Hi, my name is James Shepherd.
Today I want to answer a question, “Does cold calling still work?”
I’ve really had some interesting experiences over the last few months doing consulting,
talking to different ISOs and one really interesting, illogical trend that I’ve noticed is that
a lot of ISOs are willing to pay more for an account that they get through marketing
efforts, than they are an account that they get through cold calling.
It’s really kind of idiotic to be honest with you.
So you know it’s like I’m talking to somebody and it’s like, “Hey, I have this great
idea.
Why don’t you pay your agent X amount of hundreds of dollars, when they make a sale?”
“Oh, I don’t want to do that.”
You know I’m like, “Okay, well, how much are you spending right now to buy an account
through your Facebook marketing?”
“Oh, we have our cost for acquisition down to $700.”
I’m like, “Ah, okay.
So you are willing to pay $700 to get an account through Facebook, but you’re not willing
to pay $200 to get an account from your agent.”
It really doesn’t make any sense.
So does cold calling still work?
Here is the thing about cold calling.
It does still work.
Actually, in my experience so far dealing with companies that are doing marketing, marketing
in this particular merchant services industry tends to tap out fairly quickly.
You are going to hit a ceiling very quickly.
I’m talking about ISOs I know that are the best in the business at online marketing,
retargeting, Facebook ads, Google add words, you know, all of this content marketing, everything,
and you know I don’t know any right now that are doing 700 deals a month.
I don’t know any.
All the ISOs I know doing 700, 1000 deals a month, it’s all from cold calling.
The marketing stuff taps out because merchants quite honestly, merchants and business owners
right now, they just don’t really do that much searching online for merchant services.
Okay, it’s like trying to sell electric service through Google add words.
I mean the problem is that merchants are not really seeking out these solutions all the
time.
The way to actually make a lot of sales is to go get them.
The key I want to talk to you about today is “Does cold calling work?”
Yes, it works.
However, if you’re an ISO, if you are a recruiter, you got to make sure you are paying
your sales people similar to what you’d expect to pay through a marketing campaign.
So buying merchant accounts today is kind of expensive.
So you have to be willing to pay for the accounts.
They are very valuable once you get them, if you can hang onto them.
They are worth a lot of money, but cold calling does still work.
Secondly, I want to talk about “How does cold calling still work?”
Right?
What do you have to do in order to make cold calling work?
The answer to that question is very, very simple.
You only have to do two things.
#1.
You have to have something that sets you apart from the competition.
#2.
You have to put in the work.
That’s really it.
There is just not much else that you have to do.
So right now a lot of people are out doing cold calling with things like cash discounting
and surcharging.
Why do I keep you know beating that drum?
Because a lot of the videos I make go out to people who are selling out in the field,
selling over the phone.
That’s something that will set you apart.
That’s great, okay.
I was just in Los Angeles.
I met with an ISO that had a very unique solution that they are providing.
There is different things that you can do to set yourself apart in the marketplace,
okay.
You can build referral networks.
You can do all these different things, but the bottom line is getting out in the field
or on the phone where the merchant services still works and I’m going to take it a step
further and say, “Getting out in the field and walking into businesses still works better
than getting on the phone and selling merchant services cold calling.”
It just does.
Sometimes I try to hedge that bet a little bit and say, “Well, you know it depends
on your skill set and everything else,” and that’s true to an extent, but honestly,
the only reason that phone sales in this industry ever works better than door to door is because
people are more willing to put in the effort over the phone because they are terrified
of walking into a business.
I understand that.
It can be a very scarey thing.
I was talking to an agent just two or three days ago.
She said, “Oh, I don’t know.
I’m sure you don’t ever deal with this, but I’m nervous every time I walk into a
business for the first time.”
I’m like, “I’m still nervous every time I walk into a business for the first time.”
That’s a scarey thing.
You are going to walk into a business; you don’t know anybody.
You got to go walk up to somebody and you know do you stand in line?
Do you not stand in line?
Do you pretend to buy something?
Do you not?
Like, what do you do?
It’s always embarrassing.
It’s always awkward.
So the thing about that is, you might be like, “Well, yea, James, that’s why I don’t
cold call.”
Right, and that’s why all the people who do are out selling you.
Because when you are in sales, when you are in business, or doing anything, you want to
be the person who is doing the thing that the other people are not willing to do.
That’s how you become successful at anything.
Okay, obviously, there are thousands of people trying to find the magic formula to buy merchant
accounts online without doing very much.
Right?
