Introducing: The S Word - cold-calling live on air!

8:32Tash Rebuck:If your call is sales related, please press number one on your keypad now. If your call is support or service related, please press number two on your keypad now and we'll be delighted to talk to you. Thanks very much for calling.

9:04Steph Melodia:What else are you going to do when you've got hot music? I always wonder if they hear you, if they actually are recording out.

9:16Good morning.

9:18Steph Melodia:Hiya, I am just calling for g***. This is Tash calling from the S word.

9:28Steph Melodia:So g***. Yeah, for g***. Right, there is more moment. Let me see if... Just check it. I'm not sure he's... available on here at the moment for me to transfer you to. Just give me one second.

10:03Steph Melodia:sorry about that can i get a message to him and ask him to call you back he's not logged into the phone system today oh yeah of course so basically um i just had a chat with uh because he was saying that uh might be interested in some sponsorship opportunities for a sales podcast and show um and so he said you know give a call and uh and have a chat so if i give you my phone number Would you be able to just pass that on to **** and tell them to call me any time?

10:35Tash Rebuck:Yeah, of course. Yeah, no, it absolutely is something that we've looked at and would be interested in. Amazing.

10:41Steph Melodia:So I will, yeah, I'll pass it on to ****. No problems. Is it the number that you're calling on? I've got 07 ****. Perfect. Yeah. And yeah, it's Tash. So it's just me on this phone anyway.

10:55Tash Rebuck:Okay, excellent. No, that's great. I'll have **** call. Oh, yeah. He should, I think he's around. I think he's just not logged into the phone system. Shocking. I don't believe he's got any time off today. Thanks. Well, it's quite common when we're working on a project that we tend to disconnect from me.

11:13Steph Melodia:Oh, fair.

11:14Tash Rebuck:We get interrupted quite a lot.

11:16Steph Melodia:Yeah, you've got to zone in. I totally get that. Yeah, no worries.

11:20Tash Rebuck:Absolutely. Thank you so much. I'll get to give you a call.

11:23Steph Melodia:Thank you. Can't wait to chat to him. Thanks. Take care. Thanks. Bye. Bye. the master at work yeah so i did a few little clever things there that i think are worth sharing with our audience so the first is that when i called i just made it sound like i assumed they would know who i was it's tash calling from from the s word it's tash okay yeah only using first names and then they go this person and you're like yeah they're like and immediately that she was like yeah okay I can put you through like I can tell you that they have been told not to just put people through or to reveal secrets and I know that they're not like secrets but like this is intel these are intel that I will 100 % use when we meet with them and I'd be so surprised if I didn't hear from him today like I'd be really surprised and then also the second thing was framing it like well i've chatted to he told me to get in touch and you can use that if someone's like you this is not the right person i'll then call and be like i'm calling

12:28Tash Rebuck:for this person oh yeah they said that i should get in touch technically technically there we go oh i wish i'd gone first now

12:40Tash Rebuck:okay i feel like i should have paid more attention to the exact words that you use with the first one i'm like oh my god that was brilliant i feel like i just want to say exactly the same thing so it was um this is this is the most random cold call you're ever going to receive can i just get like two minutes of your time

13:11Steph Melodia:your call has been forwarded to voicemail the person you're trying to reach is not available

13:16Tash Rebuck:it's funny you say don't even so i did last time why did you say no this time i've started

13:22Steph Melodia:realizing that sometimes people are curious and they'll call you back that's yeah i agree yeah i definitely think and that is a funny one because sometimes when they call i always say the same thing i always go you're gonna kick yourself you've called me back i was cold calling you sometimes they laugh and they're like okay what about the other day i did it and a woman literally hung up on me immediately and I was like oh didn't didn't want to have a little giggle with me did

13:46Tash Rebuck:she do you know what I kind of respect it though because I'm like cool you're not wasting my time

13:53Steph Melodia:exactly exactly that's the whole thing all right let me do another one so who else have we got

13:58Tash Rebuck:can you come out of that sorry and just see who else oh do you not want to try his other oh is there another one oh amazing oh sorry sorry okay don't know why I wasn't even seeing that um so that one is okay wonder why there's two numbers maybe one's a work one or something okay

14:20Tash Rebuck:eight nine seven two you don't you can't help yourself can you when you're just like you cannot but i would like

14:29Steph Melodia:to vouch to the audience that that was not actually oh no that just died

14:40Tash Rebuck:What a Spanish-y guitar this time. I'm taking you back to your desert island. Hello, it's ****. How can I help? Hey, good morning. Is **** available, please?

14:55Hello?

