11 replies
So I've been making my cold calls and can pretty easily get past the gatekeeper however I don't think I'm speaking with the right person most of the time.

What I've been doing is asking for the person in charge of their website. However, I can't wrap my head around why I would want to do this. If they're in charge of the website then why would they want to speak with me? It's like you're telling them they're dropping the ball. I would think I need to go above their head but not sure who to ask for.

Im targeting plastic surgeons and a decent amount of offices have more than one person in them. Do you guys ever just ask to speak with one of the surgeons, dentists, etc directly? Is that a better way to go?
#talk
  • Profile picture of the author idoitbigtime
    why not Promote your Self and Get Leads and Clietns who want your Sefvices
    Colod Call Sucks LOL
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8355906].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
    He is promoting himself...this also wasn't a question on if he thinks cold calling works, let's not beat that horse any longer. We know it works or there wouldn't be those of us that are successful at it.

    Now, on to your question, OP.

    Once you get to the "person in charge of the website" you can go a few ways, depending on your skill level. You can just lead the conversation by asking directly if THEY manage and update the website, or if they have a person/outside company do it for them. If they manage it, then you are in, because usually they have no clue what they are doing and you can lead the conversation with what you can do for them and how you will improve their visibility and bring customers in. If they hire out, you're also doing well because they ALREADY see the value in your service, now it's your job to see if they are happy and what they wish was different and offer that to them. In a nutshell, without writing a book here...that's where I would start.

    On the other hand, if you are not comfortable on the phone, you may want to look into having someone experienced make the calls for you to qualify these people. Then you can do your sales thing and know that you are talking to someone qualified on the CB.
    Signature

    Looking for answers on how to SUCCESSFULLY market your company?
    Cold Calling, Appointment Setting, Training, Consulting - we do it all!
    PM for more information

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8356045].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    @theOP:

    When you get the person who handles their site on the phone, don't leap into "What I can do." Ask them questions first. How are they making changes to their site? Do they have a strategy for areas you work in, like a blogging/social media plan? What do they know about SEO? Find out about their world before you prescribe solutions.

    When you do get to talk about what improvements you can make, it'll be as things they don't have as core competencies--otherwise they'd be doing it. And you can always assure them they're the boss, you're there to support them, not take their job away.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8356056].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
    Originally Posted by sladeryan View Post

    So I've been making my cold calls and can pretty easily get past the gatekeeper however I don't think I'm speaking with the right person most of the time.
    Are you going in with a issue with their website
    which is affecting their business...

    or...

    going in with a new offer out the gate?

    Best,
    Ewen
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8356157].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author sladeryan
    @Mwind076 - "You can just lead the conversation by asking directly if THEY manage and update the website, or if they have a person/outside company do it for them." - This is a great question to ask thanks

    @Jason Kanigan - "When you get the person who handles their site on the phone, don't leap into "What I can do." Ask them questions first." - Actually Jason I have been using your intro verbatem. I use your unsure opener to get past the gatekeeper which works great. Then once onto the website guy I ask if it's a bad time and then follow up with "John I appreciate that. Let me take a quick minute, I’ll tell you why I called, and then you can decide whether we should keep talking or not. Does that sound fair?". Then I go into the monthly search terms (in these cases Los Angeles plastic surgeons) and how they are missing out on business. Grant it, this part is quite shaky but it's not horrendous because I did get one appointment today.

    However, this is basically leaping into "what I can do" is it not? Should I hold off on going down the monthly search path until I have asked some lead in questions? If so, some examples would be much appreciated

    @ewenmack - "Are you going in with a issue with their website
    which is affecting their business..." - I'm going in with an issue which is the monthly mobile searches and how customers are bouncing due to a non optimized mobile site
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8356222].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
      Originally Posted by sladeryan View Post

      @Mwind076 - "You can just lead the conversation by asking directly if THEY manage and update the website, or if they have a person/outside company do it for them." - This is a great question to ask thanks

      @Jason Kanigan - "When you get the person who handles their site on the phone, don't leap into "What I can do." Ask them questions first." - Actually Jason I have been using your intro verbatem. I use your unsure opener to get past the gatekeeper which works great. Then once onto the website guy I ask if it's a bad time and then follow up with "John I appreciate that. Let me take a quick minute, I'll tell you why I called, and then you can decide whether we should keep talking or not. Does that sound fair?". Then I go into the monthly search terms (in these cases Los Angeles plastic surgeons) and how they are missing out on business. Grant it, this part is quite shaky but it's not horrendous because I did get one appointment today.

      However, this is basically leaping into "what I can do" is it not? Should I hold off on going down the monthly search path until I have asked some lead in questions? If so, some examples would be much appreciated

      @ewenmack - "Are you going in with a issue with their website
      which is affecting their business..." - I'm going in with an issue which is the monthly mobile searches and how customers are bouncing due to a non optimized mobile site
      Are you getting conversations?

      Going into the numbers can be a good qualifying tool. If they're comfortable where they are, though (and remember they've been living without you all this time), it's easy for them to brush you off.

      What you can alternately do after the opening is deliver your 30-second commercial. When pain points resonate, then you have the start of a good conversation. At that point it would be OK to talk about the missed opportunities with the non-optimized site.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8356441].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author PanteraIM
    Originally Posted by sladeryan View Post

    So I've been making my cold calls and can pretty easily get past the gatekeeper however I don't think I'm speaking with the right person most of the time.

