I made 30 cold calls today ...

Hey Chris, keep up the work! You should aim for 60 calls and see the results you get. With Cold Calling it's all a numbers game.

Good luck!

Ahmad

Yes, this is a good idea!

Personally, I think it can be useful.

It shows that all the calls don't have equal outcomes, and, while its still a very small number called, it will be interesting to see how many you do call, before you book an attendee for the seminar. Does the seminar have a cost?
_____
Bruce

I definitely think it's useful to other people. Hopefully it motivates them to take action.

Chris, can you tell us the typical conversation?

If i was going to get into seminars i would build a list and sell my seminars to them they would more likely want to come because you have a name whit them

Good job, eventually you will want to aim for 100 calls a day, if you can handle the amount of work you will receive!

I am sure you could get a few sales off that script, but it really needs to be re-wrote. Here are a few pointers:

#1, never ask permission to speak

#2, don't lead with the pitch, lead with the biggest problem they are facing (in relation to what your solution can provide).

#3, drop the scarcity, this creates sales pressure (and they could really care less how many seats you have available.)

#4, ask specific but open ended questions. It is all about creating a dialog, not about getting yes's and no's.

If you want to test a better script, shoot me a message and I can help you re-write this one.

But what happen when people don't know about what is SEO, how do you tell them? Do they believe it after explaining? I am not sure in my country they are going to believe about it...

I used to be a cold calling cowboy and let me tell you, CC is tough. Very few ever succeed long term. If you are doing it to start your business, then fine. I was required to make 400 dials per day or couldn't go home. Yep, 400 day.

30 dials is less than 30 minutes work. The people who claim they want more info are Liars. They know its an easy way to blow you off. Never send info. Here's a trick I was taught.

Call the person back in several days and say this. Hell John, this is Joe, I'm calling you in regards to the Information I sent to you via first class mail. Is now a good time to talk? 9x out of 10 they will still blow you off. If they claim they didn't receive it (duh, I never sent) then says that's ok, I'll cover the info I sent you in the next few minutes. Start your pitch.

Cold calling without being warmed up sucks, it's probably the worst method available to offliners. Does it work? Of course it does. There are much more Efficeint, Effective, and Faster ways to get clients.

In addition, their is No "real sense of urgency" for prospect to talk to you.

Others may try to debate me, but trust me, I'm correct. Been in sales for many, many, years. Can't think of anything I haven't tried yet.

The way I get Cold Prospects to listen is to "find a sense of Urgency" for them to use YOU. Then you can pitch via email, direct mail, phone, or my favorite which has an extremely high rate of closing is Face to Face meeting. I can get a check in less than 24 hours.

There is a right way to meet the prospect Cold and a wrong way. Most people barge into a place of business (I own 2 brick and mortar business, see this all the time) and start pitching. I developed a method that gets COLD business owners to call me, some almost Begging me to come to their place of business.

That's how you get a check first contact.

P.S. When they say "call me back", say what time is convenient for you, morning or afternoon?

Hi Chris,

Personally I hate cold calling but I have to give you kudos for doing it. I did it for few years (back in the 80's) in the investment business and real estate. I even tried it a few times in the SEO biz, but again, hated it. I was always finding a reason not to pick up the phone.

Something I did recently as an experiment while on vacation: I was with a friend and about to go into a restaurant for lunch. As we pulled into the parking lot he noticed I had about a dozen business cards on the console. "Cool cards ... you should pass out a couple to the businesses here!". Ahhhh, "NO Thanks" was my response. I hate cold calls. So my friend (being the smart-azz he is) said, "I'll pass a couple out and if you get a new customer from it, I get a commission". I agreed to that and within about 5 minutes he had walked in and out of 4 shops/businesses next to the restaurant. Before we finished eating I had a call from one of the four shops he walked into. I'll probably sign the guy up as a client in the next few days. Just goes to show you, sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time (and sometimes your friends are)! By the way, the business that called me? A "coin dealer".

