Ever Tried Cold Calling Website Design Services?

I was reading over BHW and figured I would check out the offline section as it is a section I've never had interest in.
I see tons and tons of people pushing SEO services and that's all and fine. I do know when I opened a local pet store last year
I got hammered with SEO service calls, sometimes 4-5 a day for the first 2 months.

What I am wanting to know is has anyone with the abilities to website design ever tried to cold call and sell design services?
I was looking for a pet groomer yesterday in my area when I realzied it seems alot of people listed dont have sites..
This seems like it could be a good area for those who have that ability and are looking for a steady stream of cash. Just my thoughts would
love to hear yours.

The same concept applies for both gigs, the only difference I see is the words that you are going to use. You can offer whatever works for you.

Just that I tell these people that if they call me back, I will hunt them down and kill their family while they watch. Some days I get more of these damn calls ( and credit card processing) then actual customers calling. If I want a website, I will find someone to do it or do it myself. Same with SEO, same with credit card processing. Like Im going to give some cold call my financial records and banking info so I can save half a percent fee per transaction.

dirkg said:

Just that I tell these people that if they call me back, I will hunt them down and kill their family while they watch. Some days I get more of these damn calls ( and credit card processing) then actual customers calling. If I want a website, I will find someone to do it or do it myself. Same with SEO, same with credit card processing. Like Im going to give some cold call my financial records and banking info so I can save half a percent fee per transaction.

Click to expand...

Somebody needs a chill pill..... (not naming names though >___> )

First Post and Spam

cold calling works great , but it needs investment.

you can get good money if you will do it right .

-=-

Cold calling is probably the best way to drum up new business, especially if you're short on funds. Just don't do what everyone else is doing.

That is, do not just call, ask a stranger to pay $1000 for a website, and expect to get anywhere. Sell a unique product to a targeted, qualified customer base, which is something they need. Focus on product/service quality first, only then the pitch. This will get people in the door, do a great job, and before you know it they will be referring you to more clients than you'll need.

Or at least this worked for me. It takes balls to call... especially if you're not a sales specialist. Spend a full day this weekend deciding what you'll say and making a list of who you'll call. Think it out carefully. This will give you more confidence.

Then Monday about 9:15 pick up the phone and hammer out 100 calls. At the end of the day, consider how it went and how you can improve your pitch or product. You can do it, just have some confidence. There are a ton of resources on this site, check them out for yourself.

I would try out with prospects you deem to be crappy to practice and then work your way up to the better targets. After the first couple of calls, you'll start to notice reaction patterns and can either keep going with your pitch or tweak it for better results.

I'm not one to cold call, but this post sparked an idea that I want to pass along. Maybe it sucks, maybe it's doable... your choice.

Pick an industry to target... let's say Florists. Either create a site or use a Wordpress template. Leave off any logos or other branding.

Now start calling local florists, but don't try to sell them on your services. Instead, say something like this:

"Hey, I was wondering if you could help me out. I built a great Website for one of your competitors, but he bailed out on me at the last minute... financial difficulties, I think. I did a little research and found out that you don't currently have a site, so I thought I would offer it to you instead of letting it go to waste. I'm willing to give you a really great discount on it."

Now if they ask how much, tell them that you had quoted the other company $X but you're willing to sell it now for $X / 2. So "Well, my client was supposed to pay me $1,000 but I'd be willing to take $500 for it. You'd be getting a great deal and I'd be getting something for all the time I put into it, so it would work out for both of us."

If they ask who the client was, just tell them that you really shouldn't say as it would be unprofessional.

I think the "can you help me out" approach would probably work a lot better than the "buy my services" approach. All I can say is, try it and see.

Cold calling is tough----but some a GOOD at it. What about walking and talking?

I haven't tried cold calling and sell design service, but I would imagine it will be quite challenging, because it's hard to visualize how the site will look like etc. From my experience, companies that don't have a website is mainly because the owner himself/herself has no clue what it is, no idea where to start, and in fact, some may have zero idea about the web. Explaining to them on phone will be very hard. They will be very confused and may result not being interested at all.

However, if you take the direct mail approach, show them what their website can look like, and how easy for them to update on their own (WP), then it may drive up some interest.

originalposter said:

I haven't tried cold calling and sell design service, but I would imagine it will be quite challenging, because it's hard to visualize how the site will look like etc.

Click to expand...

Get them on the phone, create interest, then get them to join you on a screen share and show them a few templates. Alternatively, you could email them links.

AtlasMeh'd said:

Get them on the phone, create interest, then get them to join you on a screen share and show them a few templates. Alternatively, you could email them links.

Click to expand...

