Tip for Picking ORM Prospects

One important aspect in finding the best prospects (which took me a long while of wasting time), is to make sure you go to companies that have the greatest ease of access to the OWNER (OR WHOEVER IS THE ONE THAT CAN PAY YOU).

One of the biggest issues that can hold you back from making easy sales is that you have to be constantly passed around like a ... (insert suggestive simile here).

Follow the 80/20 rule, don't just pick ALL companies with bad reviews. You're much more likely to reach a plumber who can foot you the bill than the owner of a car dealership or hotel (of course sometimes it's easier than other times as well). Many of you, including me, have probably wasted a long time waiting to talk to the owner, only having to wait to find out they're not in the office, etc.

Now, OF COURSE it's possible to reach these owners, I've done it and seen others do it, but that's not the point. The point is to be effective as possible with your time, and the easiest way to do this is by picking prospects who will be easiest to reach.

TL;DR: Prospect companies that are easiest to reach the man in charge that can hand you your stacks. (This is more relevant to cold-calling and in-person approaches)

Best of luck all!

What you're talking about is true, but here's one thing to think about: people have been teach this for years.

Marketers are constantly contacting real estate agents, plumbers, electricians, etc. and many of those people already have their mind made up as soon as they answer the phone. Because they get the same pitches every day. However, when you manage to get in touch with business owners that are more difficult to reach on the phone, they tend to have a more open mind since they aren't pitched the same thing every day.

That's definitely a good point as well. I think it depends on how many calls they're getting, as I've found it to be easier, but I can see it not working in other instances where it's more saturated.

Yellow pages. Open up that phonebook. See who is wasting money on the larger ads.
View their website. How good quality is that website?
Look at the website source code, did they use generic templates or was it designed by another company?
Look at the copyright date on the bottom of the site if it has one. Outdated? Good.

I always focus first on the low hanging fruit. Get businesses that you know have spent money on advertising, but did it poorly. (Yellowpages, bad website)
From there you can get an idea of the owner/staff. Make a profile of them. Make notes.
Do they post information about grandkids and pets on their business website? GOOD! The less formal their site the better.

Best times to call: 8 to 9am. 4 to 5pm.

If you cannot reach the owner ask for a good time to call back. NEVER ask for them to call back. They wont.
If you have attempted to get in touch with the decision maker for too long then send a letter in the mail, or go in person.
Be nice to the gatekeeper. Use them as an ally. Make them WANT to help you.

Also, I would never target a plumber. Now I may be generalizing, but most LOCAL plubmers don't know a ton about the value of marketing and it is hard to sell them on it. Target local family owned businesses that have a proven record of wanting to advertise but just haven't done it very well.

You need to spend a lot of time qualifying potential clients if you want to get easier calls.

Also, don't target local chains. lol. I was just talking to a guy who was trying to sell ORM to his local holiday inn. They cannot make those types of decisions usually. That is a corporate decision.

bmmic

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