

Ask HN: Have you ever cold called someone? - samfisher83

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?<p>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?<p>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.
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seanccox
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.

~~~
samfisher83
This is an awesome answer. I might just need to practice this act 20 or 30
times before I need to use it.

~~~
seanccox
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.

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jchesters
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.

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iuguy
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.

~~~
samfisher83
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.

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chris_dcosta
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....

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147
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.

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orangethirty
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.

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

~~~
samfisher83
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.

~~~
lifeguard
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...](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cold-calling-techniques-stephan-
schiffman/1100627480)

"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...](http://blog.icyball.com/2011/10/20/minimum-viable-personality-
product/)

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lifeisstillgood
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 !

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MostAwesomeDude
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
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.

