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Cold Calling for PPC Need Some Help

by dlink
8 replies
First off, I don't post a lot, but I think I'm pretty horrible at cold calling, and need help.

I'm sure one factor is it's takes me forever to do because I just don't like doing it. I've only been cold calling for about 4 weeks .. on average I make about 9 calls a week. ... garbage I know..I don't dial enough.

Well, I read Claude's Selling Local Advertising yesterday before doing my calls today, and so glad I did, because I could really relate to the 'one push-up' concept. For me, it's not that I care about the rejection or hanging up on me, I really just can't stand making that first call.. I'm that kind of person that doesn't even like making a call to family/friends, I avoid it at all costs, but once it's done it's done. With cold calling, once it's done, I figure 'hey I can do another.'

To top it off I'm super slow, probably procrastination, I'm sure of it..

I only called 3 businesses today, but called 4 numbers and had 3 conversations about Adwords and what I do/sell.

1 gatekeeper hung up on me in the middle of my first sentence... so about 5 seconds into my 10 second line (I used a different script than the 1 I'm using now).

I find myself doing research on the business prior to calling, and when they want more information to their email, I do more research to send to them... just exhausting this way I know, and inefficient.. takes too much time.

HOW MY TYPICAL CALLS GO
So, today from 3:05 to about 3:12 I had a conversation with a guy that in the end wanted me to send him more information to his email.

He mentioned he's been getting a lot of calls about people that want to manage his Adwords, but he doesn't know who to go with and it's hard to filter who can really provide results and can't, so he picks no one.

So, of course I went ahead and started educating him for the lovely 7 minutes we were on the phone together.

Phone calls are quick! Now, if only I could get a sale...

Anyway, I also threw in a quick bit about the results for a client I achieved ... they were the only paying client I've had so far that I did a campaign for, but of course I didn't say that. He sounded enthused about the results.

I did this to try and differentiate myself from the other calls he's been getting, and also asked him about basics like is he tracking anything and usage of ad extensions (why use them and which one's to use).

Turned out he had no idea about doing the things I was talking about.. made me wonder what the heck people were talking about when they called him.

I also don't know if he was price shopping since he asked me about my price immediately too, but told him something along the lines of I'd be unable to provide an accurate cost without finding out what is needed with his campaigns and what his goals are...

Wish I remembered exactly what I said here, I don't record calls so I don't recall exactly what's said after my initial script, but he agreed with what I did tell him and I continued on to lead into asking a few questions and educating.

Said he'd be interested in a trial campaign of about 3 months but definitely wants more information emailed to him first and then we can talk further.

AFTER THE CALL
I spent probably almost an hour researching tailored suggestions for his site and campaigns, putting it in PDF and including a link to my site on more facts and case studies to improve his adwords results.

I'm pretty sure this time spent was my way of procrastinating from making more calls.

Did he reply back? Nope, or not yet at least, it's only been a little over 3 hours since I emailed it... I'll call tomorrow if he doesn't email by early afternoon.

PROBLEM
Anyway, problem I'm having, is I send something through email and that's it.. they don't email back and if I call to find out if they got the email they don't answer or return my call if I leave a message.

I saw the post by s62731 (James) and what he did when this was happening to him.

I'm not selling web design, so I can't follow that exactly... so instead, I'm sending them to a page on my site of facts/case studies.

I just started this today, so response & close rate is unknown at this time....but I'm not customizing it or creating a sub-domain or anything... so I don't know how this will work out.

This is my current script.. sample size for testing isn't large enough to have results yet, plus no sales, but I'll try again tomorrow.

I'm open to suggestions to change it, because it's probably not great, I know, but it worked today (I suppose), so here it is:

Hi, I found your website through your Google Adwords ad.
I pause here for some acknowledgement of some kind.

My thinking and feeling has been it removes resistance and gets them thinking I'm calling as a customer and not to just sell them something out the gate.

Plus I'm comfortable too, and I like knowing someone is paying attention & listening to what I just said.

Ad is pretty good, but I think I can improve your results. Who can I talk to about this please?
Complimenting what they're already doing and stating I think I can improve their results is what I incorporated from Claude's book. Who can I talk to about this please is something I kept in from a consult I had with ewenmack.

