Cold calling idea
I am in my first year and cold calling is what I do probably half the time I’m at work, if not more. But if I make 40 calls a day I only talk to the decision maker about 20% of the time. 

Basically I leave a ton of vm and my callback rate isn’t very high maybe one a day. 

Have you ever considered cold emailing as a follow up to a cold call that goes to vm? If so, how has this worked out for you? It includes a little more due diligence and a little more time per call but if it works I think it would be worth it.
[{"id": "eyj9ile", "text": "cold email = no success. \n\nWhat has worked was hiring someone to do the initial calls, complete with cold call/information gathering script etc. we also created criteria for who/what/where to call.  The company I hired would then schedule a time for me on a cloud calendar to either call/meet people that were looking for information which allowed me to be more productive with getting in front of actual decision makers. I paid based on #calls made per week. One deal pays for it annually. The company I used was scooped up by another firm.", "replies": [{"id": "eyjbej1", "text": "I used to do this in high school for a financial planner.  He paid me $500 if a meeting was set and they showed up, and $1,000 if they did business with us.  Made some good money that summer.", "replies": [{"id": "eyma0a5", "text": "You got hosed on the $1,000 bit. Should have asked for a percentage of the transaction.", "replies": [{"id": "eymb9hr", "text": "No license, couldn\u2019t take a commission.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "eyzj5k1", "text": "Remember what it was called ?", "replies": [{"id": "eyzqpwj", "text": "Cannot recall but this company seems very similar. https://wow24-7.io/b2b-calling", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eyjb1lb", "text": "I've been working at a commercial appraisal firm for about 6 months and so far I've been mainly focused on researching relevant market data, so not much work requiring communication of any kind. But I was on a project where we needed to confirm a huge list of apartment sale transactions, so we pulled all the relevant sales from co-star and CBA and cataloged all the broker information we could. Our boss just said start to dial and work through the list, another  senior in the office recommended email as the best way to actually get through and get a response from the broker. So, I did exactly what you are proposing. I would call, often not getting through, leave a brief message summarizing my interests, then quickly send them an email saying something along the lines of \"Hello Mr. Smith, I called and left a message a few minutes ago regarding sales confirmation data for the Blank Apartments. I realize you are a busy individual, so I thought perhaps an email would be a more efficient way for you to confirm the information. If you prefer to discuss this over the phone, please feel free to call me whenever you are available. Thanks for your help, it is greatly appreciated\". It was very hit or miss on getting any response but I would say more often than not when they did get back to me it was through email. You just gotta stay persistent and if they don't get back to you follow up with another call in a couple days with another nice, short voicemail. I'm not clear on who you are trying to get a hold of, but brokers are usually decent about responded to us as they play the game of professional back scratching as well. We all rely on each other for information and they know this, so the good ones will try to get back to you. Hope this is insightful and can help you in some way, best of luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eyjb4bx", "text": "Send them an email with the subject line reading \u201ctest\u201d and nothing else. Power move.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eyjb4mv", "text": "If you are getting a hold of people 20% of the time, you are doing VERY well. That ratio is well above standards. \n\nA lot depends on your objectives. For instance, are you cold calling for brokerage or as a buyer? \n\nIf you are brokering, you should be aiming to set up as many face to face meetings from those calls as possible, as this is your best way to ultimately get secure listings. Thus you want to track the number of meetings you are getting/decision maker as well which is an equally important ratio. \n\nHowever, if you are looking to find some off market deals to acquire for yourself, you just need to be finding decision makers who are at least willing to consider an offer, which doesn't require a face to face meeting. \n\nTo be sure though, 40 calls/day x 20% means you're talking to 8 decision makers per day...conceivably 40 decision makers a week? That should be more than enough to succeed in either objective, thus if you are not getting the results you expect I'd also put a lot of emphasis on improving your approach/pitch. There are a number of great sales books that can help you do this, and if you are in an office, pick the brains of the most successful people as best you can. You mainly need to find a way to convey a compelling enough reason for the decision maker to respond to you. This is the art of the sale.\n \nPersistence is also key here. Doing 40 calls per day is decent, but doing this every workday for years is what is often required to really prime the pump, and most people will give up on calling long before they reach that point. You can always email everyone you call, but I'd use email to compliment those calling efforts, not as a substitute. \n\nJust be willing to consistently do the hard stuff and you will separate yourself from the pack. Best of luck.", "replies": [{"id": "eyjc5ik", "text": "Any books you\u2019d recommend?", "replies": [{"id": "eyjh4su", "text": "I wasn\u2019t aware that this way a high ratio. I usually get 5-10 on the phone a day with 40 calls and it\u2019s frustrating. But if that\u2019s good then I will take it and run with it. \n\nWhat kind of pitch are you thinking? Because my goal is to let them know I\u2019m here as a resource to them, here to help. And with consistent quarterly contact &amp; monthly value add emails I\u2019m hoping with some of them I will be top of mind for a broker. I\u2019m not necessarily looking for business right now because I know that is not that realistic.", "replies": [{"id": "eyjmk05", "text": "You get 5 to 10 calls a day with the decision maker? That's awesome.