Ask HN: Have you ever cold called someone?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5676710

by samfisher83 • 13 years ago

10 18 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I know a lot of tech people are kind of shy. There are some people who are super connected, but these people usually have no problems cold calling or just going up to random people and just starting a conversation. How can you go from the coder with limited social skills to being able to randomly call someone up or meet someone and make a sale or at least hold a conversation without out becoming awkward?

Has anyone done called someone you wanted to meet? What are some tips? When you have no direct connections to your target market how would you go about getting them?

I hear the saying "If you aren't networking you are not working." And I feel cold calling would be ultimate form of networking as it really pushes you outside your comfort zone. I hate the term networking. I would rather just think meeting people and making friends, but maybe they are different.

lifeguard2• 13 years ago

Google Timothy Ferriss, he has written a lot about this topic.

samfisher833• 13 years ago

This guy does not sound like the awkward programmer who some how managed to break out. Sounds like he had some balls to begin with.

lifeguard2• 13 years ago

edit to add: http://www.candogo.com/search/insight?i=1044

OK. Try Zig:

http://www.candogo.com/search/insight?i=130

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOlpzlqzrRE

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cold-calling-techniques-step...

"A sale is made on every call", so sell the value you can bring. Have a minimum viable personality.

http://blog.icyball.com/2011/10/20/minimum-viable-personalit...

_b8r0• 13 years ago

There's a difference between networking and cold calling.

I've done cold calling in the past. It's a numbers game. If you have 1000 people to call through and you can make even 10 calls an hour for 2 hours a day, you'll get through the list in approximately 50 days or 10 working weeks. A success rate of 1-2% would be good. If you get 10 good leads out of it and 5 of those convert you're doing very well, but then a funny thing happens. You quickly find out who's interested but not right now, and who's not interested and not worth calling back. Scratch the latter from your database and suddenly that conversion rate goes up.

Cold calling is a lot like email marketing. It feels bad sometimes to do it, but if you do it right, and you do it well then you'll be much better off than others.

The only thing I would say is that you might not be the right person to cold call. If the quality of the information you have is good and you can pay someone more suited to this to go through and keep the data clean then you're definitely better off doing so.

samfisher833• 13 years ago

If you can cold call someone I feel it would make you better at networking as well. It is easy enough to just meet your friend's friends or other awkward programmers. However it is another thing to go to talk to a CEO.

jchesters• 13 years ago

Cold calling isn't the same as networking -- calling someone if they aren't expecting you, haven't requested you call, or might not even know you is not the same thing as talking to someone at an event.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that the people who have no problems just going up to random people at events and starting a conversation undoubtedly started sometime being shy and socially awkward. Nearly all of them will tell you that they got past it by pretending to be confident.

You don't have to pretend to be super-confident, just put a smile on your face, be friendly, and fake it. Some people you talk to will also struggle to be social, they might seem rude or cold but it could be they're also shy. They might appreciate someone taking the time to talk to them.

Making friends is slightly different to meeting people, or making business contacts. That doesn't mean you don't like the people you meet, but someone you make as a business contact doesn't have to be someone you'd want to go to the pub with, just one-on-one. But if it helps, don't think of it as networking -- just as meeting interesting people.

And as for calling someone you want to meet, calling is very personal and can be considered invasive. Sure, it would be very confident -- but there are better ways. Find out who you know who could introduce you to someone who knows them, or attend an event they will be at where you could meet them.

I hope some of this is helpful.

147• 13 years ago

I have cold called people. It's really scary and still scares me today. I try to warm up prospects by emailing them first, but that dramatically reduces the amount of conversations you're going to get.

At the end of the day you gotta do what you gotta do to get your startup off the ground. And that means talking to customers.

MostAwesomeDude• 13 years ago

I'M...ACTING!