Cheers!
Mojo Mike

wHere are some tips that can help you;

1. Instead of talking about websites and traffic, talk about new customers. After all, isn't that what they're after?

2. Determine whether or not you're talking to a decision maker. If not, get off the phone, or see if you can talk to him/her.

3. Jacer is right, certain things, like the seat number, are not relevant.

4. Get more specific about the type of businesses you're talking to. If you call a dentist, talk about patients etc.

I'm not a cold calling expert, but I have had quite a bit of success approaching business owners "cold". That includes talking to people on the street or on the tube.

Which makes me wonder, why did you choose cold calling?

Why are you charging £47?

Won't you make more money from a free seminar?

hey, good luck with your arduous task _ I used to run and script call centres -
What is your script like?
Are you grabbing their attention in an immediate way?

ie - Hi xyz, I'm just calling you up to let you know you have a couple of spaces left on the increase your web traffic seminar this week -
or
I know you subscribe to my list because you want to increase your traffic right?
Well I have just two spaces left ...
or
If someone were to give you some (free information) that would increase your profits / traffic / business / sales - would you clear an hour in your busy schedule to hear the info? Great - well, I know you are busy now, but all I need is (whatever details you want and I'll send you the info), then I'll call you back tomorrow to ( whatever you want to do)
Or
gat their email - go to fiverr - get a funny video ade and send it to them - then follow up with call ...
ideas are endless - but I'd need to know more of your objectives
Good luck - all the best

This is a really interesting observation.

My marketing system isn't fully systemised. I couldn't pass it to someone to run for me as it is...

I try a LOT of stuff (well, it feels like a lot) and it seems to work. For example, I get a lot of people from networking on LinkedIn coming to the events. I send out flyers that bring people to the event. I have a few strategic partners that refer people to the seminars.

We do well, we have a nice amount of clients, but it's now taking it to the next level that I need.

You'll never run into more liars than when you're cold calling. There are 3 major roadblocks that you run into when you're trying to make the sale.

1. Initial Sales Resistance.
Sounds like: "We're not interested", "Send me some information", "Call me after the holidays","We already have somebody that takes care of that for us"

2. Stalling for time
Sounds like: "Let me think about it", "I need to talk to my partner", "Let me shop around", etc.

3. Trust issues.
Sounds like: "I forgot my wallet at home", "I don't give out my credit card information over the phone", etc.

Just remember that all of these are simply excuses that are born out of the fear of making a bad decision. You can handle these with a combination of building rapport, establishing credibility, and building curiosity by alluding to the benefits of your product before you go into your pitch.

The average small business owner gets cold called multiple times a day, so chances are that they're more skilled at this game than you are. Luckily, cold calling is the quickest, cheapest way to make sales and gain new clients, and you will find some people who are looking for your services.

Hey Chris - cold calls are tough!

Here's a few suggestions:

Have someplace online for them to go to. I would suggest a killer Video Sales Page that gives them enough information to pique interest, and leave them wanting for more.

Follow up every call with a postcard in the mail - or an email - or both with the information again.

If they say that they want more information - ask them what kind of information they would be interested in...this will help you with the content for your seminar.

If you find the same 10 questions coming up (of if you already know the most commonly asked questions) put that content together in a PDF that they go to the video sales page (mentioned earlier) and can receive.

When you cold call - they don't know you from the next guy - you have to close that "trust" gap...and you don't have very long to do it!

I highly recommend James Wedmore - his site is JamesWedmore dot com. He is "the" Video Sales Copy Pro and offers webinars on the subject and lots of free informaiton that you can get from his site. He's the real deal - no Oz hiding behind the curtain!

Also - you may consider a webinar rather than a seminar...if people are crunched for time that could be a good alternative - you have to meet your customer where they are at, and then bring them to where you want them to be. If what you have it what they really need, and you do a good job of marketing, then everything will click.

Hope that helps - Dawn
YourResearchDiva