I repeat everything from the beginning to each person I have to speak to.

Once I'm talking to the right person, the kind of response I've gotten is either I'm asked what my name is, or who I work for, etc. So I continue with:
My name's Daphne, I'm certified by Google and I independently work with businesses to get them better deals with online advertising.
That's still pretty vague, so, so far they still probe for more by asking me something like 'what do you mean' ... from here it's just easy for me to start talking (blabbing) about Adwords and their ROI and measuring performance, etc. and lead into asking them what they're doing and not doing with their campaigns to quickly educate them on the phone.

I enjoy saying better deals, which I also got from ewen. I also like throwing in my Adwords certification, like to think that helps with standing out.

The end goal is to of course manage their campaigns for a monthly management fee.
My current script has been tweaked so many times, because I don't like resistance on my end or theirs. I don't like feeling uncomfortable about what I'm saying so I sound ridiculous or like I don't know what I'm talking about, and I don't like them having a wall up and immediate response of no, not interested, etc.

Last, I want to note that I'm not doing appointment setting with my calls to get another call.. that doesn't make any sense to me. I have them on the phone so I want to sell them now if I can.

I did the 'appointment thing' the first 2 weeks of calling... I don't like it at all, because for me I've discovered 2 things that happen with this for me:
  1. Either people want to suck me dry with free info and want to get me doing free work for them, probably because I try to provide tons of information by just having a 'chat' with them
  2. Or they just don't answer or bother to call back when I leave a message stating I'm calling them back for our appointment we agreed on

MY QUESTIONS
What's something to send in email to get an Adwords prospect to email back wanting to buy or when I call back want to buy?

I don't mind the "send me something to my email address", but I'm just not sure how to make the sale with this and what to send over...???

Should I not send over anything and have a response/rebuttal to this on the phone instead?

So, successful cold callers, especially one-call closers I'm asking for help, open to critique and suggestions.

Thanks,
Daphne

P.S. I know I write a lot..I try to break things up for easy reading and subhead things to make it easier... I just don't like leaving out information if I can help it.
#adwords #calling #closing on the phone #cold #cold calling #ppc
  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    Calling 4 businesses in a day definitely won't cut it, you can do your research to the point where it is just fine and still go through 100 calls a day, 50 at the very minimum.

    So... right now, from a telemarketing stance, you have a problem in the volume of numbers you're going through. That's one issue...

    Now... the issue with your script... I would chew you out if I believed you wasted a click of mine, just to give me a call to promote your service. It would really irritate me. I have people that call me asking if I'm hiring, because of an ad... it REALLY pisses me off, but that's just me. Doesn't mean everyone else is like that BUT....

    This leads into another issue.

    The issue of your leads. Your leads are already advertising in Google. So think about it like this... you're counting on those leads to be not doing well in their adwords campaign. Next, you're counting on them to believe it is their fault that they aren't doing well. THEN, you need to convince them that you are the person for the job. Okay... so once they're convinced, they need to be able to afford it. That's a lot of filtering, don't you think?

    I would harvest leads in a different way. I would go for the businesses that are not using adwords and are not ranking well organically. I would also figure out WHY I am selling PPC and WHY it is a better service for them to use than others. I would view the leads you're calling as a good sign for weakness and to approach OTHER competing companies so you can get THEM better results.

    Sending emails... well, they ask for it because its a way off the phone, politely. I even do it to people, I'll say yeah, shoot me an email... with no intention of ever doing anything with it. However, I have made sales this way. Never send too much. Its always better sending just a little bit of information and before getting off the phone, ask for the best time to follow up, and continue following up until they tell you to go away and screw yourself or until they buy.
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    • Profile picture of the author dlink
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      Calling 4 businesses in a day definitely won't cut it, you can do your research to the point where it is just fine and still go through 100 calls a day, 50 at the very minimum.

      So... right now, from a telemarketing stance, you have a problem in the volume of numbers you're going through. That's one issue...