14:57Tash Rebuck:Hi, can you hear me? Can you hear me? The light keeps cutting off. I can't quite hear you, clearly. Sorry, is **** there, please? um may i ask what this um call is for just because we are customer service we don't transfer calls unfortunately yeah of course it's about the um marketing no worries this is a customer service line i believe there may be another number you have to call or email perfect do you know if there's a like a main line for the head office that i can try instead let me just double check that for you i'll play sort of quick thank you thank you so much

15:38Tash Rebuck:so i don't know if the microphone's picked up on that but that was the loudest rumble so hungry stash his face so long and so loading out for lunch hiya hi thank you so much for waiting no thank you I don't believe I have double checked but there doesn't seem to be a contact number for our head office or marketing to you okay alright well no worries thank you so much for looking into that are you able to keep contacts in through email yeah I'll try that thank you so much for your help no worries take care thanks bye did I give up too early what would you have done then

16:25Steph Melodia:No, so you made a small fatal flaw at the beginning Small but fatal Yeah

16:32Tash Rebuck:That's my new motto

16:34Steph Melodia:So the moment you get into like a customer service And this is like tricky, right? Because if it's a head office, you do the one name thing But when it's customer service You need to basically have something that makes it seem like Well, you've got to put me through to head office So as in being more like Hi, this is Steph I'm calling to discuss the sales podcast, discuss sales podcast that, you know, might be marketing with. Almost implying. Almost implying that there's a conversation. Yeah. OK. And then they will then potentially put you through or they call the person and they go, hey, this person's calling.

17:18Steph Melodia:Do you know who they are? Blah, blah, blah. And then they might say no. And that's fine. Doesn't matter because then you contact another way.

17:23Tash Rebuck:OK.

17:23Steph Melodia:But yeah, and then unfortunately she was like, why are you calling? And you said, marketing. I was like, what does that mean? Exactly. And you could hear in her voice the moment you said that, she was like, I'm not letting you. Yeah, yeah. Suddenly it went from, we could have a, I could potentially put you through to, we don't even have an HQ number.

17:42Tash Rebuck:Yeah. And so. Yeah, 100%. Okay. Fantastic feedback. All right. Try and remember that for next time. You're like, I don't want to do another. Wow, it's just burning through. obviously you do this so much better so um okay would you like to try that i think i need to take the lowest value i think the top golden opportunities need to go to the best sales

18:06Steph Melodia:person here your call has been forwarded to voicemail i'm sorry that extension is not recognized thank you for calling uh who am i calling oh holly okay

18:29okay i'm just saying like that's just going you need resilience for this game

18:34Tash Rebuck:to keep going because more than just like the numbers game and keep going and like bashing it out it really is the emotional roller coaster it really like you get yourself pumped up you get yourself excited you think about what to say you're anticipating the responses you're anticipating what they're going to be like for it to either just not go through not pick up and you're like right okay that's deflation but we will do a separate episode all about how to stay positive and keep going in

19:05Steph Melodia:the process exactly now this company i'm actually not very familiar with so i just need to make sure i actually understand oh yes because it was more of a marketing tool this was this might actually be what we were just talking about which is really funny yeah interesting oh that is really funny

19:26Tash Rebuck:really funny um can use that can't we yeah i'm going to yeah yeah literally gonna use that yeah we were literally just saying we need something like this hello hi is that

19:39Steph Melodia:uh who is this my name is tash i'm calling from the s word this is going to be the weirdest call call you've ever received is it possible just to grab you for 20 seconds uh i mean i'm currently working but yeah go ahead thank you so basically we run a sales podcast and show and we're just launching but we are looking for some really cool sales and marketing tools that may be interested in sponsorship and I was wondering if has ever done a partnership like that sponsored a podcast

20:14Tash Rebuck:etc um yes we have but we it was an e-marketeer podcast it had you know it wasn't a startup podcast like a new one so i'm not sure if we'd be putting budget behind a brand new one that is a

20:36Steph Melodia:very fair like anticipated already which is actually why we've been working out this like a partnership that would be really interesting for people who are you know they recognize that there is an appetite for these shows but you just need to wait and see the actual results and so So basically we're putting together something that's like very, very low cost, then comes into more of a partnership depending on the results. Would that be something that would be kind of more open to explore?

21:10Tash Rebuck:It would really depend on the budget. I haven't got my budget for next year confirmed yet either. Fair. Gosh, yeah, fair. It depends on the audience as well. So who you're targeting, like we, I'm in a global role, so I'm interested in global viewership.

21:29Steph Melodia:Yeah.

21:30Tash Rebuck:If it's more of like a UK based one, then it's probably not my department. And also, did you say it was a sales podcast?

