Ah the programmer, one of my favorite types of people in the world. Stereotyped as an introvert not able to hold a conversation with his own mother and never getting the girl. We know this isn't true, screw society, we know each programmer breaks the mold in their own way. Hopefully one day people will see how extraordinary this skill really is, but what if programmers loved cold calling as well? I think they'd take over the world in a heartbeat.
I have a friend who describes himself as an "extroverted programmer", he was self taught with no college background, got into Microsoft and worked as a project lead for over a lead, quit that started doing consulting work and building startups. I also have a cousin who is a CS major at Berkley, the "I've done this since I was 13" type of programmer. Both of these guys have been extremely successful at business considering their young age, the former selling a company and the latter having one making thousands a month currently. They are both young, yet what they have in common is they don't mind picking up the phone and making a call.
You may argue "I shouldn't love cold calling, I need to specialize in one field to be the best I can in it". Well if your goal is to be Dennis Ritchie then you're on the right path, however if you want to be a founder of a tech company then don't lie to yourself and say having the guts to get business and close deals is a bad thing. God forbid you cold call someone, get some initial users or make some sales. I think we need more programmers who can put on the sales cap, we know they're smart enough all they have to do is jump in the pool. You hate "business monkeys" right? Well show them how useless they really are.
If I miss any reasons feel free to add on and if you disagree then cool story bro (just kidding opposite opinions are always welcome and facilitate good conversation).
So without further adieu, here is my list of 25 Reasons Programmers Should Love Cold Calling.
1) Human Hacking. Something Kevin Mitnick was great at (don't pretend he isn't cool). Cold calling is arguably similar to it except more legal.
2) It will teach you how to stand up for yourself. The best cold callers don't let people walk all over them and everyone needs self-confidence. Say your business fails, well you can now negotiate contracts and aren't afraid of receiving a "no" for your future boss.
3) You don't rely on a business co-founder anymore. In fact tell him you want 80% equity, he's gonna stay in operation land while you handle the big deals running the company the right way. Not relying on a business co-founder lets you be a lot more picky. Perhaps you want a business superstar now for salary? Perhaps even hire more programmers on board to show people what a Lean Startup really is.
4) New connections. No one can take away the power you'll build with great connections. Cold calling will build your sales skills to the point where selling yourself won't be a problem. Once you have the connections, the ability to build the product and sales skills to grow further...well I think we're on to something :-)
5) Never be cornered into one role again. By playing multiple roles at a startup you can switch back and forth when bored or perhaps stuck on a hard problem. Pick up the phone an start cold calling, make a sale, feel good and fix that Satan induced bug.
6) It kills your ego. When you cold call you have to get rid of that feeling deep inside the pit of your stomach that cares about judgement. Having an ego, being "too good" to do the little stuff will kill a startup fast. As a co-founder you have to put your pride aside and do whatever it takes to succeed, having an ego can drag all of us down in life.
7) Forget the QA Engineer or VP sales guy slowing things down. If you're a startup founder talking directly to customers will definitely help. Bypass the QA guy and get to the customers real gripe without playing telephone. There's a reason Michael Dell spent 20% of his time in customer development.
8) You're destined to do it. Have you tried cold calling? No? Is there 1% chance you'll love it? Maybe. Give it a try and you just might find another love of your's that will take you farther in life.
9) Being a programmer is a HUGE advantage in during the sales process. "Oh you don't like the product?...well what would like me to fix about it, I MADE it". Saying you're the owner (even partial) of the product will gain you tons of respect from customers. Telling people you're a programmer in sales or cold calls is very disarming. You're not that pesky guy attacking them to hurry up and buy, you're the creator seeking their insight trying to create value and actually fix their problems.
10) Gain more respect with your team. Is there another sales guy in your company? Well consider yourself brothers at arms now, you have a connection with him very few people ever will, you've been in the trenches you know what its like.
11) Hilarious stories. You'll laugh at the "professional" image some companies comically uphold, the hip hop hold music they put you on, the half asleep employees and much more. The last sweet old front desk lady who transferred me to the wrong person said: "oh fuck sorry!".
12) People will thank you. If the call goes well or at minimum if you're polite, people will thank you for reaching out to them attempting to provide value. A lot of cold callers forget about this, but then again most people in life focus on the negatives or what's in it for them during sales.
13) It helps figure out if the business you're in is worth being a part of. If most customers don't like the product then why should you continue with this path? The worse death is that of "a thousand paper-cuts" in startups vs. failing fast and pivoting to success.
14) Ever want to call yourself a Growth Hacker? Well if you understand programming and cold calling then marketing will be much easier. You can now create your own marketing tools with your new found knowledge of your prospects and clients.
15) Writing ads is easier then ever before. With all your experience in sales you know what your customers like to hear and how they like to hear it, you have the chance to understand the customer in the best way.
16) You're trying out a new way to get users. To get an edge or keep an edge in startups you have to try out new things, cold calling just may be the highest way to convert customers on top of all the valuable market research you'll find.
17) No co-founders no problem. Being a single co-founder is hard, damn near impossible, however now you can do it. On the flip side, prove your idea works first and your ideal partners will be more likely to join.
18) Add this as another skill on your resume if the startup idea failed. You can now talk about this experience and will stick out like a sore thumb versus everyone else.
19) Making a list of new features is faster than ever before. Simply asking people what they'd like to see in your startup isn't such a bad thing. It doesn't mean you can't innovate, but it does mean you're listening to customers and taking what they really want into consideration.
20) Find your dream clients. You can now be more picky with douchebags and find the dream clients you wanted. This is the reason I'm picky with our clients on trial today in fact because I know I can get someone else in their area.
21)Learn social skills. Yes cold calling involves keeping the conversation going and figuring out when people don't want you to talk, if you learn how to do this conversations will be easier then ever before.
22) Learn more about your competitors. Sometimes clients will tell you what you're not doing that your competitors are and who else they're comparing you to.
23) Build your business instincts. If you do enough sales you'll know just when a deal will fall through and when people are taking you for a ride, this makes building a startup a lot easier.
24) Learn more about your companies reputation and other people in your company. Some customers may have talked to other people in your company before who they'll praise or hate and can tell you why.
25) Find other product segments. As the case happened for my company a possible customer of your's may have a completely different problem then you imagined that you can solve, all solved through programming.
26) Bonus: Make More Money. An extra person on the sales team = more money, a programmer on the sales team = better product + more sales = Much More Money.
Well those are all the reasons I can come up with off the top of my head for now. This post was inspired by my cold calling/programming startup founder so thanks to him.
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