Do the cold callers actually get business?
Posted by YMCATech@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 61 comments
It's getting old. I even got one yesterday that said, "Yes, I know I'm persistent". You're not persistent, you're annoying. Does one hit in all of these actually make it worth it? Do people actually like being cold called? It's unsolicited email. Which by definition, is spam.
pbebbs3@reddit
Only if you are foolish enough to answer their calls or emails
texags08@reddit
NinjaOne called me two days before I was going to call them. I’m sure I came up in their ZoomInfo feed or something that identified my search.
LuckyLuke364@reddit
Due to my LinkedIn profile and listing on various directories I get lots of cold "emails" every day - and have been for years. Most of them get filtered by the spam filter, and the few that get through are briefly skimmed and usually deleted.
I get cold calls as well, but I haven't answered my phone in years from unknown numbers. If it's important then I'll call back.
You do get some interesting information every now and then, and I do believe I have worked with a couple of people who sent me unsolicited emails over the years.
But yeah, cold calls are usually ignored unless I they emailed me before.
Alexandre_Man@reddit
What is a cold caller?
resonantfate@reddit
A cold call is an unprompted / unrequested sales communication to a target who has no current or prior business relationship with the organization trying to sell something. It's basically the most unlikely to succeed branch of sales tactics, at least theoretically. No one likes spam email, or telemarketers. People tend to prefer solutions that were recommended by people they trust. A cold caller is by definition outside the zone of trust.
rangers_87@reddit
Putting RE: in the email subject on a first email or saying “based on our last conversation” I call them out. Don’t use shady fucking shit like that to engage me. We’ve never spoken and it’s clear you need to trick people into replying to your cold email. Calls? Ignore completely but the few times I do pickup it’s an immediate hang up once they get past their annoying nice person intro. Triggering tbh
Unnamed-3891@reddit
Something that truly never works does not persist in existing over prolonged periods of time. As somebody who did cold calling 20 years ago, it’s just a numbers game and does work. Why else do you think somebody hired them and pays them money?
OperationMobocracy@reddit
I think there’s places that make it work by sheer volume with disposable, high turnover labor attracted by misleading commission structures. I’m not sure it’s a strategy that works for all products, either.
Stonewalled9999@reddit
It’s even easier now making AI call people and if they get someone stupid enough to answer the AI transfers the mark to a human
wazza_the_rockdog@reddit
They've been doing this for a long time, before AI - the auto-calling system would dial heaps of numbers and only pass on answered calls to humans, most seemed to wait for you to talk before transferring to make sure the call connected - so it was reasonably effective to answer unknown numbers and just wait for them to speak first - if they hung up it was likely an auto-dialler.
Slight-Blackberry813@reddit
Yep. This is exactly it. Start a business tomorrow. Hire 10 salesmen and they will spend all day on the phone! How else do you think they get customers?
It really shows how out of touch / detached IT people are from the business side of things and telling them selves “I’m a manager with a budget and in charge of spend” doesn’t change that.
lenswipe@reddit
I hate to tell you this, but if you blow up my phone and inbox with this crap I will go to my death to see you don't get a single contract from any company I work for
higherbrow@reddit
Yeah, but they were never going to get your business. They don't have a way to do that. They'll get some boomer who's impressed by their gumption to buy if they ask everyone in the world.
lenswipe@reddit
yep.
"gRiT aNd dRivE!"
dsartori@reddit
Annoying sales tactics might work but that doesn’t make them not annoying, nor does it make the people who don’t like them unsophisticated or lacking in business knowledge.
Lots of shit that sucks works and is profitable doesn’t mean you don’t suck for doing it!
proud_traveler@reddit
In my experience, no. But if sales people from a company are cold calling a lot, that means they have KPIs that are focused on call rates, not conversion rates.
They know that cold calling doesn't work. But the KPI and bonus structure of their company likely incentivizes lots of calls, even if they don't go anywhere.
This is why most companies actually focus on conversion rate, thats a much better indicator of how productive a sales person is.
SevaraB@reddit
It’s a waterfall. Years ago, I was between jobs and got stuck in a cold-calling position for about 6 months- at that time, the numbers we were playing were 1/5 dials would make contact, and 1/6 contacts would convert into sales- both KPIs fed into it, but ultimately it was about 30:1 dials to conversions. I imagine those numbers have ballooned into a much worse ratio since phone calls are no longer the primary contact medium for everyone.
sameunderwear2days@reddit
We should ask them what their KPIs are
Cutoffjeanshortz37@reddit
That'd mean talking to them. I just don't answer unknown numbers and only respond if they leave a voicemail. Users aren't calling me directly, and the GAL is loaded to my phone contacts so they'd show up as a known number anyhow.
