With local business owners you might be better off to get out there and meet them face to face.

Let me guess... You're trying to sell SEO (or similar) from a cold email?

Most people, especially tradesmen, would consider any cold email as spam.

Tradesmen publish their tel number and email in order to sell to others, not to be sold to. Think along those lines and you'll get a clue how to get them to respond...

However, forget email... I'd get face to face, like Dave suggests. Build some trust before trying to sell...

Call them on the phone...

Say 'I wonder if you could help me?'

Assuming they say 'yes'

I have a small web/marketing operation and I've been offering free website analyses in your industry...but the thing is virtually no one responds to my emails and I'm trying to figure out why.

Could I pick your brain for one minute?

If you guys have a website have you ever had it analysed?

Do you actually get much business from your website.....blah blah etc etc.

Go straight to the people you are trying to target and get THEM to tell you the best way to approach them.

I doubt you'll take my advice but I can assure you it works like a dream.

[DELETED]

When I am not on the computer building websites or running marketing campaigns, I am running a roof and home maintenance business. Tradespeople usually aren't interested in a free website analysis. They want jobs. Most of them have too much work, are very busy and selling them on an analysis of something that's already working is a hard sell.
What is a conversion for you? What is your end goal? How will you make money by building contacts with these contractors? Cut to the chase and put that in front of them might be the answer. If whatever you're doing works, then what makes you money should be what makes them more money. Show me right now, how you can make me more money as a contractor and you've got my sale, but I don't need anybody to analyze anything on my websites.

Hope that helps

Hi!

Construction companies, handy men etc those type of business are out there driving and working hard and maybe don't even know what a website is.

If they have one is because their son took html in school and made one for them. I know because I seen them and most websites are garbage.

So when You call you have to be really simple and explain things very simple and how that is going to help them get more and better customers.

The easiest way to lose my trust or interest is to offer me something for free. If your product or service isn't worth charging for (which is indicated by you giving it away), it's not something I would ever have any interest in.

Business owners aren't stupid. They know that there is no such thing as a 'free lunch.' The psychological barrier you create with this tactic is very hard to overcome. Better to tell them that if they aren't completely satisfied, you won;t charge them. That at least shows that you believe in your work product.

Frank

Sunshine,

Giving value up front (in any form) to build trust is one of the best business building strategies and its how I got my business established.

Of course, this isn't my idea. It came from world-class marketers such as Jay Abraham and Dan Kennedy.

Just remember there are always going to be haters out there that will look to put you down and bash anything you do. Don't pay attention to them. They have low self esteem and their hate is really directed at themselves.

Why can't it just be a matter of different strokes for different folks? That's the beauty of marketing. There are many things that work...if you do. Too many people here are wrapped up in their own ego as if they do it right and their way is the only way. If it works and you're happy, do it. If it isn't working or you're not happy, look for another way.

Hi Sunshine,

You will get so many different opinions on how to market your business on this forum. That's what makes this forum so great yet can drive you crazy on which way to go. You need to decide what works best to your strengths. If you do not like face to face cold calling, then work the phones.

But you need to do one of them in order to scale your business. Giving away a free website analysis means nothing to this group of business owners. Also, getting them higher on the search ranking means nothing to this group of business owners.

You need to speak their language and what keeps this guys up at night; What are the challenges they face in their industry. Once you figured that out, you can market effectively to this group.

Agreed! Simple enough.

handymen roofers and plumbers are out working. they rarely use email even if they know how. that's probably 85% of the independents.

for old school trades, use regular mail or call them.

I literally didn't ready any of this thread other then your question so if the problems already solved then sorry but my suspicion is that your telling them too much in your email. Your probably giving them enough information for them to feel like they can make a yes or no decision just from reading what you sent.


You simply need to spark there interest and that's it. Make a bold claim that gets them curious without telling them what you do. Usually what you think is the perfect email is the one that wont get results. Keep it really simple. Most of my cold emails are like 3-4 lines.

[DELETED]

have you tried sending out a Sales letter to your list outlining the benefits of your service

Have you tried reaching them via their Facebook Page? Some owners are active on Facebook or they have managers for it that may relay your message to them.

So many good recommendations!

Time to TEST, TRACK, TWEAK.

I would agree with the what a few others say. Small business owners do better with face to face. I had the same problem with my software development consulting firm. The best contracts we have signed have all come from building relationships face to face. Once you have a few client they will begin to help spread the word for you.
Have you tried Direct Mail Marketing? This was the second most effective way to get people's attention.

1. Always call first and try to set an appointment before going there. It will save you a lot of time, especially if you are saying that the business owner is not there.

2. Depending on your company profile, you could associate yourself with a larger company. For example, if you are an IT consulting company and specialize in Telephony, you might want to present yourself as Cisco partners. They tend to be more receptive to such names as they have already engaged with these brands rather than accepting a call from another unknown company trying to sell them something.

3. Calling after working hours will help

4. Be extremely confident when dealing with receptionist. Act as if the business owner is expecting your call. Try to suggest that during your conversation with the gatekeeper.