21:40Steph Melodia:Yeah, so it's called The S Word and it's just talking to scale up businesses. Definitely not just UK based, though we are based in London. And it's just talking about do's and don'ts for sales, horror stories. it's sales but it's fun like we're trying to make people have a bit of a giggle if you can

21:58Tash Rebuck:when talking about sales yeah uh it's also not aligned with our audience that we're we're marketing comms pr i guess so i'm just i don't want to like i appreciate you know i'm rooting

22:11Steph Melodia:for you oh thank you that's really kind of you and yeah my co-host is a is a marketing expert ran a marketing agency for a number of years so that's kind of why i had you on the list and also So funnily enough, because we started this like meeting together going, God, I wish there was like a platform that would connect all our data together when it comes to putting something out into the world and like marketing. And then I was like, well, you would not believe who I would like to call today. So, look, I understand it might not be 100 percent aligned. if we were to put together a bit of proposal would you be up for having like a 20 minute chat with us and i can introduce you to steph my co-host who's more on the marketing side of things and just see if it could be of interest and if it is great and if not no harm no foul

23:01Tash Rebuck:i i i really don't think i just don't want to waste your time i i can't see us sponsoring a brand new podcast we've only ever sponsored one podcast in the past it was dedicated to yeah marketing so yeah basically i just don't think it's going to be

23:19Steph Melodia:a good fit i mean that is so fair enough and honestly i really appreciate your transparency could i just send you our media pack and then in a couple of months when we launched and you know we clearly obviously go viral and you see us all over your few pages would it be worth me sending you another message and just being like what do you think yeah go for it yeah amazing um what's the best email to reach you on then and i'll just send that over and then i promise i won't bother you afterwards unless we become famous obviously

23:56Steph Melodia:perfect thank you so much i really appreciate you taking the time i know it is never fun chatting to a cold caller but uh i've heard you giggle so so i think you can't can't accept that you haven't had a mildly good time.

24:10Tash Rebuck:Good luck as well. I'm wishing you the best.

24:12Steph Melodia:Thank you. Amazing. Thank you. Have a good day. Take care. Bye.

24:20Tash Rebuck:Oh, my God. That was amazing. Tash. Wow. Wow. I think you need to do all the cold calling from now on. I might need to do all the cold calling. I'm feeling a lot better about doing everything else. Tash. That was very interesting. So interesting. Yeah. And I think now, if I'm not looking at you, it's because I'm so uncomfortable. No, just that was a really, I felt really awkward at the start. She was so, I'm surprised that you're surprised. She was so like, well, obviously this is normal for you, right? You were so closed off and stiff. That was difficult. Yeah, and then I got her giggling at the end.

25:10Tash Rebuck:That was amazing. That was so impressive. Thank you. I could not have done that. I could not have cracked them. I could not have got them giggling. I couldn't keep going either. That's the other impressive thing is I would have let it go so much sooner. I would have been like, yeah, cool. Thank you. Totally get it. Sorry. Forgive me.

25:31Steph Melodia:I just always think if people are kind enough to give us their objections, then I can at least address them. And look, at the end, she knows that we are actually doing marketing. She knows we are going for global. Ultimately, it just comes down to that they probably won't invest in an unknown brand. And so what I think we do is email and say, do you want to join for free? We know you don't want to invest budget. Yeah. What if we do it for free? because we already know that she would not put budget into whereas the other people i've spoken to they would so wouldn't offer them free will offer her for free see how we do yes

26:12Tash Rebuck:i'm so impressed i'm so so impressed thank you i'm also incredibly that everyone's picking up the phone when i call insane i mean whatever but i mean besides being the master at work when you do get them on the phone there's clearly some sort of vibe that you are putting through the airwaves to get them picking up the phone to you and not me i also feel out of breath after that i

26:34Steph Melodia:feel like i need to recover oh really oh i'm like no let's go for the next person of course you're on a roll baby yeah i feel like very like let's do that but i think with you just again on like

26:43Tash Rebuck:the fact that you kept going we talked a little bit about this in in our episode on strategy and tragedy where it's so much more of a deeper mindset thing it's it this isn't what you just did like I'm not suddenly going to be able to do now on the next call and like like any muscle like any training like anything you just get better and better and better at gradually but it is that deeper as much as you've just rationalized there and you've been like look they've been kind enough to share their objections we've got them on the phone all the rest of it it's still the extreme discomfort that I'm feeling on this side of the table where I just feel again whether it is the good girl the social conditioning whatever it is I think I'm just I'm so scared of pissing them off so how do you get over that fear of like piss of pushing it pushing it pushing it pushing it

27:38Steph Melodia:so the thing is most people that are going to tell you to piss off will tell you to piss off immediately and so there's this whole thing with cold callers that if we can get you to even talk to us for more than a no fuck off we've kind of got you okay like a little bit now in fairness to her it really doesn't sound like something they would do and she knows that and so we could have the proper conversation but when i got on she was like i'm working i don't want to talk we talked for four and a half minutes which is like a pretty average decent cold call but for me it was like you always need a result at the end of it and so okay first my top is can we just have a meeting can we talk to you about it no she doesn't want that okay fair can I send you an email about it and ultimately you're not going to say no to getting an email I mean you might some people

