Jan. 6, 2026

Powerful Business Strategies - Cold Calling

Show Notes
Transcript

Michael Barbarita of Next Step CFO and Powerful Business Strategies will discuss Cold Calling – When God wanted to punish a sales person he created the cold call, however cold calling is still an effective marketing strategy but there are ways to do it strategically. Pipeman agrees that as much as salespeople and prospects may not like cold calling, but it is still one of the best ways to generate sales and grow your business.

Click Here to Subscribe to The Adventures of Pipeman for PERKS, BONUS Content & FREE GIVEWAYS!

Take some zany and serious journeys with The Pipeman aka Dean K. Piper, CST on The Adventures of Pipeman also known as Pipeman Radio syndicated globally “Where Who Knows And Anything Goes.”

Would you like to be a sponsor of the show?
Would you like to have your business, products, services, merch, programs, books, music or any other professional or artistic endeavors promoted on the show?
Would you like interviewed as a professional or music guest on The Adventures of Pipeman, Positively Pipeman and/or Pipeman in the Pit?
Would you like to host your own Radio Show, Streaming TV Show, or Podcast?

PipemanRadio Podcasts are heard on Pipeman Radio, Talk 4 Media, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Amazon Music, Audible, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and over 100 other podcast outlets where you listen to Podcasts.

The following are the different podcasts to Follow, Listen, Download, Subscribe:
•The Adventures of Pipeman
•Pipeman Radio
•Pipeman in the Pit – Music Interviews & Festivals
•Positively Pipeman – Empowerment, Inspiration, Motivation, Self-Help, Business, Spiritual & Health & Wellness

Click Here to Subscribe for PERKS, BONUS Content & FREE GIVEWAYS!

Follow @pipemanradio on all socials & Pipeman Radio Requests & Info at www.linktr.ee/pipemanradio

Stream The Adventures of Pipeman daily & live Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays at 1PM ET on W4CY Radio & Talk 4 TV.

Download, Rate & Review the Podcast at The Adventures of Pipeman, Pipeman Radio, Talk 4 Media, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, YouTube & All Podcast Apps.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:12.759
Hi, you have done to hear sensu wow for you your.

2
00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:21.679
This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures of

3
00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:24.320
Pipe Man W four c Y Radio and we're here

4
00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:29.839
with our Positively Pipeman segment and we once again have

5
00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:35.359
our expert CFO in the house. So let's welcome Michael

6
00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:37.640
Barbarita from Next Step CFO.

7
00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:39.920
How are you excellent? Thank you for having me.

8
00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:45.759
Deane, Hey, my pleasure. So today we're going to talk

9
00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:49.079
about one of my favorite subjects, cold calling.

10
00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:53.520
Yes, so I'll start up by saying, when God wanted

11
00:00:53.560 --> 00:00:57.560
to punish a salesperson, he created the cold call. However,

12
00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:01.439
the reason why I'm bringing it up is topic is

13
00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:05.599
because a lot of people like myself started their business

14
00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:11.239
that way, and it's still a very effective way to

15
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.599
communicate your product of service and to get business. It's incredible,

16
00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:19.120
but it is. It sounds awful, but it is. As

17
00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:22.519
a matter of fact, I even heard Grint Coggone on

18
00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:25.799
a couple of occasions talk about how co calling is

19
00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:29.719
one of his most effective methods of getting business. And

20
00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:35.760
so when I started my business, I didn't have any

21
00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:40.560
business at all, you know, got on the phone, started calling,

22
00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:43.560
but I did it differently. What I did is I

23
00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:47.599
identified a problem that people had, which was cash flow,

24
00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:50.519
especially at the time because I started my business around

25
00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:55.400
oh wait, during the big crash, So cash flow is

26
00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:58.840
a big issue then. So since that was a problem

27
00:01:58.840 --> 00:02:00.959
that the customer had, I put together a PDF on

28
00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:04.400
solving cash flow problems. And what I did is I

29
00:02:04.439 --> 00:02:08.000
made coke calls asking business owners if they want to

30
00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:12.400
have this free PDF that I have on solving cash

31
00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:17.840
flow problems. And of course, you know, on five occasions,

32
00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:21.759
because I got five clients from it, on five occasions,

33
00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.120
they went into deeper details. So what else do you do?

