Offliners - Go Pick The Phone Up! ; )
Good Day Warriors!
There have been many great posts recently this week regarding the offline niche as the New Year will be an exciting time for this. So I thought I would throw a few cents in and give a little advice on the cold calling aspect!
I am a firm believer that cold calling is the quickest way to find interested biz owners bar none, some may disagree but I have tried most ways and this for me is certainly the quickest way to generate a new client. So here is a little info on opening a call, simple advice, but works!
As the saying goes > KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Ok, today I am going to give a little insight into opening up a cold call with a business owner. Cold calling is most possibly the scariest part of this business model to many of us out there, I happen to quite like it but I think the main reason for this, is that I have now done it fairly successfully for 2 and a half years now so know I can sell everyday using this technique.
But I do find it is by far the quickest way to find an offline business owner needing your help. You can find a business owner needing your help with the hour easily.
The base to any cold call requires 2 things firstly and that is:
1. Confidence
2. Enthusiasm
Confidence is important because a business owner will be able to pick out immediately that you are not confident in what you are trying to sell. So this will blow any business owner out straight away, so make sure you are confident in your ability to deliver!
Enthusiasm is similar because if you call a business owner with a robotic, monotone, boring voice then you are going to send that business owner to sleep quicker than valium! So make sure when you call a prospect to stay positive, breathe confidence and be enthusiastic about what you do. I have had many deals closed in the past on enthusiasm alone, get the business owner excited about working with you!
At the end of the day, WE LOVE WHAT WE DO! SO SHOW IT!
There is a fine line with enthusiasm as you do not want to go over the top but you have to remember you are talking over the phone and not face to face, so enthuisiasm is a must or the call can quickly turn sour!
Ok now opening a call is easy! When I say easy I do really mean it! If you have Confidence and Enthusiasm within your voice you will get business owners to listen to you no problem! Now there are many ways to open up a conversation with a business owner and different ways will suit different people but here is how I do it and it works!
I keep it so simple and I tell them straight away why I am calling. A lot may disagree with this approach as you come across as a salesperson but at the end of the day that is exactly what we are doing. Selling ourselves and our services! So I like to be upfront with the prospect from the get go and find this commands a lot of respect as you are not beating around the bush!
Now I would say something like this:
(For this example I am caling a Plumber!)
Me: Hi, Good Morning, Is that "GoGetta Plumbing"?
Plumber: Hi, Yes it Is!
Me: Excellent, Just a really quick call, I have just come across <an advert of yours online/your website online> and was presuming you are currently looking to generate more business through the internet, Is that right?
Plumber: Yes
Me: Ok good stuff, My name is Jamie Garside and I am calling from .................. Now I basically work with many different small businesses like yours throughout the area in helping to maximize their websites and online presence. Now if I could show you a few different avenues you could take with your website to massively improve what you are already doing and potentially make more sales, more profit and gain more clients locally, would you be interested?
Plumber: Yes
Me: Excellent, Well..................
Now the beauty of this opening allows you to do many things. You can start explaining what you can do for them and how you can improve what they are currently doing. You have been open in your opening and explained why you have called and what you can help with.
So if they say "YES go ahead", they are opening themselves to your offer. All you need to do is ask many questions, find out what they need, and close the hell out of it!
Now secondly, once you have the initial interest and the YES, you could then arrange a time to pop in for a meeting, if you prefer this way or alternatively arrange to call them at a time that will suit them. So you can set up appointments with interested biz owners from the comfort of your home!
(I personally take both avenues, I set up appointments and I pitch my services straight away depending on the business owner. I am polite and once I have a YES would generally ask if it is a good time to speak. This will then decide if I set up an appointment or pitch!)
Now not every call will go the way as above. But, when you get a "NO", you can politely ask why and explain you are a business owner like them, and could definately help them out. If they are still saying "NO", you can wish them a good day and move on. This is as good as a YES as you have weeded out a NO from a business owner that doesn't want to be sold too, so you waste no time and move on!