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}, {"id": "eyk8nci", "text": "The-TW said it perfectly. Focus on the key metric which is first meetings. The targets I set for my team and myself is 10% call to conversation, 33% conversation to meeting, 33% meeting to proposal, 33% proposal to listing. If you push your conversations through my numbers you're at a listing a week. Those are million dollar broker numbers. The disconnect seems to be that you're not trying to add value to set a meeting. It's good to build your brand but why isn't it realistic to be looking for business? The brand you may be building is \"the broker who won't ask for the business\" which isn't a good brand to have if you're trying to get hired to sell someone's property. If you don't know how to add value you might consider latching on to a senior broker that can take lead once there's business to secure and work side by side with you until you have run with it yourself. Half of a deal is infinitely better that 100% of no deals. You're talking to twice as many people as you need to to be successful, you just need to convert them to meetings then to listings.", "replies": [{"id": "eyk9b8o", "text": "33% conversation to meeting is crazy to me. How would you do that? I agree with what you\u2019re saying though for the most part.", "replies": [{"id": "eyksgx8", "text": "Do you mean how do you find the time or how do we convert that many?", "replies": [{"id": "eyl8fk0", "text": "A conversion rate of 33% for getting meetings out of every contact you make with a prospect is a very impressive one", "replies": [{"id": "eylesv7", "text": "It's strong and took years of practice, but even half that for you would put a lot of money in your pocket.", "replies": [], "depth": 8}], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "eyjhd45", "text": "Cold Calling Techniques by Stepehn Shiffman is among my favorites that is specific to cold calling and setting appointments. But also recommend Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini for an overall understanding of what makes people tick.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "eyltpes", "text": "Fanatical Prospecting is widely regarded in the inside sales industry as one of the best books on cold calling.", "replies": [{"id": "eyly0a3", "text": "I will have to check this out. I noticed the author also has a podcast. Have you listened to it?", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "ezmjcd3", "text": "Holy crap 40/day! I\u2019m lucky if I can fit in 10. Most of my time is occupied with research. Who owns the property, seeking title and corporate records to find an owner. I\u2019d have to have 40 phone numbers to make 40 calls a day. So where are people sourcing their info from?", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eyjl17p", "text": "Have you tried networking at your local fav eating spot\u2019s bar. Our broker landed my father this way. $25mil in deals in progress as a result.", "replies": [{"id": "eyjmzen", "text": "Just curious what market are you in?", "replies": [{"id": "eyjnco1", "text": "Silicon Valley- Original Joes- apparently where deals happen \ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2642\ufe0f", "replies": [{"id": "eyjnvno", "text": "Oh very nice! I\u2019m up in Seattle.", "replies": [{"id": "eyjo185", "text": "Metropolitan Grill has a very similar bar set up, I imagine deals happen just as well there. Good luck!", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eyk5dne", "text": "Step your calls up. You can do 40 calls easily in 2 hours.", "replies": [{"id": "eyk93y9", "text": "No I can\u2019t, every call I record in my crm and that alone takes 2 mins. I have to call to ask who is responsible for re decisions and get connected to them that\u2019s 1 minute, and I have to talk to them that\u2019s 1 minute atleast and before I call I do a little due diligence on the company/where they\u2019re at and that\u2019s 1-2 minutes. Like 5-8 minutes a call.\n\nSure I could call 40 ppl in two hours but I\u2019d be wasting my time because I wouldn\u2019t be cataloging them effectively and there would be no follow ups", "replies": [{"id": "eym2vkk", "text": "What CRM are you using?", "replies": [{"id": "eymfvf5", "text": "Realnex. It\u2019s good, but I would choose apto if I had to do it all over again. Not bad at all though definitely the only reason I stay remotely organized", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eyk9kt6", "text": "Cold emails work better if you give them information. Prospects are more likely to engage if you give them information instead of asking for things all the time (like when does your else end, will you meet with me, can I list your building? etc.)\n\nI think following up with an email after a phone call is fine, especially if you have tried reaching them via phone with no luck. It\u2019s all about trying different things and seeing what works and what doesn\u2019t. It seems like you are already using metrics to measure your phone calls and success reaching a decision masker, so maybe use metrics for emails and see how it compares.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eylu1um", "text": "Not to detract from this question, but what are you typically asking/saying in cold calls?", "replies": [{"id": "eymsxc0", "text": "Hey my name is ___ with ____. I was curious how business was going and how everything was going from a real estate standpoint. Also I fucked your wife.\n\nBooks hella meetings", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eylyj01", "text": "Try cold emailing but put start the subject line as RE: or FW: that way people think you're either responding to a convo you're already having with them, or they'll think they know you and you're forwarding something interesting. \n\nSneaky sneaky but I've seen some groups send out emails like that and it always catches my attention more.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eymckg7", "text": "Ok sure - then probably in 3 hours. What are you doing for the next 5 hours?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eymfzdq", "text": "More like 4-5 hours and the other 4-5 hours I spend working on my listings, working on deals in the pipeline, meetings, tours, everything else a broker does", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "eyoatev", "text": "As someone who received a TON of cold call voice mails/emails like yours, here\u2019s what I would suggest: \n\n1. Playing the \u201cnumbers game\u201d is the lazy guy\u2019s way to mediocre (at best) success based on antiquated technology told to you with the best of intentions by well respected people. It\u2019s not the worst game in the playbook, but it\u2019s definitely not the slickest or the slyest. How does \u201cHello, I\u2019m Forgettable Person/Broker\u201d calling to discuss ways we can partner together in a \u201cinsert super vague way\u201d that will be mutually beneficial? compared to \u201cHi _insert my name_, I\u2019m Forgettable Person/Broker, calling to ways we can partner together on 1 Jones Street. \n\n2. Emails received before 7:00 am and after 7:00 pm receive more attention.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]