Cold Calling

Im going to do the cold call thing, I want more business then getting online leads and emailing have gotten me , I have not done this yet i wanted to leave it as a last resort kind of thing.want to know anyone elses trials,tips and suggestions and motivation.

What exactly are you cold calling for?

seo / web design

These will help you book appointments to do live presentaions.

Please just don't.

SEO cold calls are just about the most annoying thing that comes over the phone. I promise that if you haven't done cold calling before, you're going to end up with a bruised ego, wasted time, and a few extra irritated people in the world. Not to be negative, but good cold calling involves a lot of time, research, and dedication to turning cold calls into warm calls.

xxxxxxxxJJxxxxxxxxx said:

Please just don't.

SEO cold calls are just about the most annoying thing that comes over the phone. I promise that if you haven't done cold calling before, you're going to end up with a bruised ego, wasted time, and a few extra irritated people in the world. Not to be negative, but good cold calling involves a lot of time, research, and dedication to turning cold calls into warm calls.

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Ok I got to agree with that. You're trying to sell an idea over the phone so you
better be good at stimulating the imagination and painting mental pictures.
Use those mp3's I posted make an appointment, do a physical presentation with
powerpoint slides, mindmaps and graphs. There are some reasonable resourses
to be found in the download section and around the Internet.
"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit."

xxxxxxxxJJxxxxxxxxx said:

Please just don't.

SEO cold calls are just about the most annoying thing that comes over the phone. I promise that if you haven't done cold calling before, you're going to end up with a bruised ego, wasted time, and a few extra irritated people in the world. Not to be negative, but good cold calling involves a lot of time, research, and dedication to turning cold calls into warm calls.

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Agree, do not do any hard work, not worth the time. just sit back and wait money will roll in while you do nothing.


OR

Go buy this book

Cold Calling Techniques: That Really Work by Stephan Schiffman

And make bank.

Ignore these other guys who obviously don't do it or know how, or want this business to themselves.

CasinoJack said:

Agree, do not do any hard work, not worth the time. just sit back and wait money will roll in while you do nothing.

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No joke - I love this reply, and I agree with it to a point. I also have that book and like it.

Here is my thing - I just don't believe in true cold calls for small (especially 1 person) businesses with out spending a good deal of time researching, targeting, and turning a potential cold call into warm calls.

I think my original post was too negative, I apologize, and I'll try again with a positive twist.

Please don't make cold calls without doing real homework. Do some research prior to a phone call, know the business you're calling. Know a bit about their current SEO, where they rank, what there business is, what size their business is, what you can provide them that will make them part with money. I'd suggest a personal email introducing yourself before the call to work on warming up that cold call - Hi this is X from Y, I'd like to introduce myself... this is what I can do for you... I'd like to speak with you to discuss further... Please let me know if X:00pm on ###day works for you. Then your call will at least be somewhat expected and you will not just be another jerk wasting their time (I get a call a day from terrible SEO companies - hence my kneejerk reaction to the word coldcall)

One of the first things you'll likely find is that it isn't the easiest thing in the world to get in touch with everyone, so when you do get in touch with a warm body - you want to be able to be concise and to the point, let them know you've done your homework and that your point is how they will make money by working with you - all while respecting their time. - ex - Hi, this is X from Y. I looked over your website and did a high level SEO review. I can help in X way.

I get the phonecalls with the played out tagline of 'Hi this is Jackhat from bloogle labs. We work directly with google and yahoo to ensure that your webpage shows up at the top of search results...' ect ect. I've never been able to get a single one of these sales people to answer a simple question about the site they were calling about without them going to check while we were on the phone. That is an instant fail.

So, do your research so you don't waste your time and your prospective clients time. Provide value with everything you say, and focus on finding out what the bottom line is - can your services make them money, how much, how fast, and how much is it going to cost them.

I hope that was more positive and helps a bit. Again - sorry for the kneejerk negative reaction - you will run into that with just about every cold call you make if it comes across as a cold call sales call.