      Now... the issue with your script... I would chew you out if I believed you wasted a click of mine, just to give me a call to promote your service. It would really irritate me. I have people that call me asking if I'm hiring, because of an ad... it REALLY pisses me off, but that's just me. Doesn't mean everyone else is like that BUT....

      This leads into another issue.

      The issue of your leads. Your leads are already advertising in Google. So think about it like this... you're counting on those leads to be not doing well in their adwords campaign. Next, you're counting on them to believe it is their fault that they aren't doing well. THEN, you need to convince them that you are the person for the job. Okay... so once they're convinced, they need to be able to afford it. That's a lot of filtering, don't you think?

      I would harvest leads in a different way. I would go for the businesses that are not using adwords and are not ranking well organically. I would also figure out WHY I am selling PPC and WHY it is a better service for them to use than others. I would view the leads you're calling as a good sign for weakness and to approach OTHER competing companies so you can get THEM better results.

      Sending emails... well, they ask for it because its a way off the phone, politely. I even do it to people, I'll say yeah, shoot me an email... with no intention of ever doing anything with it. However, I have made sales this way. Never send too much. Its always better sending just a little bit of information and before getting off the phone, ask for the best time to follow up, and continue following up until they tell you to go away and screw yourself or until they buy.
      Didn't think about the click issue on their end, I naturally just grab the display URL.

      I even called a guy and I told him I just wanted to check out his website, but I couldn't because the link showing didn't work (his display URL cuts off), and didn't want to waste a click and cost him money. He proceeded to explain to me I could click the blue colored link and it'll go to the website with the right address.

      I'm not an idiot so I explained to him what I do, his tune changed from 'I'm talking to an idiot' to 'I'm almighty Google and I own adwords' :rolleyes:

      He then proceeded to brag about how great he was at managing adwords for and how 'regular people' don't know how it works... I told him his ad rank could be improved, but he jumped in before I said anything else and said it didn't matter much because he's doing great 'organically'... yes he used the term organically and other terms.. I realized he liked throwing around the language.

      Then he told me which term to type in so he'd show up #1 ... I did it while on the phone with him, and he was right, he was #1, but on page 2. I didn't say anything, except "okay." because I just wanted the call to be over.. he's the kind of person I wouldn't want to work with.

      He then continued on about how great coming up organically is but I finally cut him off to say I just wanted to check out his website and not waste his click. He was happy I didn't cost him a click calling him, and I did get the full URL after all.

      So, it never really occurred to me they might think that..maybe something I say later in conversation during the call let's them know I didn't click the ad the call them...I don't really know.

      I suppose it is a lot of filtering, but since I was adding & calculating an average rank from semrush, spyfu, keywordspy, and spyfu combined, I was calling anyone with an ad position worse than 6. So for me, those I had talked to were actually pretty responsive because the were aware they could be doing better. Apparently I just am not at the stage of being able to sell them yet

      I scratched that method from my calls today anyway, and taking your advice instead on contacting those not doing adwords and not ranking well organically.

      TODAYS CALLS
      I thought I had a list of at least 20 to start today (yes, I know you said 50 minimum...working on it, I'll get there), but after removing duplicates and weeding out those I'm not targeting, I only had 11.

      Only TWO weren't voicemails...that was a downer. I also only left 2 voicemails from today's calls because at first I was thinking, why leave a message? So, I'll re-call during business hours for all the others.

      I didn't start calling until after 2pm or maybe it was 3 ...either way, I just found a post Durham replied to a while back about times to call on Saturdays ... I guess response rate is 50% or below after 1pm...lesson learned there.

      I did decided to leave a message on my last couple calls...I'll see what happens. I'm currently thinking my voice messages are either
      1. Not enticing enough to call back
      2. Or they're too long
      3. Or both

      Also changed my script a bit..again, based on what you said about the WHY I'm selling PPC and WHY it's better than any other service they should go with... I'll talk about it in a my 2nd post in reply to Kanigan as well, and talk more about today's calls.