SammyGreen@reddit
I quit a job because the sales director decided to make me a pet project one summer and started demanding I cold call our customers.
Said that wasn’t in my job description but my union crushed my dreams because, yup, there was a single sentence in my employment contract that said “may also have to assist with sales activities”.
It was a shitty, 1st/2nd level support job that was always going to just be a stepping stone, and I’d already passed the magical 1.5 years mark so had no problem peacing out.
Turned out “open to offers” on LinkedIn and two weeks later had a new job at almost double the salary.
Gods, I miss the IT job market from back then.
eddyb66@reddit
I've been at my company 6 years, keep getting cold calls for the guy that hand my number before me. He passed away years before I started. I know they don't have access to that information but it gets old, but apparently not as old as their contact data.
Embarrassed_Log_9964@reddit
The worst part is when they clearly have outdated info (wrong title, company I left 2 years ago). Pro͏speo adn Lu͏sha both claim high accuracy but honestly most sales data is garbage. Maybe if they verified their lists instead of spraying everyone, we'd pick up more often.
Amanpushpraj54@reddit
Actually switched to Prospeo last quarter and our bounce rates dropped by like 70%, but yeah most providers are still selling 2019 data.
PlsChgMe@reddit
They do, or it wouldn't be a thing. It's just part of the business.
DonnyTheChef@reddit
How do any of you think the world works? And why do you think people in sales make more money than you? Sorry sysadmin/helpdesk turned to msp/var sales about 3yrs experience in both and I make cold calls every day. So many people hang up on me but the relationships I’ve built through cold calling are the people I’ve helped pick the right oem to go with or recommended a security product.
Merdrak@reddit
When I was a recruiter in the military, cold calls (telephone contacts, TC) were considered the primary way of getting contracts - we quickly realized this doesn't fucking work in the modern age. However, we had metrics to fill out and basically, we had to make X number of calls per day/week/month, but if they didn't lead to contracts, then the number just went up and up and up, based off of contact to contract chain.
And recruiting is basically sales, in a nutshell.
So they'll keep calling, and calling, etc., because if they don't meet those numbers, someone is going to be unhappy - usually a manager who isn't there doing the thing.
VernapatorCur@reddit
We had one show up at our offices after we stopped taking his calls. They must have some success or they'd be out of a job
Dull-Personality5131@reddit
90 percent no rest 10 perc is luck/skill
HI-McDunnough@reddit
We solved this by getting rid of phones. It wasn't the intended consequence when we got rid of our PBX and replaced it with Team calling, but now nobody talks on the phone, and I rarely get vendor calls anymore either. I think that's because we got rid of DIDs at the same time so all callers have to go through the menu and can't get me directly.
I was skeptical being an old PBX admin, but switching to Teams had that great unexpected side effect of nobody using it.
Fiveohh11@reddit
As someone who was also fed up, I found that taking my linkedin profile down completely did more than anything else to reduce the cold calls. I get maybe 1 or 2 a month now instead of several a day.
packetssniffer@reddit
Once my CEO and CTO added me as connections on LinkedIn is when my phone started to blow up.
I guess they have recruiter accounts and look at the resume I have on Linkedin.
Fiveohh11@reddit
When I started this last position it was less than a week after I updated my linkedin that I started getting calls directed at my personal cell in this new role. If I didn't answer they would continue to call nearly every day. No voicemail left. Some would call my desk phone and then my cell immediately after. Been there 5 years now and this last year I was done with the constant cold calls so thats when I finally removed my linkedin entirely. More recently I signed up for one of those companies that requests your info be removed from databroker sites on your behalf. At this point I am just paying for subscriptions to not be bothered.
EquivalentSilent776@reddit
I just start my elevator pitch back with them like “oh I thought we were networking here bud?!?” If that doesn’t work then being bilingual gives you a competitive edge here.
Use your skills to make life fun
ErikTheEngineer@reddit
I think I must be broken because I'm 100% immune to advertising and sales pitches. I have never purchased anything based on an ad or something a salesperson has told me...all my decisions are rational and data driven. It's weird going into meetings with these senior executives and watching the salespeople building a reality distortion field around them...and to see these people who are supposed to be so brilliant running a company get completely fleeced by a bunch of sales talk.
