First two appointments happened today
 

Ok. I had two appointments set up for today.

One was a coffee shop and the other was a small cafe. I arrived at the coffee shop right on time, but the owner said she just got in and was swamped so she rescheduled for next week (if this happens a lot, I may start confirming appointments).

Since that only lasted a few seconds, I decided to stop in on a few other businesses that were in walking distance. With two of them, the owners weren't in, but another one (a florist) was. After telling what I do and explaining mobile websites, he told me that he's very happy with his current website and it looks just fine on a cell phone (actually it doesn't because I checked first). I even showed him a mock up site I already had on my phone and he still insisted his was fine. So I thanked him for his time and left.

Lesson that was learned. Call to make appointments instead of just stopping in. At least if they say yes to the appointment, you know they have some interest. But since I was in the area killing time anyway, I figured I'd give it a shot.

Ok, second appointment at the cafe.

Waitress had me sit at a back table and owner came out from the office. She was very nice and even had her little notebook with her. She was as prepared as I was :)

We did a little chit chat at first and then she asked me how long I've been in business. I told her we started (and still are) a video productions/marketing company 22 years ago and have been creating websites for the last 7 years. I told her we also videotape weddings so she started opening up and telling me about a wedding she just catered along with other little stories. We really hit it off well and we spent the first 10 minutes talking about things other than what I was there for.

Lesson that was learned. Don't come in and pound them with your sales pitch. Try to make a personal connection first if you can.

Ok. Stories are over and now it's down to business. I explained how more and more people are using their cell phones to look at websites. I then brought her site up on my phone. She said "It's so small. I can't even read anything on it".

I agreed and said that even though I can zoom in, I still have to scroll around and that's annoying. I also said that some cell phones (like some Blackberry's) don't even let you zoom in.

I then pulled up the mock site I created for her. The logo and all the buttons were very easy to read. I then went and showed her some of the buttons that had functions. She loved it.

I showed her how when I tap on her phone number, it automatically sets up to call her. I then showed her when I tap the Google Maps image (that I copied and pasted on her location page), it would take me to Google Maps and take me right to her address on the map. I told her that people could then use their built in GPS to get to her cafe.

BAM - She was sold.

Lesson that was learned. You ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY have to have a Tap to Call button and a Google Maps feature on your mock up or sample site. And you MUST show those features. I think that was the clincher.

So she said...OK, I'm definitely gonna do this. I then pulled out the form that I use to write down the different buttons she wanted on the site. We looked at her mock up site and it's going to pretty much stay the same. And since it's already done, I'll only have about an hour or so of tweaking with new photos she's sending me and adding her new menu to it.

Lesson that was learned. Take the time to create a mock up of their actual website. They'll be impressed with how it's their site and if they buy your service, most of the work is already done. Just create a template and change the phone number, address and logo.

I then filled out the contract and she wrote me a check for the first 6 months of hosting (I charge monthly with a 1 year minimum).

And to sweeten the deal, she mentioned that she'd like a new regular website as well and I said...."I can do that to. Do you want me to get you a price?". She said, "Absolutely".

So there you have it. First real appiontment turns into a sale. I have two more for tomorrow which I'm making mock up versions of their regular sites as well. I hope they're as sweet as todays appointment was.

And starting next week, my sister-in-law will be making cold calls so I can spend my time building the sites and going on appiontments.

Mike

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

Good Stuff, a few obvious ones, but great points.

As for the walkin sale, I would like to say that in the Western Civ business world, we tend to downplay alot of the connection building process intially. This can be a problem as we question why our sales are so low. Though, the importance of settling down and having a normal conversation and building rapport is very powerful for lowering the shields and guards of our prospects. You have to show them you see them as more than just a walking wallet. For instance, chinese manufacturers during an initial meeting to discuss prices for generating your physical products will talk to you for 2 hours about their family and then 10 minutes at the end for business. This has been repeated hundreds of times. Though we dont play as much importance on family in our business sphere, the need for connection building is essential always.

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

wow ..thanks dear ... am inspired

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

way to go mr. couchpotato :)

you were prepared which seems to be a good percentage of the challenge, and as you wrote you sold her on functionality.

great post, thanks for sharing :)

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

Good stuff Mike. I feel like your due diligence beforehand did all the selling for you.

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

Excellent!

Thank you for sharing this information.

Perfect example of how to do things in spite of what other people do.

You must have been a Boy Scout....

Cheryl

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

I think that really helps. It's one thing to show a potential customer a demo of an ordinary website. But to show a demo of their actual website with their logo, colors, graphics, and even their website information....that's the icing on the cake.

We'll see what happens tomorrow for my two other appointments, though.

No. Not a Boy Scout. Just really need the money right now and I HAVE to make this work.

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

Perfect.... I am at the stage of gathering leads for my cold calling session... I'm thinking now your in with that cafe you should get them into the SMS marketing also as an upsell in a few months. Get you some extra loot in the pocket.

Did you use any type of script when calling these businesses?

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

Hey mrcouchpotato are you finding business owners interested in mobile market or are many of them unfamiliar with it? In your experience what businesses have you found embracing mobile sites?

I was trying to sell software for facebook fan pages in my area and had a difficult time getting conversions. I'm wondering if selling mobile stuff will do the same.

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

Upselling is definitely the plan. She already wants a quote for a new regular website.

As for the script, it's not much. I basically call the business and tell the owner that I was on their site and noticed they didn't have a mobile phone version of it. I then tell them I'll create a mock-up mobile version of their site for free and show it to them when it's done. They usually say "sure" and that's when I make the appointment to come in.

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

I just started this last week and only talked to a few businesses to make appointments (the hardest part is getting a hold of the owners). The ones that I did talk to, though, I was able to set up the appointments. I have two I'll be going to today.

So far I've only called on cafes and a restaurant simply because that's what I did a search on when finding businesses. I don't think there's any specific business that will embrace mobile sites. If they have a regular site, then they should have a mobile one too.

Re: First two appointments happened today
 

Sounds fantastic! How long did it take you to create the mock up though?