Sales people/cold calls

[Fedorgasm]

The big problem I have noticed in sales is not sales itself but the lack of support to get the product or service that people are selling. I have been on the back end where I am working on what the client was actually sold and they were sold stuff we could not adequately support or provide at all.

The worst thing is having to support a client that is expecting something that was sold to them and you do not have the resources to get the job done correctly or on time. You're basically forced to do it because people above you are getting the big pay out. So the client and internal resources are coming at you when internally we all knew what was sold was crap to begin with anyway.

This happened to me before. The sales team sold a service that we don't even provide, and then we had to scramble to create it, and of course it's shitty with a bunch of bugs to be worked out and it takes so many resources to make it work that I think the company is actually losing money on the deal.

And the worst part is that the sales guys got their commission and then left the company, so I think they knew they were screwing us.

 

[Fedorgasm]

Can someone explain why a company would do cold calling as opposed to doing marketing? I don't understand cold calling when it is far more annoying than just doing marketing/advertising and let the customer decide if they want to make contact or not.

Because it's harder to ignore.

Even in this day and age, many people still don't want to be rude and hang up on someone. Sales people make a living off of this principle.

Once everyone just hangs up immediately then cold calling will stop.

Same thing with door to door sales. People don't want to be rude and close the door in another person's face. This is how they get their pitch out.

The key is to just close the door in their face. You don't have to yell or be mean, but just as soon as they start talking just say no thanks and close the door.

 

[ferrisjso]

Because it's harder to ignore.

Even in this day and age, many people still don't want to be rude and hang up on someone. Sales people make a living off of this principle.

Once everyone just hangs up immediately then cold calling will stop.

Same thing with door to door sales. People don't want to be rude and close the door in another person's face. This is how they get their pitch out.

The key is to just close the door in their face. You don't have to yell or be mean, but just as soon as they start talking just say no thanks and close the door.

This day is coming soon. The younger generation has stopped picking up the phone and largely adopted the principle "if its important they'll text me". These techniques only work on older people and many of them have adopted the IIITTM path too. Many don't answer knocks unless they are expecting someone. You can also use cameras to see whose at the door.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

It's been proven time and time again to be ineffective with B2C, but can be effective in B2B. The best strategy I've had on work on me is when they don't push anything, just bring up their product and ask to send an information package. It gets kept in file cabinet for a while but eventually when said product does become needed, I remember that call and info. Wouldn't say Psycho but definitely the best ones play a patient long game

 

[MuayThaiSteve79]

I'm in SaaS Sales - I don't have to do much cold calling as I get inbound leads however, its hard!

The software we sell is to Enterprise businesses - Fortune 500 level so its savage getting through to the correct decision maker at a high level.

However - the money and benefits are incredible so I have no complaints!

 

[billiam]

Yes they're annoying but it's hard to complain about sales people when you're probably working for a company with sales people. It's like complaining about men hitting on women when your own existence was made possible by your dad spitting game to your mama.

 

[mixmastermo]

Most do not do absolute "cold" calls. You get lists from marketing sites like zoominfo, based on industry and size of the contacts you are targeting. This is how we give our sales members their leads. Most of the cold cold calls are scammers, or small businesses trying to make things happen. Though most will still see it as a cold call, you generally are looking for hand raisers based on search history and the like.

In my case I consider these things cold calls. I believe with some of the logistics companies my company may have done business with these callers many years ago when there was a different management team.

I've never asked to be contacted by anyone.

 

[ObsoleteSoul]

In my case I consider these things cold calls. I believe with some of the logistics companies my company may have done business with these callers many years ago when there was a different management team.

I've never asked to be contacted by anyone.

I get that. I still give them respect when I can. You have to put yourself out there to make it, what with all the competition and resources available now in finding good possible leads. Especially if you’re a small business. Someone has to.

 

[method115]

Yea I get this same type of thing. Dell will
literally contact me to stump a meeting and then just randomly send the invite. Then ask why I didn’t show up or if another day works for me.

Accidentally picked up their call this week and wasted a good 15 mins of my time. I don’t want insult them cause I might need them in the future.

My cousin does this type of work and he basically said I know people hate it but it does work and I do make sales.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Do you guys think that chads like the Baldwinn character in GlennGarryGlennRoss actually exist? I mean a dude who can just close using any leads provided to him?

