• 3 Posts
  • 737 Comments
Joined 10 months ago
Cake day: September 12th, 2023
  • TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zonetoGames@sh.itjust.works•Elden Ring Publisher Addresses Difficulty Criticism of Shadow of the Erdtree, Offers Tips for DLCEnglish
    102·
    13 hours ago

    I think the Dark Souls games have kinda earned an undue reputation for being unapproachably hard. They’re really not all that tricky once you learn that death isn’t a huge loss condition, just a step in the journey. I initially found them frustrating, but once I learned to not be bothered by dying and simply try again, I found an immense joy in exploring the worlds and challenges within.

    Some bosses I beat first try, others will take me an afternoon or a few days to beat, but I have fun with it either way. Different strokes for different folks and all that, but I think Dark Souls and it’s like are good lessons on how to get over feeling bad about “losing” and just enjoy the game.

    Plus, you can always explore areas to gather up whatever you need to level up and slowly get marginally stronger as you become more familiar with your character and tweak it to your liking.

  • TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zonetoLinkedinLunatics@sh.itjust.works•Cold calls aren't spam!
    6·
    16 hours ago

    I made that kind of mistake often early on in my sales career. The product I sold had a specific use in a specific field by specific disciplines, and was required by law in certain regions.

    I always felt like such a dick when I’d get to the purchasing agent, make my hurried nervous pitch because I’m so excited to get through to someone and they’d (often kindly) explain that they literally never have any use case for my product.

    After a few of those, I became more aware of how to prune my “leads” (read: list of phone numbers) to make sure I was only reaching out to people who could even use the dang thing and inserted a few exploratory questions into the opening salvo to double check.

    I’m glad I don’t have to do this via email, though. At least with the phone, I can hear tone and get quick, definite answers instead of just waiting on a reply.

  • TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zonetoLinkedinLunatics@sh.itjust.works•Cold calls aren't spam!
    201·
    17 hours ago

    Oh, one hundred percent. The way I treat people who have zero decision making ability differed greatly from purchasing agents or decision makers. They were largely in the same spot as me. It’s important to understand that the sales agents are also wage slaves, the tasks are just different.

    Dealing with people like me was one of the stupid things they gotta do at work to make their pay and go home, just like me making 80+ calls an hour at some points was one of my stupid things. I wanted to get them off the phone as soon as possible, be that either by ending the call or getting passed onto someone who could buy. You can use that to build rapport and speed up the process. You can even make it jovial. The goal is to make the sales process as painless as possible while recognizing that being a pest is effective.

    Sales agents who put the big pitch on the second they get someone to talk to em are not thinking straight and hindering themselves. Though, sometimes there’s parts of a service that simplifies their lives, which I’d mention while waiting for a decision maker or during another break.

  • TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zonetoLinkedinLunatics@sh.itjust.works•Cold calls aren't spam!
    241·
    18 hours ago

    I’m in the former group. Not just that, but I’m good at sales. Like, nicknamed The Closer and that sorta corporate motivational bullshit at one point good.

    I will strike up conversations with people in a bar and make new friends waiting in lines. It’s a talent, but its also a skill that can be taught and learned. It’s a hat you wear to help you at work.

    All that said, cold calls suck ass and they’re a nuisance on most any individual. I’d refuse to do them on non-business customers.

  • TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zonetoLinkedinLunatics@sh.itjust.works•Cold calls aren't spam!
    1052·
    17 hours ago

    As someone who’s had to do cold calls as part of a sales pipeline,

    1. it’s spam,
    2. I wouldn’t say it’s spam on LinkedIn, that’s where I tell lies to get better jobs,
    3. if it’s B2B, I do not feel any shame, every business is a fuck

    Edit: I’ll also add that B2B cold calls do work. If you have a good product or service and approach it the right way, you can generate plenty of business this way. That said, it’s wholly a numbers game. When I was training sales agents, they’d ask me “how do I get sales like you do?” and I’d tell em simply “Make more calls.” As I said elsewhere, I’m good at this. I had a roughly 2-3% conversation rate. Understand that means if I made a hundred calls, I made two to three sales. And that’s pretty damn good. Before we were more established and could drop that model, we found that cold calling generally had around a 1.4% conversion rate. It relies on you being chipper and persistent to the point of annoyance. Some people literally do break at one point and say stuff like “Well, I need to get something, and if I sign with you, will you stop calling me?”

    It was always far more enjoyable to call established leads, people who already expressed and interest and just needed help making up their mind. Better on the customer, better on the agent, a better process overall.

  • TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zoneto196@lemmy.blahaj.zone•Heavy metal rule
    21·
    5 days ago

    Once played a barbarian who told everyone they were a wizard. They practiced time magic, and using their magic staff (great hammer), they took the very years of life away from their victims.

    Had a bard companion who would advise people against telling him he’s not casting spells, he’s just hitting people very hard, as that enrages him and he goes into a “casting rage”