But seriously, acting is the answer. Don't be a cold caller. Be yourself, as an actor, pretending to be a cold caller. (Actually, don't pretend to be cold caller. Pretend to be a decent, normal person.)

hobs• 13 years ago

Yep, as a man who has trained people to be on the phone with other people, acting is your main bet. You want to essentially partition yourself, and I mean in the sense of literally saying to yourself "I am going to put myself in a box, and I am going to make up a show personality for the crowd." With that in mind, and given that you are not you, it gives you more freedom to be "that" guy. Remember, this is not something you can try at, this is something you commit to head first and remember there is nothing to be afraid of because DUN DUN DUN, THEY ARE ACTING TOO.

Also, even if you are a red hot salesmen, cold calling is still shit. I would definitely try to prune as much as possible, most of the time I just give up on that and try a different tact.

lifeisstillgood3• 13 years ago

Ten minutes can get you much much closer than just "random" cold calling.

first, what are you selling? Probably you, your skills? You said target market? What is that? How well do you know that industry? Do you know anyone in it?

Second, what value is that to a customer? Do not choose "coding". Choose "writing code that ensures your xxx meets regulations more consitently"

Third, identify what sort of person cares about their xxx meets regulations - what are thier job titles. Are any listed in the industry blogs and magazines.

And then ...

... start by creating a blog on your target market (The FooBarFishBlog) and call up 20 people and ask to interview them about the industry and their role in it, where they see it in 5 years, what would they most like the President to do etc.

Suddenly you will a) know some people in the industry, b) know more about the industry than you expected and c) have started networking without cold calling (selling something no one wants is crap. Everyone wants to see their name in print)

now please - tell us more - what industry, what experience do you have. The more detail you provide. the more we can help. go do !

orangethirty• 13 years ago

For those interested to learn cold calling, I offer short webinars on how to do so. They are specfically tailored for us software people. They cost $299 and are geared towards getting newcomers accustomed to doing it successfully. Shoot me an email if you are interested.

chris_dcosta• 13 years ago

If you are asking about how to get over the fear of cold calling from someone who is naturally shy, take it from me, the first few calls will be awkward and you'll trip over your (probably prepared) speech. Don't worry about that, make sure that the first few calls are the least important ones. Use them as practice runs.

Try also to go via a switchboard, or a reception desk. This way you can 1) practice on the receptionist 2) get a feel on how responsive the company is to this approach 3) get some names to contact directly

As someone mentioned here it is a numbers game, and believe me the more you do the easier it gets. You build up resilience to the responses, and after a while you find an approach that works for you.

Another one I tried was pretending to be someone else, for example a student doing research, (ahem social engineering student haha) and as I got into the role, it became dead easy to speak freely....

seanccox3• 13 years ago

I had to do this as a business intelligence journalist in Turkey, having come to the job from an editorial background. There was quite a learning curve from sitting behind a screen to having to speak to actual people. As I've sat here, distracted with answering your question, I've drafted this copy three times, because I found there is a lot I actually have to say as a result of my experience here (which was initially terrifying). I'll stick to the phone calls though...

First, calls are not networking, and networking isn't making friends. It's possible that you can sit down with a percentage of your network and share a beer, but I imagine you won't be turning these people into your board gaming buddies – besides, that's not the point. You are calling/meeting folks under the pretext of exchanging goods/services, so don't confuse this with an opportunity to 'just be yourself'. Some have suggested acting, to that I would add a few specific tips.

The real trick is preparation. That means, knowing who you want to speak to and what you want to say. If you are calling, have it written down in front of you to refer to when you are learning.

I worked out a flow chart on paper with boxes for the things I knew and the things I didn't, so I could pitch the right people and ensure I both conveyed and received the information I needed to follow up. I would fill out part of the chart while doing my pre-call research on the company/person. It included boxes for a lot of contingencies: receptionist's name assistant's name/email CEO's name/email (our target's were always CEOs) CEO's availability – Can I schedule the meeting now? follow up via email – Do I have the email/phone number of the CEO? Good time to call back – Is s/he available after 5PM? CEO's mobile number? CEO's travel details/conferences s/he is attending?