 

[ObsoleteSoul]

Do you guys think that chads like the Baldwinn character in GlennGarryGlennRoss actually exist? I mean a dude who can just close using any leads provided to him?

Never saw that show, but I have met some stone-cold killers in the sales game. They plan, work with analytics to see what works and what does not and adapts. There is a certain type of person that just can brush off anything negative and keep plowing forward. Persistence and reflection on their sale's process. They got it.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

This happened to me before. The sales team sold a service that we don't even provide, and then we had to scramble to create it, and of course it's shitty with a bunch of bugs to be worked out and it takes so many resources to make it work that I think the company is actually losing money on the deal.

And the worst part is that the sales guys got their commission and then left the company, so I think they knew they were screwing us.

Your sales team are allowed to close deals on products not approved by Dev? That's insane. What did they put on the RFP?

 

[Fedorgasm]

Do you guys think that chads like the Baldwinn character in GlennGarryGlennRoss actually exist? I mean a dude who can just close using any leads provided to him?

There are really good salesman that can get suckers to buy things they didn't want. But they're akin to con-men. Just like Pacino in that same movie.

When you're selling huge contracts to CEO's, you can't use that strategy. Most CEO's are smart, so you'll do better being genuine than you will trying to con them.

 

[Noveltymortar]

I bet you are a rude salesman.

He tried to sell me the full Microsoft office package even though he knows I can’t read or write.

 

[Tank_Kam]

A lot of Filipinos have this kind of work, they're not psycho's. Not sure if everyone does the the guilt-tripping, if so then they must be trained to do it. It's a decent paying job here in the Philippines even if they have to work a graveyard shift. It's because it's either that or working in a sweat shop, retail or construction.

Off topic but:

I was a manager at a call center that only hired agents within North America, and we were known for our amazing customer service. We started outsourcing a good chunk of our agents from the Phillipines and it tanked our reputation and business. People learned to recognize the Filipino accent, hang up immediately and call back. Our agents from the Phillipines would make false promises (basically lying) whenever they were confronted by a customer about something, even if it was small and instantly fixable. Our customer service scores bombed, phone sales dropped, and client cancellation rates went up. I was told by a trainer that went there to provide training that because hospitality is so important in Filipino culture, they don't know how to say no, and would rather lie to someone than say no. I experience this a lot now as more and more call centers in Canada start to outsource more. Would you say this is true about the culture?

 

[PBAC]

Can someone explain why a company would do cold calling as opposed to doing marketing? I don't understand cold calling when it is far more annoying than just doing marketing/advertising and let the customer decide if they want to make contact or not.

random sampling and removal of performance bias.

but no these tend to be passable entry level jobs for research positions and useful experience for students.

 

[mixmastermo]

Never saw that show, but I have met some stone-cold killers in the sales game. They plan, work with analytics to see what works and what does not and adapts. There is a certain type of person that just can brush off anything negative and keep plowing forward. Persistence and reflection on their sale's process. They got it.

like i said, a special kind of psycho

 

[ObsoleteSoul]

like i said, a special kind of psycho

If that is psycho, then every athlete and successful businessperson is too. Hell, anyone with extreme determination can be painted with the same brush.

I work in marketing and sales, and they aren't psycho lol. They just have certain personality traits where they do not get easily discouraged. Quite necessary in sales and marketing, among other professions.

 

[mixmastermo]

Yes they're annoying but it's hard to complain about sales people when you're probably working for a company with sales people. It's like complaining about men hitting on women when your own existence was made possible by your dad spitting game to your mama.

Funny you say that. I mean, I get what you mean but I literally just flipped out on the sales team at work just now before heading home because they were trying to propose selling products to customers that we don't make.

 

[mixmastermo]

If that is psycho, then every athlete and successful businessperson is too. Hell, anyone with extreme determination can be painted with the same brush.

I work in marketing and sales, and they aren't psycho lol. They just have certain personality traits where they do not get easily discouraged. Quite necessary in sales and marketing, among other professions.

Ok dude, remember this is Sherdog. Even on my serious topics (like this one) I still try to have a little bit of fun with the conversation.

To be fair you used these words:

stone-cold killers
certain type of person that just can brush off anything negative and keep plowing forward

put that through the Sherdog filter= Psycho