If I were ever in charge of a startup, all that budget they give salespeople to go take CEOs golfing or buy them steak dinners would be spent on engineering. Then, spend the effort to get the product in the hands of people so it sells itself by word of mouth because it's so good. Any company who has to resort to cold calling has a lousy product. Good products get found organically and used.
OneSeaworthiness7768@reddit
I’ve gotten calls to my personal number somehow from people looking to sell software to my company. I can’t imagine how they think anyone will be receptive to that.
Acrobatic_Fortune334@reddit
Where i work we cold call, for every 20 calls we might get 1 sale out of it, but then once we have that sale its an in to nuture the client relationship and make a one off turn into a second purchase then a third then a regular order then a proffered supplier agreement. I see it happen frequently. And when our cold call agents are doing 100+ calls a day each it unfortunately works
fonetik@reddit
I worked at a RE company that was always getting IT ideas from the bonehead CEO. We started using Olivia as our vendor manager, and vendors got nowhere before speaking to Olivia because all of it flows through Olivia. The problem was that Olivia didn’t exist, so we gave her more backstory. This became a game where you’d try to tell the vendors a story about what happened to the last guy that didn’t go to Olivia first.
Soon, Olivia was in charge of everything but we blamed her for everything too. Olivia couldn’t be reached because she started a SEV1… let me tell you all about it. Olivia was frequently at all of the same getaways that the CEO was. Olivia had very strong opinions on some vendors and asked them to update her with any extra details on her voicemail. Olivia loved voicemails. If you want to get her attention, it’s the only way. Maybe email?
Eventually this all got back to the CEO who could not figure out who Olivia was.
DisastrousWear6522@reddit
Yeah, it works, but not the way most people do it.
Most cold calls feel annoying because they’re generic, pushy, and not relevant. That’s why people hate them. But when it’s targeted and actually useful, it feels completely different.
No one “likes” being cold called, but people do respond when it’s quick, respectful, and clearly relevant to them.
And yeah, the hit rate is low, but one good client can make it worth it. The real difference is how the conversation is handled once someone picks up. Most reps mess that part up.
That’s why practicing matters more than people think. Tools like getpitchpal.com help you get better at sounding natural and not salesy, which is what separates annoying calls from ones that actually work.
So it’s not that cold calling doesn’t work, it’s that most people just do it badly.
ProfessionalEven296@reddit
It does work - like junk mail (and email), it's a numbers game. Even 3% closure (which we used to see with junk mail) pays off if you send enough out.
For me? I'm polite, but cold callers won't get my business. Even if they talk about a gap in our systems, I'll go off and do some research, then call the best fit companies I can find.
jenuine5150@reddit
20+ years ago, I worked with a sales lady who told me that when she’s in a dry spell she starts cold calling. She said it always turned up business.
stuckinPA@reddit
Yes. I worked for a crappy MSP many years ago but only for a short while. I cold called hundreds. Leads were generated from local chamber of commerce directories. I bet I had a 3% close rate. Only took about an hour of my time each day.
Dizzy_Bridge_794@reddit
It can work. I've been running IT Departments since 1990. I've probably had a handful of cold calls that worked out. However, its been years since I have answered my phone for any number I don't recognize and I don't directly answer transferred calls from the main line. Between survey folks and cold calls the phone never stops ringing. I just ignore it.
skyliner143@reddit
Are we including cold emailing in this? I imagine cold emailing fairs better than calling.
countsachot@reddit
Some industries rely on it. Industrial Real estate for instance, they like to spam each other property lists. Some of my clients will freak out when the spam doesn't go out, their incoming call frequency drops noticeably. I guess it's technically not spam at that point.
GhostNode@reddit
Imagine you work with a third party MSP for some help on ticket overflow and engineering assistance for heavy lifts. You call them because your ERP server won’t boot, and it’s been an hour since you put your ticket in. You think “damnit, these guys used to be good, it ever since they got bought their service and response time really suck, and I’m getting sick of this..”. Then you get a can from a random number. You answer, because you’ve been waiting for this call for over an hour now, and it’s a cold caller representing a new, local MSP, eager to get new clients and please them. “Sure, what the hell, can you meet later this week?” You say.
Yes, it works, but like anything, it takes tons of time, effort, and persistence to get results.