34
00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:26.000
So what do you do? You know that kind of thing,

35
00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:29.280
And I got into it and I sold them and

36
00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:33.120
so they became clients of mind. And believe it or not,

37
00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:37.960
this was back in eight Four of them are still clients.

38
00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:39.479
Today, I believe it.

39
00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:45.000
Yeah. And so I have probably grossed about seven or

40
00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.800
eight hundred thousand dollars of revenue since that time, at

41
00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:55.319
least by making those coke calls. And so you know,

42
00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:59.039
it's it. So when great Cardones started talking about how

43
00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:02.520
effective it it really is, I started thinking back to

44
00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:06.879
my you know, my situation, and not only that, you

45
00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:10.560
know clients that I have. The problem is, Dean, is

46
00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:15.080
that people spend probably twenty percent of their time staring

47
00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:19.840
at the phone knowing they have to make a coke call.

48
00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:22.840
That's where I have to stop. You're right now, right.

49
00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:28.479
I have a story about that. I was in the

50
00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:31.560
investment business, as you know, and there's more I'm going

51
00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:33.360
to talk about about that and having to do a

52
00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:37.280
cold calling from my story. But when I own the

53
00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:41.159
brokerage firm, you know, you would have in that business,

54
00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:45.319
the people that work for you are on straight commission. Okay,

55
00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:49.199
there there's no draw and there's no salary, and they

56
00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:51.319
can make a ton of money, like they can make

57
00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:55.039
twenty grand a month and more, you know, and all

58
00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:56.719
they have to do is pick up the phone. And

59
00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:58.199
in that business, that's what it is.

60
00:03:58.240 --> 00:03:59.159
It's you pick up the.

61
00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:01.879
Phone and you make three, four or five hundred dials

62
00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:06.639
a day. And so, and I'm going to talk more

63
00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:10.719
about that a little bit. But I called my dad

64
00:04:10.759 --> 00:04:13.439
one time and I'm like, man, I just don't get it.

65
00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:16.759
I have these brokers working for me. I'm giving them

66
00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:19.040
every opportunity in the world. I tell them I'll close

67
00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:20.839
the deals for them. All they have to do is

68
00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:23.160
get people on the phone, and I'll do it all

69
00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:26.040
for them, you know, to even to help them out

70
00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:29.240
to make money. And that's how people learn anyway, better

71
00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:33.199
than telling them showing them. And all they do is

72
00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:35.920
stare at the wall, and they're not getting paid. They

73
00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.839
could be out doing something else, and they're spending their

74
00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:42.079
whole day just sitting there staring at the wall. And

75
00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:44.680
we're talking before we had phones and stuff like that,

76
00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:48.920
so it's not even like they could be distracted by anything. Okay,

77
00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:52.120
there was nothing else they could do. They weren't even

78
00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:55.920
allowed to make personal calls because it was a landline.

79
00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.680
And so I called my dad and I'm like, who

80
00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:05.800
was a superstar salesperson himself? And I was like, I

81
00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:08.560
just don't get it. These people can make like twenty

82
00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:10.360
grand a month and all they have to do is pick

83
00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:13.800
up the phone and they're staring at the wall. And

84
00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:15.959
his answer to me was some of the best advice

85
00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.600
he ever gave me. And he said, well, if they

86
00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:27.560
were you, they would be your competition, not your employees. Yeah,

87
00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:31.040
And that made a lot of sense because basically, who

88
00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.879
are the people that end up in business for themselves?

89
00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:37.879
The people that are the top cold callers, not the

90
00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:39.680
people staring at the wall.

91
00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:45.120
Right, that's right, It is amazing. And you know, like

92
00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:47.879
I said, what I did is I put together a

93
00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:50.959
simple PDF based on a problem that I knew was

94
00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:54.680
help in the marketplace. And it made it easier for

95
00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:58.279
me to call because I was giving away something of value.