One thing to remember if this happens is do not take this personally. They are not saying NO because they don't like you, they may have had a bad day or just had a salesperson on the phone before you that has annoyed them. So stay upbeat and just dial another number! SIMPLE
The paragraph above is so true as what happens depends alot on the business owners feelings at that specific time. When I worked as a salesman selling internet services I could be blown out by a business owner and my friend next to me could close that business owner the next day! So don't take it to heart, its business, these guys are busy!
Now, the KILLER:
The beauty of this approach is that when you do get a "YES", you are then speaking with someone that will be interested in what you are offering and is currently interested in what you can do! A win win situation. This is a numbers game and you may have to make 10 calls to get 1 YES but if you collect your data from a good source, the chances are you will get a YES with every 3 calls!
This technique is a technique that may put off a lot of people as cold calling can be scary to many of us, but it works and this is the exact technique I use to gain appointments and sales every week without fail. It is the upfront method! At the end of the day WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE?
You are not beating around the bush asking questions, you are asking for an opportunity to show a business owner your skills. When you get given the opportunity, then you can ask questions and build rapport! But that is a completely different story!
Collecting data is also of huge importance when cold calling. For example if you call an advert out of the Yellow Pages that has been there for 6 months, you can bet your bottom dollar that, that business owner has been cold called hundreds of times from people offering similar to you!
So what you need to do is find FRESH data and you can find this from online classified sites or local newspapers. These contain businesses that are advertising or looking to gain new clients right now, so the amount of YES's you get from this type of data will be more than adverts a few months old.
They are proactively looking for more business now and you can offer this. Classified sites are killer for this, like Craigslist and Gumtree but most local papers now have an online directory so can be killer as well.
This offline niche is not easy to crack but if you work hard and stick to it, you will be guaranteed clients! I hope this helps you a little!
Now Go Get Em!
GoGetta
P.S Any questions FIRE AWAY! But before you post a question, pick the phone up and try this yourself with 10 businesses advertising online. David Prestons thread is a monster of great advice and the whole point to the process is that it is so simple.
Too many over analyze it, maybe this is because we are online marketers and we over analyze even the simplest of things, I dont know? :confused:
But before you over analyze this certain method, pick up the phone, TAKE ACTION, see what happens and then ask questions!
Its as simple as you make it people!
Happy New Year!
There have been many great posts recently this week regarding the offline niche as the New Year will be an exciting time for this. So I thought I would throw a few cents in and give a little advice on the cold calling aspect!
I am a firm believer that cold calling is the quickest way to find interested biz owners bar none, some may disagree but I have tried most ways and this for me is certainly the quickest way to generate a new client. So here is a little info on opening a call, simple advice, but works!
As the saying goes > KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Ok, today I am going to give a little insight into opening up a cold call with a business owner. Cold calling is most possibly the scariest part of this business model to many of us out there, I happen to quite like it but I think the main reason for this, is that I have now done it fairly successfully for 2 and a half years now so know I can sell everyday using this technique.
But I do find it is by far the quickest way to find an offline business owner needing your help. You can find a business owner needing your help with the hour easily.
The base to any cold call requires 2 things firstly and that is:
1. Confidence
2. Enthusiasm
Confidence is important because a business owner will be able to pick out immediately that you are not confident in what you are trying to sell. So this will blow any business owner out straight away, so make sure you are confident in your ability to deliver!
Enthusiasm is similar because if you call a business owner with a robotic, monotone, boring voice then you are going to send that business owner to sleep quicker than valium! So make sure when you call a prospect to stay positive, breathe confidence and be enthusiastic about what you do. I have had many deals closed in the past on enthusiasm alone, get the business owner excited about working with you!
At the end of the day, WE LOVE WHAT WE DO! SO SHOW IT!
There is a fine line with enthusiasm as you do not want to go over the top but you have to remember you are talking over the phone and not face to face, so enthuisiasm is a must or the call can quickly turn sour!
Ok now opening a call is easy! When I say easy I do really mean it! If you have Confidence and Enthusiasm within your voice you will get business owners to listen to you no problem! Now there are many ways to open up a conversation with a business owner and different ways will suit different people but here is how I do it and it works!
I keep it so simple and I tell them straight away why I am calling. A lot may disagree with this approach as you come across as a salesperson but at the end of the day that is exactly what we are doing. Selling ourselves and our services! So I like to be upfront with the prospect from the get go and find this commands a lot of respect as you are not beating around the bush!