Of course, everybody is trying to do that, right?
Yes, there is hundreds and hundreds of ISOs who have call centers in the Philippines and
India.
They are trying to generate appointments and they’re trying to make sales that way.
Here is the question though.
How many sales people are there, who walk into 20 businesses for the first time every
single day, five days a week, and how many of them continue doing that for a year?
Not many.
Okay, your odds of hitting three to five thousand dollars a month in residual, if you walk into
20 businesses every day for the first time, five days a week for a year with your two
week vacation, your odds of hitting three to five thousand dollars in residual, unless
you don’t know how to sell, your odds are through the roof.
I would even say maybe there is a few people finally launching my videos so long that you
are like, “Wow, James, you know what?
I’ve been doing that for like a year or two and my residuals just aren’t good.
They are not at three thousand a month right now.
I don’t have that kind of residual income and I’ve been walking into 20 businesses
a day, five days a week for a year.”
Maybe you haven’t gotten the training.
Maybe jump on our 6 Week Jump Start Program, but honestly, it might be time for you to
move on.
It really might.
I mean I literally don’t know anyone like that.
I’ve never, ever talked to an agent and said they’ve told me, “James, I’ve been
walking into 20 businesses every day, Monday through Friday for a year and my residuals
are,” whatever, below five thousand a month.
I’ve never talked to an agent that fits that description ever, unless they are selling
for a terrible company that is not paying them anything.
Then I help them find somebody different, but you know it just doesn’t happen.
So here is the thing that is interesting.
Many of you watching this video, you are currently in a sales job right now.
So I want to go two groups.
We are going to talk to sales people and then ISO executives and managers.
For sales people, you are watching this video right now.
You have a sales job, or you are about to go get a sales job because you are not making
it in merchant services.
You are going to hate that job.
You are going to have to cold call at that job anyway.
You are just going to be forced to do it.
Here is the thing.
Walk into 20 businesses every day, Monday through Friday, five days a week.
Do that for one year and you are guaranteed a good income.
That’s it.
If you are with a good company, and you’ve got the training, hopefully you’ve gone
through something like my 6 Week Jump Start Program.
If you haven’t, go to ccsalespro.com, click on it right there at the top, the 6 Week Jump
Start.
I will personally coach you and work with you for six weeks, but you are going to get
the income there.
There is just no talent.
It just works.
Again, unless you can’t sell.
If you are like, “James, I know I can sell.
I’ve got sales ability.
I’ve proven myself as a sales professional.”
Then it’s a guarantee you are going to do well.
It’s just a guarantee.
It’s what it is.
If you are an ISO executive or manager, let me challenge you to put cold calling on an
equal footing with the other things that you are spending money on.
If you are buying a merchant account, there is nothing that says I’ve seen the books
of business.
It’s not like, “Well, we acquired this book on Facebook and it’s just much more
valuable.”
No, usually it’s the opposite.
At least, when people are walking in door to door, you know it’s a legitimate physical
location business that is actually in business.
You don’t have to deal with all like, “Is this lead crap?
Is this like a real business?
Is this a real person?”
So I’m not saying any of that stuff is bad.
I think it’s great and those of you that know me, you know I’m all about it.
I do consulting all the time, helping people with their marketing efforts, but one common
trait I’ve seen with most people trying all the marketing stuff is they are not achieving
the results they want to achieve.
The way you achieve in this industry the results you want is you go out and you get them.
So put the same effort and money into getting those cold call sales and be willing to make
the investment just like you would if it was a Facebook campaign or anything else, and
you’ll find that the more money you put in, the more deals you get out.
If I told you, you are like, “Yea, I want to go on facebook and I’m going to try to
buy merchant accounts, but I can’t spend more than $100 per account.”
I would say, “You’re crazy.
You are not going to get anything, because you need to spend more than that,” right?
Well, it’s the same thing out in the field.
You have sales people out in the field, on the phone.
You are like, “I’m going to try to get them to make sales.
I’m going to pay them $100 when they make a sale.”
Well, you are not going to get very many.
You’ve got to pay money to get the sale.
So you got to buy the merchant accounts one way or the other, right?
So you can buy them online, take the risk.
Spend tens of thousands of dollars to hopefully start generating a good pipeline, right, a
good funnel, or you can spend the money only when somebody makes a sale and you can make
tons of money by paying sales people to go make the sales.
So put the two on a level footing is all I would ask.
All right.
My name is James Shepherd.
Hope that you have an awesome day!