      To be continued..
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Look at these:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...beginners.html

    http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ccess-tip.html

    http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...-business.html

    http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ake-money.html

    Get organized, get a call sheet together, get a 30 second commercial ready and go make some calls!
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    >> How To Grow Your Online Business [FREE Training Video, No Opt-In, from 10+ Year Vet]

    >> For Agency Founders: The Fast Shortcut To Selling SEO, Leadgen, Webdesign & Other Services
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    • Profile picture of the author dlink
      Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

      Changed my script today again to see how this 'bad time to talk' thing would work...I made 2 versions and I'll post them both, since they both worked.

      V1
      Hi [name], is this a bad time to talk?

      I appreciate that, let me take a quick minute I'll tell you why I called and then you can decide if we should keep talking or not. Does that sound fair?

      I'm an independent online advertiser certified by Google. I found your website, and I think I can get more people to do business with you and you can see results relatively fast. Who's the right person I can talk to about this please?
      V2
      Hi is this a bad time to talk?

      Great, just gonna take a quick minute of your time, I'm calling because I found your website, and I think I can get it in front of more people relatively fast that want to do business with you. Who's the right person I can talk to about this please?
      Version 1 is from the videos, I don't like it for a couple reasons:
      1. I feel scripted saying it and as if I sound unnatural, and I don't like sounding like an unnatural scripted robot.
      2. It takes too long to get to the point of why I'm calling.

      My 2nd version is just the 1st version tweaked to my style and how I like to speak.

      A few things happened with both versions..

      With Kanigan's version, the guy I talked to, his name was Roger, wanted me to send something in email. He said he closed his business, but he wants to keep his site and make it over sometime in Jan. because he's still going to do side work, so email him something. *sigh*

      Never told him my name or business name, nor did he ask, so I'm tempted to not bother sending anything..? Not sure yet..Plus I forgot to ask him about a follow up time .. .. We'll see, but whatever I send I'll make sure it's short.

      With the modified version... well, it was very interesting, at least to me ...

      I spoke with a lady, her name was Sabrina, and she very receptive to 'Hi Sabrina, is this a bad time to talk?' She was uppity and cheery and said something like 'Oh no right now is fine, how can I help you?'

      Well, this is when it got interesting for me... after I got to my who's the person I can talk to about this please? She said "wait, you're not a customer?"

      I then said "Actually, no I'm certified by Google to work independently with businesses like yours to get them better deals with online advertising."

      Suddenly, she was in a hurry to get me off the phone and became extremely busy. She said her store was really crowded with customers so she had to go, but the person I needed to talk to was [name].

      I said thank you and she said bye; however, I then remembered iamnameless saying to ask about follow up time... so I said "Well, before you go, what would be the best time to follow up with her?"

      She said weekday afternoons. I said thanks and have a good day & she did the same.

      I guess I learned here that with Kanigan's version the prospect is aware or more aware that I'm going to sell something from the beginning. With my revision, it seems they were caught off guard and probably didn't like it... but oddly enough she still felt inclined to give me information when I asked...I just don't know why...but it intrigues me that it still worked to get me a decision maker's name and general time to follow up.

      I think I'll continue testing both versions and one day get sales with one of them.

      ...In reference to the 1K post...
      I think this is how my current sales plan works, but the closing portion is truly only at the idea stage, since I haven't gotten that far on the phone.

      Lead Gen System - Phone & LinkedIn

      Qualification System - by them being interested in my offer they're qualified in or out ... this is my thinking. Please correct me and shine a light if this is wrong.
      Closing System - I haven't gotten this far, so what I'm going to say after this is the idea ...


      Collecting payments via check by phone.

      The closing portion to get to that step is if they're qualified, is to ask for payment by saying "I offer a couple different plans, based on what you're trying to achieve, may I make a recommendation? Pausing here for response ..

      As long as they say yes, I'll continue with "I recommend setting you up with an online advertising campaign for either 6 or 12 months. This will allow for us to determine a starting point in order to measure what's working and what isn't. I'll do a weekly analysis to track and measure performance and making changes where necessary so you can get the results you're looking for. Does that sound ok?"

      Again, if the response is positive (yes), I continue with "When would you like to move forward? I can accept a check over the phone right now..."

      Again, any help here I'm open for ... I'll be back at the cold calling on Monday.

