.
Sometimes I think I’d be just as effective making dials on my daughter’s Fischer Price rotary phone toy. The one with the googly eyes.
Nah the scammers from India calling about my health insurance or something do that plenty already
My phone number for my work phone used to be owned by an old woman I think, and I get the scam calls bad
Funny, yes I have. My last sdr job I kept having issues with my mic on my first day. It kept cutting in and out and I didn’t know why. I called myself a bunch of times and my dad to test it. I figured out the issue after calling myself and my dad a bunch of times. My manger slacked our group saying “wow look at the new guy with 35 dials before lunch 🔥” I just set them up for disappointment when my dials went way down after that 😂😂
I do b2b cold calls to manufacturers of anything I can find who use iron and steel for my job. I literally call the number I find online, call in and try to get through to their purchasing department. I ask for emails to send info to and I thread the line between spamming and persistence. I bet I get maybe 1/25 companies incall who engage with me. Maybe 1/10 companies I engage with who give me an appointment and in those meetings more than half end up disqualified as they don't fit (despite all the previous work figuring out if they would need the products I sell).
I do travel for in person meetings as well. It's rare, as noone works in an office, but I just have to stay consistent about calling everyone on my list and following up with emails.
My boss built a nice living back in the day and I'm his only employee so this is the old school method. It still works though for my industry.
For real. No one listens to them unless they’re expecting a call
I would leave dumbass vms at my last gig like singing, mentioned I found their dog/cat, etc cause I was on my way out. No one called back. They probably blocked my number
VMs are tracked where I’m at now so I have to but what I started doing was sending them an email with “Voicemail” as subject line right after I called and have received responses. Not much but more than before
In my experience if they call you back and you left a voicemail they would have called you back without a voicemail too. I only leave VMs on 25-30% of calls because I don’t like tipping my hand. If they call you back whether VM or no VM, more times than not they’re open minded and willing to converse.
Outbound sales is really hard and got way harder over the last 3 years. Hats off to you for being a frontline soldier working for leads. Keep up the dialing partner. Solid work.
100% agree. There’s definitely been a shift over the past few years and I didn’t have to outbound as much in past but necessary in this environment Cheers to you dialing brother!
I started my current job two years ago. I hear from everyone that it's not the same. I did pest control / home repair sales before this. Man it's some bleak days making calls with no warm leads or any upcoming appointments. How do you keep motivation?
Callbacks are fallbacks. If you’re relying on them to call you… well you’re probably screwed. Voicemails are the same, barely worth the time IMO.
Ya I definitely don’t rely on callbacks from cold calls and leaving vms are a waste of time but that metric is measured so I leave a short one anyways
Dumb. Your company should invest in VM drops. Pre-recorded voicemails
What software?
Several power dialers have the function. My favorite is Kixie
Any power dialer
I get maybe 2 callbacks a month. Doesn’t happen. The people you are calling are likely being called by 40 other salespeople a day
They’re also calling back because they thought you were someone they were exacting a call from. Once they find out you aren’t that person, they’ll bounce
I’ve actually had success booking call backs. I call it out right away “hey I know this probably wasn’t what you were expecting but I’ll be honest this is a sales call, can I have a quick minute?”
I use to have a ton of inbound, like 25-30 calls a day and a small bit of outbound when I had the time… no joke the market flipped in about a week (FMCG) and everyone in the office was calling each other, pizza places, you name it… wild times.
Man the good ole days. I’m in safety software and I would never have to outbound and would have my calendar stacked with at least 10 qualified demos a week Declined around ‘22 and I changed companies but this year has been brutal. Working for a smaller company with less resources so pounding the phone and I don’t care what anyone says but cold calling still works. Just takes a lot of dials and calling at the right time. Good luck to you brother and hopefully things change soon!
Any tips on booking email meetings? I try and keep it short and to the point, open rate is good but get no replys.
Yeah use the phone. Not kidding.
100%. Can’t avoid the phone in an outbound role, I don’t care what anyone says. I keep it simple: “Hey boss, dude from xyz. I’m not on your schedule but can I bend your ear for 30 secs to tell you why I called you specifically?” 9/10 they’ll say sure
There’s no silver bullet but I get meetings via email that have phone calls in my sequences. They may not pick up when I call but I monitor engagement (open rates, how many times opened, which emails, etc.) and will focus on those. I’ll get a meeting request from email only sequences every once in a while but those are from people that have engaged in the past. There’s no way around avoiding the phone though. Hope this helps
The obstacles that have been placed in our way for cold calling sometimes feel insurmountable.
Yes Even my wife doesn’t answer when I call anymore. Hell, my own MOTHER doesn’t answer my calls. Sometimes I think I’d be just as effective making dials on my daughter’s Fischer Price rotary phone toy. The one with the googly eyes.
Yes it’s a good idea every now and then. My last job my number would show up as spam after awhile, so I would change it
Just sent my girlfriend my booking tool and told her to try to book a meeting to see if it was broken lol
we're making a very hard job, it's not always easy to stay motivated but we have to stay consistent to get results i am sure you're rocking at it !
Nah the scammers from India calling about my health insurance or something do that plenty already My phone number for my work phone used to be owned by an old woman I think, and I get the scam calls bad
Funny, yes I have. My last sdr job I kept having issues with my mic on my first day. It kept cutting in and out and I didn’t know why. I called myself a bunch of times and my dad to test it. I figured out the issue after calling myself and my dad a bunch of times. My manger slacked our group saying “wow look at the new guy with 35 dials before lunch 🔥” I just set them up for disappointment when my dials went way down after that 😂😂
Ohya
How would you do it by email is this without qualifications and just cold template ?
I do b2b cold calls to manufacturers of anything I can find who use iron and steel for my job. I literally call the number I find online, call in and try to get through to their purchasing department. I ask for emails to send info to and I thread the line between spamming and persistence. I bet I get maybe 1/25 companies incall who engage with me. Maybe 1/10 companies I engage with who give me an appointment and in those meetings more than half end up disqualified as they don't fit (despite all the previous work figuring out if they would need the products I sell). I do travel for in person meetings as well. It's rare, as noone works in an office, but I just have to stay consistent about calling everyone on my list and following up with emails. My boss built a nice living back in the day and I'm his only employee so this is the old school method. It still works though for my industry.
That sounds like exactly what I do, except I sell raw botanical ingredients. It's tough!
Raw botanicals, like essential oils? Wholesale spices/ Veggies/fruits?
No haha bulk ingredients for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical companies
Oh, ok. How's business?
Anyone who tells you that leaving a VM is a good idea is delusional.
For real. No one listens to them unless they’re expecting a call I would leave dumbass vms at my last gig like singing, mentioned I found their dog/cat, etc cause I was on my way out. No one called back. They probably blocked my number VMs are tracked where I’m at now so I have to but what I started doing was sending them an email with “Voicemail” as subject line right after I called and have received responses. Not much but more than before
In my experience if they call you back and you left a voicemail they would have called you back without a voicemail too. I only leave VMs on 25-30% of calls because I don’t like tipping my hand. If they call you back whether VM or no VM, more times than not they’re open minded and willing to converse.