Now I would say something like this:
(For this example I am caling a Plumber!)
Me: Hi, Good Morning, Is that "GoGetta Plumbing"?
Plumber: Hi, Yes it Is!
Me: Excellent, Just a really quick call, I have just come across <an advert of yours online/your website online> and was presuming you are currently looking to generate more business through the internet, Is that right?
Plumber: Yes
Me: Ok good stuff, My name is Jamie Garside and I am calling from .................. Now I basically work with many different small businesses like yours throughout the area in helping to maximize their websites and online presence. Now if I could show you a few different avenues you could take with your website to massively improve what you are already doing and potentially make more sales, more profit and gain more clients locally, would you be interested?
Plumber: Yes
Me: Excellent, Well..................
Now the beauty of this opening allows you to do many things. You can start explaining what you can do for them and how you can improve what they are currently doing. You have been open in your opening and explained why you have called and what you can help with.
So if they say "YES go ahead", they are opening themselves to your offer. All you need to do is ask many questions, find out what they need, and close the hell out of it!
Now secondly, once you have the initial interest and the YES, you could then arrange a time to pop in for a meeting, if you prefer this way or alternatively arrange to call them at a time that will suit them. So you can set up appointments with interested biz owners from the comfort of your home!
(I personally take both avenues, I set up appointments and I pitch my services straight away depending on the business owner. I am polite and once I have a YES would generally ask if it is a good time to speak. This will then decide if I set up an appointment or pitch!)
Now not every call will go the way as above. But, when you get a "NO", you can politely ask why and explain you are a business owner like them, and could definately help them out. If they are still saying "NO", you can wish them a good day and move on. This is as good as a YES as you have weeded out a NO from a business owner that doesn't want to be sold too, so you waste no time and move on!
One thing to remember if this happens is do not take this personally. They are not saying NO because they don't like you, they may have had a bad day or just had a salesperson on the phone before you that has annoyed them. So stay upbeat and just dial another number! SIMPLE
The paragraph above is so true as what happens depends alot on the business owners feelings at that specific time. When I worked as a salesman selling internet services I could be blown out by a business owner and my friend next to me could close that business owner the next day! So don't take it to heart, its business, these guys are busy!
Now, the KILLER:
The beauty of this approach is that when you do get a "YES", you are then speaking with someone that will be interested in what you are offering and is currently interested in what you can do! A win win situation. This is a numbers game and you may have to make 10 calls to get 1 YES but if you collect your data from a good source, the chances are you will get a YES with every 3 calls!
This technique is a technique that may put off a lot of people as cold calling can be scary to many of us, but it works and this is the exact technique I use to gain appointments and sales every week without fail. It is the upfront method! At the end of the day WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE?
You are not beating around the bush asking questions, you are asking for an opportunity to show a business owner your skills. When you get given the opportunity, then you can ask questions and build rapport! But that is a completely different story!
Collecting data is also of huge importance when cold calling. For example if you call an advert out of the Yellow Pages that has been there for 6 months, you can bet your bottom dollar that, that business owner has been cold called hundreds of times from people offering similar to you!
So what you need to do is find FRESH data and you can find this from online classified sites or local newspapers. These contain businesses that are advertising or looking to gain new clients right now, so the amount of YES's you get from this type of data will be more than adverts a few months old.
They are proactively looking for more business now and you can offer this. Classified sites are killer for this, like Craigslist and Gumtree but most local papers now have an online directory so can be killer as well.
This offline niche is not easy to crack but if you work hard and stick to it, you will be guaranteed clients! I hope this helps you a little!
Now Go Get Em!
GoGetta
P.S Any questions FIRE AWAY! But before you post a question, pick the phone up and try this yourself with 10 businesses advertising online. David Prestons thread is a monster of great advice and the whole point to the process is that it is so simple.
Too many over analyze it, maybe this is because we are online marketers and we over analyze even the simplest of things, I dont know? :confused:
But before you over analyze this certain method, pick up the phone, TAKE ACTION, see what happens and then ask questions!
Its as simple as you make it people!
Happy New Year!
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