96
00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:01.519
And it's just so happen and that on you know,

97
00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:04.879
enough occasions people you know, people were saying, so what

98
00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:07.399
is it that you do? And we got into it

99
00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:11.000
to the point where you know, I got them as

100
00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:14.279
a client. And you know, it's funny because one of

101
00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.079
my clients that I co called that I still have today,

102
00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:21.399
always uses me as an example when he's talking to

103
00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:27.279
his salespeople because he had he never hired anybody off

104
00:06:27.319 --> 00:06:31.480
of a coke call. And somehow we were able to

105
00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:34.399
you know, I was, I was able to sell them in.

106
00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:38.639
But you know, it's how I started my business. And

107
00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:41.879
you know, and I'm so kind of disappointed in myself

108
00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:44.879
that I stopped cold calling because I was getting referrals

109
00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:48.240
and generating business with the strategies that we've talked about

110
00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:52.040
on the show. So you know, I it's it hasn't

111
00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:57.519
been a key area for me. But I'm really giving

112
00:06:57.560 --> 00:06:59.639
it some serious thought going back to it, because I

113
00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:03.680
believe it's very valuable. And the other thing, there is

114
00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:07.079
such a thing, and this is gonna make everybody like

115
00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:11.360
gravitate to it. I probably shouldn't say it, but there

116
00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:14.879
is this thing called ringless voicemail. And it's not as

117
00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:20.240
good as a code call, but and it's at least

118
00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:25.399
a telephone communication. And there are several CRMs that have

119
00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:29.079
ringless voicemail. The phone does not ring, but a voicemail

120
00:07:29.160 --> 00:07:34.600
is left. And so because it's hot, because I got

121
00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:38.759
to tell you this, in twenty and eighty I was

122
00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:46.560
able to reach business owners every fifth dial. Okay, today

123
00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:50.199
I'm not able to reach business owners until every twelfth

124
00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:53.879
or thirteenth dial. It's hot to reach people today. So

125
00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:59.120
that's why ringless voicemail is potentially an option, because first

126
00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.920
of all, it's your voice you'll leave in the voicemail,

127
00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:05.480
and but you're not using their name, which is a disadvantage.

128
00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:09.959
But it is a voicemail and it is personal contact,

129
00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:13.800
and you know, you can follow it up with an email,

130
00:08:14.040 --> 00:08:18.319
You can follow it up with a LinkedIn message. Uh,

131
00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:21.240
you can follow it up with a text. So there's ways,

132
00:08:21.399 --> 00:08:24.959
there's ways to you know, follow up to the point

133
00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:29.240
where you sound more real instead of some scamming co caller,

134
00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.039
especially when you follow it up with the other methods

135
00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:38.240
of communication. So that's that's really uh, I found to

136
00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:42.120
be the most effective. I've always been a believer in multimedia.

137
00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:45.200
I call it. I don't know if that's really you know,

138
00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:51.840
but it's using the telephone, using voicemail, using email, using

139
00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:56.679
LinkedIn messaging, using texting. This all makes you look legitimate.

140
00:08:56.879 --> 00:08:59.240
When you get scammy phone calls, they don't even leave

141
00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:03.480
a message. Usually yeah, you know, it's just like it, okay,

142
00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:04.639
the next dial or whatever.

143
00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:08.480
I actually get a lot of spammy's that leave me messages,

144
00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:11.759
and I'm like, that's just dumb. I think it's dumb

145
00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:14.559
because then you're just telling me you're scam and I'm

146
00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:15.799
gonna avoid it every time.

147
00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:23.440
Right, So, anyway that I wanted, I felt compelled to

148
00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:29.000
talk about probably the most fearful marketing strategy on Earth.

149
00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:33.080
Well, to me, I just want to say, real quick,

150
00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.559
I think it's one of the best strategies out there.

151
00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:38.200
And people, you know, once you get used to it,

152
00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:40.399
you don't hate the cold calling. It's like funny. Once

153
00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:43.120
I got used to it, I didn't like going back

154
00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:46.279
because listen in the investments, this perfect example. I used

155
00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:48.399
to buy these leads that were like two hundred dollars

156
00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.559
a name. Yeah, and then I also used to buy

157
00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:55.399
this lead book, a very specific lead that was the

158
00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.360
cheapest lead ever in the industry, like the dun and

159
00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:01.000
Bradstreet leads, and we I had some other ones like

160
00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.879
that ten cents a name. I made way more money

161
00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:08.120
off the ten cent a name call. And because they

162
00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:11.279
were cold calls, you were just cold calling people, you know,

163
00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:14.159
then I did on the two hundred dollars a name

164
00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:17.519
because the people that are requesting information a or lookie

165
00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:21.559
lose most of the time B the requesting information from everybody,

166
00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:25.440
and they're already prepared to say no to you, you know,

167
00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:30.559
whereas the cold call, if you handle it properly, they're

168
00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:32.399
not prepared for it.

