New to cold calling

hello, i am new to this forum and i am new to cold calling.
i work for one of the biggest cell phone companies in US, and business been really slow, on top of of that our location does not see much traffic, so our managers want us to make calls to people to add features and they want us to make customers come in and resign the contracts and get new phones.
Now when people come in i have no problems with people face to face, but making them come in is a big problem for me, i call them and i simply do not know how to start the conversation and people just often hang up. And most people look for free phones, and we have only one free phone, and i cant nor my manager cant do anything about prices, so i dont know what to do, i really dont want to get fired, because there are no jobs out there right now.

im not very experienced sales person, and i probably sound like one, but life took me that path, and i have to make the best of it, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thank you in advance -mp057812

Re: New to cold calling#2

Welcome... I wish I knew more about your business to offer you suggestion...

Much Aloha.. shds; ;bg -rattus58

Getting their attention#3

Quote:

Now when people come in i have no problems with people face to face, but making them come in is a big problem for me, i call them and i simply do not know how to start the conversation and people just often hang up.

If you are calling them out of the blue then chances are good that your call is an intrusion and you will need to grab their attention quickly or they will end the call. You can usually get someone's attention by talking to them about something which they are interested in. -Seth

Re: New to cold calling#4

Quote:

I work for one of the biggest cell phone companies in US, and business been really slow, on top of of that our location does not see much traffic, so our managers want us to make calls to people to add features and they want us to make customers come in and resign the contracts and get new phones.

From what little I can ascertain from your post, it sounds like you have your work cut out for you. It also sounds like there is a huge opportunity for you if you're the type of person who will seize the initiative rather than waiting to see what comes down the pike.

Here's why I say that. You mention you work for one of the biggest cell phone companies. If the directive for "cold calling" was coming down from headquarters (from the top), it would be coming down with "how to" information, i.e., scripts, training, etc. Of course if they were not providing that, and expect to be led from the bottom, they deserve business to be slow. That said, you mention that the directive is coming from your "managers". It looks like they are feeling the heat. SO--they want people like you to take the pressure off. They tell you what they want done, but they don't tell you how to do it, perhaps because they haven't a clue.

If you're willing to work rather than just ponder, you can move up the ladder by doing what your bosses don't know how to do. Namely create new business.

You need a good telephone script, and I suggest you avail yourself of the resources available. Bill Good's work, Prospecting Your Way to Sales Success, is excellent. For the moment, I'll provide the following suggestions.

Call with a specific PURPOSE.
The people you are calling are already customers--treat them as such, and introduce yourself as someone who has been assigned to manage their account.
Ask them a for moment to REVIEW their current services and equipment.
Ask them if they are satisfied with their current account arrangements.
Mention that you notice that they have not TAKEN advantage of (name the specific services.)
Explain the features and benefits of the service(s) they are without.
SUGGEST that they add those service(s), and you will be happy to take care of that now.
Create an "either-or" way of handling the transaction. Ask which they prefer.
Finalize and SUMMARIZE the transaction, and thank them for continuing to choose your company.

Those are tasks. It's up to YOU to learn and practice ways to accomplish those tasks by developing a superior style of communication. The opportunity is there for you. -Ace Coldiron

Re: New to cold calling#5

ace youve been great help to me, i will start developing my own script , and you understood my situation exactly, the directive is not from headquarters, but it is from my management that takes the heat, and are clueless to how calling customers work so they are of no help to me, and when i was hired of course that was not part of my description, but i cant just quite right now just because i dont like doing cold calls, because there are no jobs out there right. Opportunity is there of course, best salesmen make commision on regular bases of 4000 or more, which is pretty good for a cellphone salesman in my opinion. -mp057812

Re: New to cold calling#6

Quote:

From what little I can ascertain from your post, it sounds like you have your work cut out for you. It also sounds like there is a huge opportunity for you if you're the type of person who will seize the initiative rather than waiting to see what comes down the pike.

Here's why I say that. You mention you work for one of the biggest cell phone companies. If the directive for "cold calling" was coming down from headquarters (from the top), it would be coming down with "how to" information, i.e., scripts, training, etc. Of course if they were not providing that, and expect to be led from the bottom, they deserve business to be slow. That said, you mention that the directive is coming from your "managers". It looks like they are feeling the heat. SO--they want people like you to take the pressure off. They tell you what they want done, but they don't tell you how to do it, perhaps because they haven't a clue.

If you're willing to work rather than just ponder, you can move up the ladder by doing what your bosses don't know how to do. Namely create new business.

You need a good telephone script, and I suggest you avail yourself of the resources available. Bill Good's work, Prospecting Your Way to Sales Success, is excellent. For the moment, I'll provide the following suggestions.

Call with a specific PURPOSE.
The people you are calling are already customers--treat them as such, and introduce yourself as someone who has been assigned to manage their account.
Ask them a for moment to REVIEW their current services and equipment.
Ask them if they are satisfied with their current account arrangements.
Mention that you notice that they have not TAKEN advantage of (name the specific services.)
Explain the features and benefits of the service(s) they are without.
SUGGEST that they add those service(s), and you will be happy to take care of that now.
Create an "either-or" way of handling the transaction. Ask which they prefer.
Finalize and SUMMARIZE the transaction, and thank them for continuing to choose your company.

Those are tasks. It's up to YOU to learn and practice ways to accomplish those tasks by developing a superior style of communication. The opportunity is there for you.

Nicely done there Ace..... That's why you earn the BIG bucks..... :)

Much Aloha... Tom shds; ;bg -rattus58

Re: New to cold calling#7

this is something i tried to come up on my own:

before you read it i just wanna let you know that usually after 18 month of service you are automatically eligible to get whats called an upgrade and resign your contract and get discounted cell phone, this is just a way im trying to make customers come to me and not their closest big cell phone company store lol

Hi My name is Mike and I am calling from big cell phone company .
I have been assigned to monitor your account, and if I could have couple of minutes of your time to discuss your account with big cell phone company.
It is part of my job to make sure that all our customers get the best value out of their cell phone service.
I would like to inform you that you have still 6 month left on your contract, and you’ve been granted a special opportunity to receive any cell phone without paying full price and receiving on average 150$ or more savings on the equipment.
This could done because I have spoken to my management, and as a valued customers you are allowed to actually end your contract now without a penalty and resign a new 2 year contract, which would actually save you 6 month of contract obligation. Instead of waiting 6 more month and THEN getting a new contract and receiving new equipment, you will actually be able to get a new cell phone today, cancel your contract and start a new 2 year contract now without waiting for your current contract to end or without paying 175$ cancellation fee.
Would it be something you would interested in?
Please feel free to come in and take a look at the possible equipment and further discuss the possibilities to save more money on your monthly bill. -mp057812

Re: New to cold calling#8

I think you put yourself at a disadvantage by introducing yourself in the opening at a time when the customer is the least interested.

I also think it is a mistake to do all of the talking trying to interest them in your offer instead of finding out what they are already interested in that your product can satisfy. -Seth