5. If e-mail is available, sending an e-mail 1-2 days before making the call will help.

6. Ensure that you never sound salesy. Have a more helping approach and try to establish report first rather than start with your salesy pitch.

7. Never disclose the reason of your call to the receptionist or someone else.

8. Always try to find out their name before calling them or visiting them. You will give the impression that you know them and it will facilitate your access to them.

I hope the above helps. If you could provide more details about the nature of your business, I could reply with more targeted solutions.

[DELETED]

I would recommend using an email tracking program as this will give you insight onto whether your prospects are opening emails in the first place. Moreover, a marketing automation tool might come in handy as you will need to do proper follow ups to non replies as it can take up to at least 3 to 5 follow ups before you hear back. Hope this helps!

bookmarking this page for sure.
I've been cold calling for mine and my partners web design business, on the first day i got 2 leads for every 9 calls, yet on the second and third day i had absolutely no luck. Not sure if it's jsut me or if there is just off days every now and then..

First, know your target market and location. About an hour's research should do it

Talk only to specific tradesmen who actually want more customers. Find your genuine prospects first. You'll burn out fast fretting over the 98% that don't give a cr*p about marketing or websites.

Like Oziboomer suggested... drop some chum in the water that appeals to the choir.

Email Prospecting

Subject: Dan Jones is heading to Barbados next week. Are you?

Body: Call me if you'd like your website to send you 10 more customers every week, year round.

555-555-5555

Melanie Granger [your photo]

That's it. Keep it clean and nothing else in the body.
By the way, Dan Jones is the owner of the largest XYZ business in town. That nugget came with quick research.

Go Fishing with the Phone

Cold calling for prospects first, instead of try to sell on the call... goes fast and is painless. Say a variation on the above or dream up another one. If they don't take the bait, move on.

Last thought, Melanie... as others have said in this thread... you can't sell Free. You can't even give it away. It's the wrong bait.

There can be plenty of reasons.

A) They're busy

B) They get bombarded with those emails all the time

C) They don't really check their email (which goes along with A)

D) All the above

The truth about cold emails is that they're attractive because you can hide behind the computer and don't have to talk to the business owner on the phone, nor do you have to be face to face with that person.

Now do not get me wrong, you can have success with just sending out cold emails and converting leads into clients and people have done this numerous times, but it's just hard as hell!

My advice, get out of you comfort zone and cold call them first! Don't try to sell them on the first cold call, your goal on the first call should be to get a second call with them and have a longer conversation so you can learn their pain points and goals.

You can then develop a solution and basically educate them on what they're doing wrong in a screencast video and email it to them, once you send it, give them a call and let them know to check out the video.

You're educating them plus giving value then you can explain how you can help them out in a proposal and convert them into clients.

Small business owners/tradesmen, mostly do business with a handshake, meaning that most of what they do is face to face. I don't see them responding well to emails. Try looking at the situation from their point of view. I would start with a phone call. Talk to them personally. I would bet that you would get a better response.

Good luck!

Cold email is a very challenging method to get the attention of local biz owners since every Tom, Dick, and Harry offline marketing consultant is bombarding them with messages daily about the "next best thing" There are ways to hire callers for a reasonably cheap fee...you may need to include other contact resources with email for a complete prospecting message

Hellor sunshne721,

To qualify my response please note: of the 48 years I've been selling products and services to the public, 26 of those years I was a tradesman. But my position was always, I am the owner of a business that markets and tracks my advertising, even though it is considered a trade.

Having gone round and round with other tradesmen about marketing their business and hitting my share of brick walls here is a little insight for you to consider.

Offering your services to tradesmen and women you are going to run into 7 hurdles.

Hurdle #1
Most tradesmen typically see themselves as technicians rendering a service, not as a business owner that markets his/her service(s), i.e. plumbing, electrical, roofing, etc...

Hurdle #2
Most of the time you will find 1 or 2 person operations. And they are barely making it.

Hurdle #3
They view marketing and advertising as an expense, not an investment. Passing out business cards is highly valued with trades, over any type of marketing.

Hurdle #4
Those trade businesses you find with employees, it took years before they could hire their first employee. As each year past and growth came, more were hired.

Hurdle #5
Tradesmen with years in the business have built long lasting relationships and referrals with other local businesses and they trust those relationships before they trust anyone else.

Hurdle #6
When a trade business plateaus, and they will, coasting and resting on their laurels sets in. Trades are not loyal to a sound continuous marketing program.

Hurdle #7
From their Day 1, until this point in time, everything they have done, from growing, working, hiring that first employee, they believe, with all their heart, they were the only ones who got them where they are today.

Saying all that doesn't mean you won't get your foot in the door. Plus there will always be exceptions to the rule. I've simply provided you a hurdle schematic. To get around these hurdles, you must know the mind and the history of your target.

Chinchilla

It will be great to contact local business owners, so you can do face to face meeting and understand their requirements. you can convince small as well as large business clients through your local language in local area.