169
00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:33.000
You know.

170
00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:36.039
One of the dumbest things I'm gonna give people advice

171
00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:38.639
right now, One of the dumbest things you could do

172
00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:42.399
when you do a cold call is within the first

173
00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.320
ten seconds. It's the most important. That's where you either

174
00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:48.440
catch your attention or to hang up. Do not spend

175
00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:51.200
that ten seconds saying I'm not here to sell you anything.

176
00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:54.360
Right now, you're starting a conversation on a lie. They

177
00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:57.600
know that's a lie. It's a stupid line. The other

178
00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:00.159
thing you don't want to start with is how are you?

179
00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:02.679
They know you don't give a crap how they are,

180
00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:05.720
and you're just opening up the door for them to

181
00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:08.679
say crappy And now where do you go with that?

182
00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:16.960
So that's my two major cold calling advice skills right there.

183
00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:17.559
You know.

184
00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:20.960
And you just get on with them and get straight

185
00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:24.639
to the point and be up front. They appreciate that.

186
00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:26.799
That's why I did so much business because they were

187
00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:31.120
so used to salespeople going on and like trying to

188
00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:34.320
pretend they're not selling anything, or try to pretend this

189
00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:36.600
or you know, just like you're taught when you go

190
00:11:36.679 --> 00:11:39.120
in the house to sell, to make a comment on

191
00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:43.279
somebody's artwork and stuff like that. People are free hip

192
00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:46.320
to that, and it just makes you look decent and dishonest.

193
00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:52.200
Just say hey, I'm calling you because of this period,

194
00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:55.840
and then they might listen because they're like, holy shit,

195
00:11:56.440 --> 00:12:00.840
excuse my language, but they're like, you know, oh my god,

196
00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.440
this must be something I listen to because he's not

197
00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:04.799
trying to trick me into it.

198
00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:09.039
Horse yet that's right, so very good. Yes, no, that's

199
00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:12.279
that's very good, very good. But I've always found it

200
00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:14.639
to be a difficult set to talk about because everybody,

201
00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:17.840
uh gets a squirre machine.

202
00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.039
Oh yeah, no doubt topic is brought up.

203
00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:24.840
But uh. The way to find out more about what

204
00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:30.679
we do as fractional CFOs and strategic advisors is to

205
00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:34.519
go to my website www dot NeXTSTEP CFO dot net

206
00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:38.600
to hit the contact Go to the contact page at

207
00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:41.519
the top of the website, hit the contact button, fill

208
00:12:41.559 --> 00:12:44.039
out the form, and in the message center put the

209
00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:47.600
words book into view, love to interview business owners get

210
00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:51.039
their industry perspective for the next edition of my book,

211
00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:53.919
because I'm always updating my book called Powerful Business Strategies,

212
00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:55.799
which I give away free on the website as well,

213
00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:00.360
and I'm always updating it because businesses always changed and

214
00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:04.000
we want to make sure that our strategies work for

215
00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:07.440
all different types of industry. So far they have, but

216
00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:11.120
we want to continue that process and make sure they

217
00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:15.720
still work. So NEXTTEPCFO dot net, forward slash contact, fill

218
00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:18.120
out the contact form, and in the message section put

219
00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:18.759
book interview.

220
00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:22.960
Well, they definitely need to reach out to you because

221
00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:27.720
you always have some powerful business strategies. And thank you

222
00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:31.600
once again for being part of Positively Pipemin segment. And

223
00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:33.759
thanks for being on the Adventures of Pipeman. You're on

224
00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:34.960
W four c Y Radio.

225
00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:39.639
Thanks for having me mean thank you for listening to

226
00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:46.039
the Adventures of Pipemin. I'm W for CUI Radio.