Not saying this is impossible, but your theory is often easier said than done. So I find it more challenging than other methods, because from my experience;

1. Business owners are busy. They wouldn't have time to pick up the phone and give you the opportunity to build interest (assuming they had zero clue or knowledge what you are saying anyways). Don't understand? "I'm not interested, sorry"

2. Screen share? Most business owners who don't have a website or still using shitty websites are because they have no idea what to do, or perhaps even where to start revamping stuff like that. Nevermind screen share, they never heard of it. "Sorry, I am busy"

3. Emailing them would be your best bet, but don't expect to close deals like that. A lot of people are skeptical clicking on suspicious links. What's worst is that most business owners who aren't too tech savvy often don't even check their emails.

So what worked for me is direct mailing, or just walk into the store with an ipad, and show them what you can offer. When people can visualize something and see how things work, it's easier to start a conversation.

The way to do it for best results is to get in front of people face to face. That being said, I will never run a web design business for small business owners again. If they've been in business for a while (like most small business owners without websites have) they will lowball the shit out of you and call/email/text over any problem they have. Build up to 20+ clients and you will hate getting out of bed every day. lol

seochris96 said:

The way to do it for best results is to get in front of people face to face. That being said, I will never run a web design business for small business owners again. If they've been in business for a while (like most small business owners without websites have) they will lowball the shit out of you and call/email/text over any problem they have. Build up to 20+ clients and you will hate getting out of bed every day. lol

Click to expand...

That's why it's ideal to get them to pay a monthly maintenance fee if possible, or charge them per hour. That's what I did.

originalposter said:

That's why it's ideal to get them to pay a monthly maintenance fee if possible, or charge them per hour. That's what I did.

Click to expand...

Of course, but that's the dilemma with small business owners who don't already have a website. If they don't it's because they're either computer illiterate, ridiculously cheap, or worse, both, and every web designer they've worked with has stopped working for them in the past because it's too much of a hassle.

I learned that the key to running a successful small web design firm is to focus on quality of clients who are paying monthly fees and not quantity. If you are the owner and they know it, they will always come to you first with every F'n little problem that pops into their mind.

Anyways, if your clear and concise about all of the terms upfront it helps a lot but this situation has obviously left a bad taste in my mouth.lol

seochris96 said:

Of course, but that's the dilemma with small business owners who don't already have a website. If they don't it's because they're either computer illiterate, ridiculously cheap, or worse, both, and every web designer they've worked with has stopped working for them in the past because it's too much of a hassle.

I learned that the key to running a successful small web design firm is to focus on quality of clients who are paying monthly fees and not quantity. If you are the owner and they know it, they will always come to you first with every F'n little problem that pops into their mind.

Anyways, if your clear and concise about all of the terms upfront it helps a lot but this situation has obviously left a bad taste in my mouth.lol

Click to expand...

I feel ya, and I've been in similar situation before, until I told them straight up that all the changes she requested takes time and will be charged hourly. I told her I will go ahead with those changes if she is fine with it and she was. So I got extra $$ in my pocket and she was also happy with the changes. We were both happy. I guess sometimes you just have to be straight up with your clients.

And to be fair, I usually don't charge them for the first few times, just to make little comfortable for both of us, but I will remind that this will be the 'last time' before being charged. Usually after that, you won't receive that many calls for little things as much.

I think the thing about cold calling small business owners offering web services isn't that much the price. It's the product you are selling. I mean - think about what your parents think about web-sites? Some of them will know how to deal with web sites, some will know even how to build one, or least they will have idea how it's done. But for most - it's just a strange animal. If you are selling them something they don't understand - it's your fault, not theirs. That`s why marketing is for - making people genuinely interested in your product and making them eager to buy it. And how do you deal with this particular thing? Very easy - don't just call to offer them web design services. Call and offer them a ready and well-done site, which they can check in a minute after you hang up. If you show them something good, something special - they will jump over and buy it. At your price.

And guess what - that way you won't need to take "Hm, I would like the website to be in this color". And the next time the client calls you it's "Hey, you have done great job, but I think this would be so much cooler in random X color" and you end up having to change the main color theme, and so many more things, because that's how the things are with such clients.

So make yourself a favour and sell existing web site design when you can. You can always make the changes that your client desires, but that way they would be just small changes covering branding and personal style of the client, not the whole design.

Best regards,
Axeny

saveferris said:

I'm not one to cold call, but this post sparked an idea that I want to pass along. Maybe it sucks, maybe it's doable... your choice.



Now start calling local florists, but don't try to sell them on your services. Instead, say something like this:

"Hey, I was wondering if you could help me out. I built a great Website for one of your competitors, but he bailed out on me at the last minute... financial difficulties, I think. I did a little research and found out that you don't currently have a site, so I thought I would offer it to you instead of letting it go to waste. I'm willing to give you a really great discount on it."

Click to expand...

This is good stuff!! I'm going to give it a try, never thought of using that sort of approach before... very clever.