My 2 cents

Some good points

My point is, You cannot not do something because someone else says not to without trying yourself.

Yes research is needed

Practice is needed

I was NOT talking about selling vaporware or ripping off people, the poster mentioned he is selling seo services.

I think phone sells still work, I am on the phone a ton closing business.

And yes, I stand by the point being made, some people will pull you down if you listen to negativity.

I personally think 99% of successful sales guys get that way based on their attitude before they pick up the first phone.

oxonbeef said:

You went a long way down in my estimation with that comment.

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Sorry you feel that way.

Check out "Cold Calling Is a Waste of Time: Sales Success In The Information Age"

It'll change the way you prospect...

There are many ways to do offline marketing. My best advice is join a Chamber of commerce and turn those cold leads into warm ones.

Well my advice would first be don't knock it until you try it. You don't know what you are capable of. Second don't give up so easily. Cold calling is very hard nowadays. Make up a script and get comfortable with it then pound the phones. One thing about it sales is all about numbers. The more you put out there something will return even if it's just one or two sales out of contacting 500 people. After a while it gets easier and you more and more confident.

Regarding phone cold calling for marketing services, it's tough for sure. One thing that has worked for me is a very brief first call, quick introduction, no chit chat. Acknowledge that you respect they are busy and don't have a lot of time... say you are busy too but have something they will definitely be very interested in that they probably haven't seen before and "what I'd like to do is send you a fax or email which covers it in more detail... I'll call you back tomorrow but my contact info will be on the email/fax in case you want to call me back sooner".

Usually if there's any interest they start asking for details (you got their curiosity up), but don't give it to them at that time or you will lose the deal. Make them wait for the email/fax.

Another way is to also start with the quick call...say you are busy, just as they are, but you would like to schedule another time to get together (either in person or with phone appointment).

Good luck!

well, i did try it and it sucked to hear all those no's but hey there loss ! i made 100 calls and got 5 appointments for presentations this week

tbrizell said:

Well my advice would first be don't knock it until you try it. You don't know what you are capable of. Second don't give up so easily. Cold calling is very hard nowadays. Make up a script and get comfortable with it then pound the phones. One thing about it sales is all about numbers. The more you put out there something will return even if it's just one or two sales out of contacting 500 people. After a while it gets easier and you more and more confident.

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Thanks that is so true ive been doing it the past few days it does get better

i just love to do cold calling. in fact, i used to doing that anyway. part of my daily job.

Rather than cold call "selling" something you can offer a freebie to get you in the door. I offer a free article which I then spin and blast onto the article networks so it proves I can get the client traffic. If you can offer a free SEO starter then some businesses will take you up on it - what have they got to lose? Then you can pitch your other paid services to a client you already know!

pearlydean said:

Rather than cold call "selling" something you can offer a freebie to get you in the door. I offer a free article which I then spin and blast onto the article networks so it proves I can get the client traffic. If you can offer a free SEO starter then some businesses will take you up on it - what have they got to lose? Then you can pitch your other paid services to a client you already know!

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Thats what i been doing, offering a free month of seo $499 value, with a free consultation and web site evaluation.

Its too hard to get someone over the phone with " HI WANNA BUY MY SEO PACKAGE?

#1 They probably dont know what seo is
#2 They probably get 5-10 calls a day for other marketing and other stuff as well
#3 they dont have the time
#4 your lucky if you get through to the owner

Which leads me to this question.....

Whats the best way to get through directly to the owner? sal3sg3nie ? they got the infoand prospects you can scrape and the name and then you can do a reverse search to get their personal number but that seems like too much time or effort to put into 200 calls a day

what are businesses to target that you most likely get through to the owner, how can i find sole proprietorship's

People who write stupid books like cold calling doesnt work etc know most people are scared to cold call.
Maybe its easier for a woman maybe i just have bigger balls than most of you ladyboys on this board..but i love cold calling.
Grow a pair ..nothing in life is easy..
i like to think of cold calling as dialing for dollars..2 out of 100 is ok by me because the 2 will pay the rent..