I noticed a trend with my calls that everyone would ask if I could send an email, so, I took to preempting the request by doing a 15-30 second introduction about the publication I worked for and telling them I wanted to send an email with more detail. Every one of those seconds is important, so practice speaking clearly and on message, don't waste time with adjectives or a grocery list of facts about your company/service – explain who you are, why you called, what you hope to accomplish, and end with why it's relevant to them.

In my case, I usually referred to a previously published comment from the person, or referenced another CEO in the industry who gave us a meeting and explained that we would like their comments as well to balance our coverage. If you are selling a good/service, knowing their problem and how your service solves it is probably a good idea. The thing is though, the CEO might not be aware that the problem is THEIR problem.

So, alternatively, if you can cite a competitor of theirs who is a customer of yours, and share some results they gained from your product, that would help the CEO do the math for why they might want your goods.

I also learned that on a given cold call, I would likely hit the HQ receptionist (or the CEO/GM's secretary) and then get transferred to their assistant. Initially, I wasted time trying to explain myself (in not my native language) to a receptionist who could care less, so the first thing I changed was to stop asking for the CEO by name. Instead, I would quickly introduce myself and company name, then ask for the CEO's assistant. In Turkey, the assistant is the gatekeeper anyway, so on a cold call I was going to be referred to him/her. It was best to prepare to pitch them as well, in the same manner I described above.

Most of the time, this worked, but it was very rare that I could schedule a meeting during the cold call. So, following up is important as well. In doing so, linking to the information you cite in the call got me a lot of results, but as was indicated, it is something of a numbers game, so being discerning about who you call is the best way to improve your success ratio.

This worked for me, having never previously made a work-related phone call, and I scored meetings with roughly 300 CEOs and government ministers. I learn by doing and making mistakes, so I wasted a lot of time tripping over myself. Hopefully, these tips will at least save you some false starts. Good luck.

lifeisstillgood3• 13 years ago

That's great advice, succinctly put - wow.

So, I can't wait for the rest of the "terrifying experiences I learnt from". More !

seanccox3• 13 years ago

Haha, hardly succinct, I imagine.

The experiences don't look so terrifying, in hindsight, but they felt that way at the time. I would avoid picking up the phone at all costs, and at networking events I would grab coffee and then hide behind my laptop. It wasn't until I started putting myself in an actor's frame of mind that I could get comfortable with it.

I should emphasize that I was an actor in college. Specifically, I did improv comedy. So networking should have been easy, but I just psyched myself out or didn't engage when I had the opportunity.

I got over it with methods and practice. I kid you not, I made a script: "Hi, my name is Sean and I'm a business analyst. What line of work are you in and what brings you to this conference?"

Unsurprisingly, that worked really well.

I also reverse engineered things that other people did when talking to me. An appropriately timed joke is a great way to break into a conversation, or a question about one of the panel discussions. Simply asking, "What did you think about X, Y, and Z," can open the door for someone to comfortably network. I found that exchanging business cards was really easy after that, and most people would respond to a follow up email if asked to elaborate or share sources.

Another trick is to find opportunities to introduce people to one another. Learn what people are hoping to get out of the conference, and if you've spoken to someone with a similar interest or a need, connect those people. That tends to be a great way to ensure they will respond to your follow up.

Also, sharing information. This might not be helpful to everyone, but at the time I was doing this work, Turkey seemed esoteric to a number of the foreigners I met, while I've been here for seven years (and thus, I don't really see it as exotic anymore). I would ask comparative questions about a person's sector and how it works back home, and then by making observations about how things work here, I earned a lot of unexpected credibility. At that point, it was much easier to relax and break character at events, and a reply to an email was almost guaranteed.

I should note, however, that I never had to sell anything. That is something I wouldn't know how to begin to comment on.

samfisher833• 13 years ago

This is an awesome answer. I might just need to practice this act 20 or 30 times before I need to use it.

seanccox3• 13 years ago

Find casual, low-stakes places to practice. Bars and parties are analogous settings, with different goals/stakes, and the same methods work... It's all just about trying to be in character mode.

Let me know how it goes, and feel free to send me an email. I'm happy to help in any way I can. Cheers.

Ask HN: Have you ever cold called someone?

Related Stories