      Until then, it's back to LinkedIn and developing a call sheet this weekend.
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  • Profile picture of the author rbecklund
    I've cold called for PPC and you have to make sure they know you didn't click on their ad, if they think you did that is the end of the call...
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  • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
    Hi is this a bad time to talk?

    Great, just gonna take a quick minute of your time, I'm calling because I found your website, and I think I can get it in front of more people relatively fast that want to do business with you. Who's the right person I can talk to about this please?
    Drop the first line, you don't need it. I've gone over it a few times before, but in short, you don't ask someone if it's a bad time...why?
    1) Using the word "bad" is negative and puts a negative connotation on the call.
    2) Because you are giving them an out. If it is a bad time, you can bet your butt they will stop you and say "this isn't a good time" which allows you to say "I understand, would tomorrow be better? How about 10 am?" Or something like that. The jist of it is, you don't give them the option to say "yes, it's a bad time" because if you didn't ask, there's a good chance they'd just let you talk.

    Now on to this:

    I spoke with a lady, her name was Sabrina, and she very receptive to 'Hi Sabrina, is this a bad time to talk?' She was uppity and cheery and said something like 'Oh no right now is fine, how can I help you?'

    Well, this is when it got interesting for me... after I got to my who's the person I can talk to about this please? She said "wait, you're not a customer?"

    I then said "Actually, no I'm certified by Google to work independently with businesses like yours to get them better deals with online advertising."

    Suddenly, she was in a hurry to get me off the phone and became extremely busy. She said her store was really crowded with customers so she had to go, but the person I needed to talk to was [name].
    Do you know where you went wrong? I'll point it out.

    You were giving her information she had no business having. She was NOT the person you were supposed to speak to, and you gave her TMI. Going back to my first point, you don't ask anyone if it's a bad time, and most especially a person that is a gatekeeper or the person picking up the phone.

    Second, if the gatekeeper says "you're not a customer?" You don't tell her something canned that she doesn't have any business making a decision about like "Actually, no I'm certified by Google to work independently with businesses like yours to get them better deals with online advertising." You lost her...why, because she knew now it was a sales call, and she has ZERO business knowing that or making the decision if someone needs to take your call or not.

    What EXACTLY did you say to her that made her say "you're not a customer?" I'd like to know exactly what you said...because I can bet you it was too much information again. It needs to be something like "who would I speak to about your website?" or "can you tell me who handles your advertising?" Simple, to the point. If they ask questions you redirect "would it be the owner? When can I catch them in the office?"

    Tell me what you said and I can direct you better.
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    • Profile picture of the author dlink
      Originally Posted by Mwind076 View Post

      What EXACTLY did you say to her that made her say "you're not a customer?" I'd like to know exactly what you said...because I can bet you it was too much information again. It needs to be something like "who would I speak to about your website?" or "can you tell me who handles your advertising?" Simple, to the point. If they ask questions you redirect "would it be the owner? When can I catch them in the office?"

      Tell me what you said and I can direct you better.
      I said exactly:
      Great, just gonna take a quick minute of your time, I'm calling because I found your website, and I think I can get it in front of more people relatively fast that want to do business with you. Who's the right person I can talk to about this please?
      That was it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
        Originally Posted by dlink View Post

        I said exactly:
        Great, just gonna take a quick minute of your time, I'm calling because I found your website, and I think I can get it in front of more people relatively fast that want to do business with you. Who's the right person I can talk to about this please?

        That was it.
        No. Until you are talking to the person that handles their website, you don't need to say any of that.

        "Hi, who would I speak to about your website?" There you go, that's it, that's all they need to know.

        They'll say
        1)"that is John, the owner" - "Is he available" or "when can I call back and catch him in the office?"

        2) "that's me" - start talking


        3) "why do you want to talk to them?" or "what is this about" - If they say something like "them, him, her" this tells you that they are not the person you want to speak to, so you say "I can send over an email or call back, who do I need to ask for or send the email to?"

        You just redirect until they answer your question. Don't leave your company, don't leave your name...why? Because then every time you call back to get information or try to catch them, they'll know it's you. Just be polite and get off the phone if they are trying to ask you. There are more numbers to call.
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