Hi Warriors,

When I first started marketing services to offline clients, I was a little overwhelmed as to how many businesses there actually are out there. While this is a good thing in the sense of there's plenty of business to be gained, it also makes it very difficult to narrow down who to actually call. I mean seriously, where do you start when there are tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of businesses out there who could potentially use your your services? There are plenty of client acquisition techniques, some much better than others, but here is what worked for me specifically in the niche of selling mobile websites linked to QR Codes.

First off, it's all about the leads and who you contact. If you are wasting your time just calling somebody solely because they don't have a mobile website, you are not going to have much luck getting new clients. Will you be able to get any? Absolutely. Will it be the best use of your time? Absolutely NOT. It's hard to believe, but there are still businesses in late 2011 that still don't see the need of having a regular website. Do you think they are going to care about the whole "mobile revolution" or anything like that? Doubtful...

So how do you go about finding leads who will actively want a mobile website with a QR Code? Simple... look for businesses who are already running print ads. Start saving Coupon Clippers & ValPak's that come in the mail. Look through your local newspaper and any local magazines. Grab copies of the Yellow Pages and any other printed business directory. You will now have narrowed down your potential clients to folks who are already spending money on advertising.

Here's the dirty secret about advertising (which some of you may know if you have run print ads yourself) -- everybody is oversold and ends up being disappointed with the results they end up getting. When a business owner runs an ad, they are spending anywhere from a couple hundred dollars into the thousands. They have an expectation that this ad is going to change their business for the better. Unfortunately for them, results are typically far less than they expected.

This disappointment is what you are going to capitalize on when contacting leads. By letting them know that with a QR Code linked to a mobile website, they can turn their "static print ad into an interactive piece of media" and improve the ROI on their existing print ads, you will instantly gain their interest. As an added bonus, you know they are already spending money on advertising, so you won't be wasting your time targeting businesses who will end up having no budget or intention of buying from you. The thing here is to really stress the aspect of using QR Codes. Yes, you can go and make QR Codes for free, and the real value you are providing is building a mobile website, but my experience has been that QR Codes are what "hook" people in.

Another tip that I have found to work well is to call the mobile website a Mobile Web App. Most people associate Apps with mobile phones more so than websites anyway, so this really helps put things into terminology that business owners think they understand. This slight tweak in wording will also keep clients from having their current web designer do the work. Most businesses already have a web designer these days, but nobody has a Mobile Web App builder.

If this all seems obvious and simple-- it's because it is! As humans with complex brains (well some of us!), we are constantly making things more difficult than they need to be. When it comes to sales, go for the low hanging fruit. There is no need to climb higher up the tree to get those hard-to-get clients when there is such easy pickings!

I invite you to check out a previous post of mine: The reason you HATE COLD CALLING is because you're lousy at it... Here's how to change that TODAY! Take the what you have learned in this post and apply it to the Warrior Challenge from my previous post. Go find 20 potential leads using the strategy in this post and call them to SET UP AN APPOINTMENT.

Once you have set an appointment, there are a few things that you need to have ready. First, create a demo mobile website and print out a QR Code that links to it. I can't stress enough the power of the demo. Business owners are so impressed with the technology and their minds start to race with the potential of it.

Next, have a service agreement/contract ready to close them right away. More times than not I close the deal on the first appointment. If you don't close on the first appointment, maybe 10% will end up buying from you down the road, so it is important to go for the close on your first meeting.

Overall, just meeting with prospects that you have set appointments with using the method above, 20% - 25% will buy from you no matter what. You can be the worst salesperson in the world and they will still buy from you because of being so impressed with QR Code technology. As you go to more and more appointments, you will figure out what specifically works for you in terms of acquiring clients.

Remember, it is important to LISTEN TO YOUR PROSPECT. Ask lots of questions and get them talking. Ask them how their print ad campaign is working out for them. Ask if they think it could have gone better. Listen to what they say and tweak your pitch to fit into their goals and experiences. Many times a business owner will end up selling themselves on the technology because you let them talk so much!

So go check out my Cold Calling post if you haven't already and start making those calls to get your first QR Code client!!

-Ben

P.S. If you find this post helpful, feel free to hit "THANKS" below. Also feel free to rate the thread as 5-star Excellent on the Rate Thread tab at the top of this post! Thanks everyone!!