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Sunday September 16th, 2007
Cold Calling Is a Waste of Time
… or so the man says.
I picked up some free MP3 audios from Frank Rumbauskas Jr. of NeverColdCall.com.
He teaches the cold calling doesn’t work. And yet, I’ve made it work before.
So I’m trying to think, what’s this Frank guy about? Is this just his marketing schtick so he can sell books and audios? Or does he have a leg to stand on?
Well the audios were enjoyable, but anything sounds good when there’s no other person to criticize it or reality to test it.
On the other hand, Stephan Schiffman is a man whose books I read years ago. I recently snatched up an excellent book of his with both hands, “Make It Happen Before Lunch”, for $12 at the neighbourhood used book store. Heck, I sat down then and there and read it for 40-minutes before they threw me out at closing so I had to buy it.
Just like his classic tome on cold calling I put to use, this was stuffed with no-nonsense info he’s used and it revolves around increasing and monitoring sales activity, plus setting a “goal of self”, a mission to define you. This book was fun to read.
These two Aussie gentlemen are in the cold calling camp.
Yet Frank says this doesn’t work. Hmmmm.
UPDATE 9:17 PM: Then there’s the email route. I’ve been had a bias against emailing people without talking to them first, but Jill Konrath of Selling to Big Companies says:
“Email cold calling is rapidly becoming an accepted way to crack into corporate accounts.”
This brings up some interesting possibilities and dovetails with what Frank teaches. So I’m going to throw that in the mix and see what shakes out.
By Christoph Dollis at
7:36 PM on Sunday September 16th, 2007,
and filed under Marketing, Sales Books, Sales Techniques, Sales Theory.
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You can leave your opinion(s) below.
4:25 PM on Thu. Sep 20th, ’07
I found your site while Googling Frank Rumbauskas before I buy his stuff and wanted to chime in. In my city cold calling certainly does not work anymore. Also I read Schiffman’s books early on and they’re garbage, his miserably low Amazon reviews reflect this, it’s just a bunch of smile-and-dial and deceptive techniques, the kind that have given cold calling a bad name in the first place.
Tom.
4:31 PM on Thu. Sep 20th, ’07
Hey Tom, and thanks for dropping in.
I’ve got mixed opinions on it as I say above. It certainly has worked for me and I believe would work again. Yet if there’s an easier, better, ultimately more effective way I’m all ears.
His MP3 audios were good. Glad you’re moving ahead with your purchase. Please drop by later and give me your opinion on the quality of Frank’s materials!
4:39 PM on Thu. Sep 20th, ’07
Hey Christoph
The site is looking amazing, its coming together well.
Im proud of you and wish you all the best with your job prospects.
6:53 PM on Thu. Sep 20th, ’07
Tom, I realize you’re not a huge fan of Schiffman’s and that’s fair enough…
I was curious if the author I enjoy is really so poorly received so I looked Schiffman up:
Stephan Schiffman on Amazon.com
He’s written many books and most of his books have a reader rating of 4-5 stars. I admit my background in telesales and customer service over the telephone leaves me more open to his writing. I’ve used some of what he teaches and it worked.
I’ve also changed a lot of it to my own personality and added to it. I think that’s par for the course. Even if you don’t like his selling approach, the book I mentioned above, “Make It Happen…” has some great insights on life and time management.