28:33Tash Rebuck:will but like but saying it on the phone straight so it's hard on the other side to be like no don't send me anything yeah but people will yeah but also i'm so okay with that tell me no yeah tell me no and i won't bother you yeah and i think it's really helpful that you have those go-to target results even loosely in your mind well that gives you something to really sort of work towards when you're right there in the moment on the on the phone can we get in a meeting can we do this it's just it's providing more of that structure and that go to when you're in the moment of like somewhere to somewhere else that i need to go that isn't hanging up and saying thank you so much for your time i'm so sorry for bothering you bye yeah yeah exactly all right

29:18Steph Melodia:do you know what just thinking about how much time we have i think i might just go for an absolute beast of a boy. Do it.

29:25Tash Rebuck:Love it. You've dialed an incorrect number.

29:28Steph Melodia:Well then, didn't matter anyway. Alright, your turn. Completely cold call a cold calling company to be a sponsor. Okay, let's do it. Let's find one.

29:55Tash Rebuck:I'm so unlucky. You are very unlucky. Oh, this is crazy. This has just been very bad. With marketing roles, especially if there is a big team. That's the tool I've used. Is it? Yeah. That is it. It's not the one I've used. We'll come up and see if I can find it. But when you've got a big team like this, so this is a teeny tiny bit of insight that I can share from the marketing perspective, is when you've got a huge marketing team, you'll see this like vast array of like different types of marketing you've got like we just said we've got like head of inbound marketing field marketing product marketing a brand director all the rest of it um product marketing is one that i do avoid that if i have got other options of course because that's really the b2c side isn't it well more the actual like insights that feed into the product so how like the app it's closer to like the actual tech product itself so it's less there you go okay little tidbit to share well you can teach me so much about marketing there's something i can share here so this is why i mentioned because there's a few of these product marketing people but i don't think that they'll be as relevant

31:18Tash Rebuck:Welcome to the EE voicemail. I'm sorry, but the person you called is not available. Please leave your message after the tone. After you've finished your message, just hang up. Or to hear more options, please press one.

31:32Steph Melodia:Hey, my name's Tash. I'm calling you from the S word, a new sales podcast. And basically, we would love to chat about about potentially being a sponsor. Let me know if it's something you're interested in. Feel free to give me a call back. And if you're not interested, may I recommend maybe texting me and saying no, thank you, Tash, because otherwise I can guarantee I'll be bothering you in the future. But yeah, let me know either way. It'd be really great to know. Thanks so much. Bye. Why not?

32:03Tash Rebuck:Yay! I love it!

32:05Steph Melodia:I also I had a thought earlier that I think is worth mentioning because obviously I've had a lot more luck when it comes to people actually picking up the phone. And then my conversations that I've had have gone very well. And so there's sort of like this moment where you were going, oh, my God, like you've done so amazingly and I haven't and blah, blah, blah. and so this is like such a common thing that happens in companies is that people look at the salesperson and goes they are like the driving force they're the be all end all they're amazing blah blah but in fact wouldn't be sat in the room if it wasn't for you wouldn't have the data if it wasn't for you wouldn't know what the pitch was if it wasn't for you wouldn't have this being recorded or put into the world or have anything to sell if it wasn't for you i am just a mouthpiece and so I think like we all bring value but I think that sometimes the shine and excitement of what sales does outweighs everything else and I just think it's important to mention thank you I

33:01Tash Rebuck:appreciate that and you are definitely more than a mouthpiece but I think extrapolating that out to an organization I see what you mean because I think because sales people are on the front line they're out there they're doing it they're close to it it's just a lot more like tangible it's a lot more obvious and so I guess if I am coming at it from a marketing or a production perspective It's kind of like all of the stuff behind the scenes. So I appreciate that. Thank you. But you are also a magician and the master at work here. So definitely takes two to tango. You are incredible. You are impressive.

33:33Tash Rebuck:Any other parts of wisdom you want to share before we wrap? Just call. Just do it.

33:38Steph Melodia:Don't be afraid. You know, the worst thing they can do is say no. And the most realistic thing is that no one will pick up. And if you do it and you take a rest, you could end up with what we've got. one pretty good conversation that we could get in the diary and one potential prospect we're sending some info to. Not bad for an hour and a half.

33:54Tash Rebuck:Not bad, not bad at all. Thank you so much for listening. We really hope that you've enjoyed this. If you have and you haven't done so already, please hit that follow or subscribe button wherever you are listening to this. We hope that you've enjoyed it, that you've learned something new, that you can take something here from us today, well, from Tash, and apply it directly to your next BD outreach, your next cold sales call thank you so much for listening and hopefully see you next time