Hey everyone, Kirk G. from Fayetteville here. Been cold calling manufacturing facilities for three weeks now and getting maybe 1 callback per 50 calls. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong? My elevator pitch focuses on Duke Energy rate Schedule LGS savings but seems like nobody wants to listen.
Cold calling success rate - what's realistic?
Kirk that's actually not bad for cold calling! Beverly here from Memphis. I had similar results when I started - cold calling is rough but it does work. Try calling right after lunch around 1:30pm, caught more decision makers then.
Kirk, Randy Dawson here. Your callback rate is actually within normal range for utility auditing cold calls. The key is persistence and timing. I've found Tuesday through Thursday, 10am-11am and 2pm-3pm work best. Also try mentioning a specific case study - "I just saved a similar manufacturer $18,000 annually by catching demand charge errors on their Rate LGS account." Make it real and specific. Don't give up!
Mike S. from Boise here. Cold calling was brutal for me too but landed my first big client that way - a food processing plant paying $45K monthly to Idaho Power. Found $8,200 in annual savings on their Schedule 19 Large Power rate. Sometimes you just need that one success story to reference in future calls.
Joan W. in Tempe. Skip cold calling and focus on LinkedIn outreach instead. Much higher response rate and you can research the prospect first. Found three clients this year just through LinkedIn messaging property managers.
Thanks everyone! Going to try Randy's timing suggestion and Joan I'll definitely work on my LinkedIn approach too. Appreciate the encouragement.