Normal_Choice9322@reddit
They must but I start telling them how I will never do business with someone who calls me unsolicited trying to bypass my vetting
ratmanmtb@reddit
So annoying. My role includes some public facing help desk. I have to answer. They then immediately ask for my boss. When I ask them what it’s regarding they never want to tell me. Sometimes on a slow day I will mess with them a little to waste their time. It’s fun.
Cold emails have worked. Because I can learn about the product on my own time, do my own research, and not have to talk to some slime-ball.
msalerno1965@reddit
I once asked an obvious scammer "Does this shit actually work on people?"
The reply? "Yes".
"Fuck you and the horse you rode in on". Click.
If you have the time, answer it, and lead them on a wild goose chase.
dcaponegro@reddit
Yes. I actually subscribed to a service and have been using it for years based off of a cold call.
shikkonin@reddit
The only thing they get from me, is a lawsuit.
ADynes@reddit
I have the same three people from the same three companies call me everyday for at least the last 2 months now. They will leave a message every 2 to 3 days. They even call around the same time every day. I've memorized all three of their numbers so when I get the voicemail sent to my email I can just look at the number and delete the message.
The worst are Microsoft third party vendors that have v- email addresses on microsoft.com domains. When they don't get anything from me they'll try to go straight to my boss who then forwards it to me and tells me to make them stop. Those people I email back and let them know their email address is now being blocked company wide. Might see if I can Implement a "v-*@microsoft.com" quarentine....
MyThinkerThoughts@reddit
If people are cold calling you, they’re stupid. You’re not typically the decision maker. Trying to set a first appointment with you is a waste of time.
Izual_Rebirth@reddit
Rarely for me but there have been a few times I’ve been in a pinch and someone called at exactly the right time to dig me out of a hole. Like others have said it’s a numbers game.
lesusisjord@reddit
It never works, but what is more surprising is that anyone answers the phone for unknown numbers unless they are customer-facing tech support.
We haven’t had work phone #s in years as all communication is done via Teams and email, but even with desk phones 5+ years ago, it wasn’t. Ring picked up unless the number was familiar.
serverhorror@reddit
Might be an existing vendor with Updates, might be someone calling from their private phone because of an emergency (I did that myself), there are a thousand reasons to pick up.
There are just as many to hang up again.
TeddyRoo_v_Gods@reddit
Meh, my desk phone is set to dump the callers directly into VM unless it’s one of the internal extensions. I get a VM and if it’s important I call back.
lesusisjord@reddit
For you, it sounds like you have a need, but even being the POC for multiple vendors, the phone doesn’t get picked up because we have email and Teams meetings for a reason. Hell, even when I worked at a place where phones were used like a decade ago, callers showed up in caller ID and were either internal extensions that I would pick up while unknown #s went to voicemail and I received the voicemail to text in my email.
I don’t have many people I keep in touch with in real life, and anyone who knows me knows that they have to send a text before calling me from an unknown number if they want it to be picked up.
I am not commenting simply to be contrarian, but I work from home and maybe my phone habits and the phone habits of my organization don’t apply as commonly to others as I thought they did.
Tl;dr - phone calls are the worst for this 43 year old.
PowerShellGenius@reddit
They call more in shitty economic times because know nothing execs are more likely to lay off "expensive" (experienced or competent) people in IT and hand over the reigns to someone cheaper.
When IT knows what it needs, cold calls don't get results, if they needed your product they'd have reached out already. But people who know nothing and have no experience, and don't already know which vendors that talk a good game have good vs. crap products, are more susceptible to actually make buying decisions based on cold calls.
countsachot@reddit
1/500 calls is success.
baron--greenback@reddit
I needed a specific brand of laptop and our usual suppliers were out of stock. The cold caller delivered 300 the next day, our call was about 2pm so I was impressed. I used his company for a while and he even hand delivered a couple of times on tight deadlines.
He visited my office with his manager to try to expand on supplying hardware, his manager made him the butt of several jokes, he left the business to travel round Asia and I never used their company again.
StarSlayerX@reddit
Yes and No.... my last job we I worked for an Autodesk Platinum reseller. (Their Highest level in the partner program). They would hire fresh off of college students to do cold calls all day and perform a warm transfer if they were able to hook a customer. The advantage the cold call we perform were targeted businesses that uses Autodesk software or its competitors. Yes, we do get customers that way.