    What I've been doing is asking for the person in charge of their website. However, I can't wrap my head around why I would want to do this. If they're in charge of the website then why would they want to speak with me? It's like you're telling them they're dropping the ball. I would think I need to go above their head but not sure who to ask for.

    Im targeting plastic surgeons and a decent amount of offices have more than one person in them. Do you guys ever just ask to speak with one of the surgeons, dentists, etc directly? Is that a better way to go?
    Firstly, you are targeting some of the hardest market verticals as your first customers, which is something I would not recommend you do.
    These people are very well connected and probably have the same (if not more) knowledge about SEO/PPC/OM as you do.

    You really need a referral or a strong testimonial from someone in their industry because these guys get calls ALL THE TIME. It is more of a test of your credibility than anything that will decide if they talk to you.

    Secondly, the first question you ask on a call is always to confirm the DMP or decision making process. To answer your question, the person to speak to is the person in charge of handling the marketing purchasing decisions on behalf of the company. It MIGHT be the person in charge of the website (IT manager/marketing manager) business owner or other executive. The fact is that you don't know before you confirm the DMP.

    You confirm the DMP because if you don't, you risk losing control over the sales cycle. Nothing is worse than having a hungry and qualified prospect only to find out the proposal needs to go to board of directors or an overseas parent company.

    The DMP question is the first I recommend agents to ask, right when the pick up the phone at the other end.

    Note that you will have a weaker position if you go into the call looking to speak to someone right away. It takes me at least 3 contacts with the business to speak to the KDM.

    If you decide to skip the fact finding call as well as the USER call you can say something to the effect of:

    'Who is the person in your business that deals with marketing please, thank you.'

    However, this is not ideal because:

    You want to qualify the prospect BEFORE you speak to the KDM.
    You want to uncover any hidden needs or opportunities from a USER of the product that you can use to make your KDM call much more powerful.

    If you use this approach you can use a much more effective tactic:

    'My name is Matthew calling from XYZ. And I am NOT looking to speak to anyone today. I am planning to speak with the person in charge of marketing in your business, who would that be please, thank you.'

    From there I would further qualify the DMP:

    'Thank you. Is there anyone else who would be involved in the decision making process?'

    And then start qualifying the opportunity so you are not wasting time trying to contact a busy and unapproachable business owner.

    It's a more involved process, and takes perhaps 10 minutes of my time to do both my research and user call, but that is the equivalent to maybe 30 or 40 minutes of typical cold calling where you ask to speak to the KDM right away.
    Signature

    you cant hold no groove if you ain't got no pocket.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8356619].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author DABK
      Just got a windows and siding company as a client. There is a person in charge of the site. This person made the site, makes sure it's up (renews hosting, domain, and, presumably, if the site is down, fixes the problem). In addition, for $80/hour, is willing to make any changes to the site the owner desires.

      The owner desires leads but has no idea what changes to make to the site to get such.

      The site maker has none, either... Biggest thing you see above fold on the homepage is logos of the credit cards they accept; the contact form (free estimate) has first name, last name, phone number, email address, city the house to be worked on is located in, message, how did you hear about us as mandatory fields...

      If you ask for the person in charge of the site you can get the person in charge of the site and find out what being the person in charge of the website means and what you can add. Or you get the owner/manager or some other person who's going to say Nobody or something along the lines of We have a site but it's not doing much for us.... And, then, you find out why they're saying that and, perhaps, that you can help them.

      In my case, it turns out, the designer promised a site that will bring in leads, talked about how important it is to be found in Google, to be at the top of page 1. But all she did was create a brochure site with no SEO and lousy copy.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8357002].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author webrankingservices
    Banned
    Originally Posted by sladeryan View Post

    Im targeting plastic surgeons and a decent amount of offices have more than one person in them. Do you guys ever just ask to speak with one of the surgeons, dentists, etc directly? Is that a better way to go?
    What exactly are you interested to promote? If you are selling an equipment, you need to first understand who can take buying decision and you need to speak to them.

    You may as a question, May i know who can take decision regarding buying ..............? And state the benefit of this product / service you are offering.

    Then you may get in touch with right ppl
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8471001].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author midasman09
      Banned
      When I was looking to make Promo Videos for Restaurants....I first chose a GOOD, Well-Respected Restaurant as a "Testimonial TOOL"!

      I created the video....uploaded it to YT and....(this was 4 yrs ago when I didn't have a LapTop)....burned a DVD and bought a "Portable DVDPlayer" at WallyWorld (1st one was a Phillips for $80).....took the Portable DVD Player and went over to the owner who always had his lunch, at the bar at precisely 2pm every day.

      I walked in at precisely 2:20 (when I thought the owner would be about finished with his lunch)....set the portable dvd player on the bar next to him... introduced myself as a "Marketing Guy" who can bring him more diners....told him I had made a short Video of his restaurant and....if he wouldn't mind, I'd like to run it to see what he thinks about it (You Kidding Me? Someone created a VIDEO of....HIS....restaurant and....the owner would NOT want to see it....RIGHT NOW?)

      So....I flipped the switch and here's what he saw;


      This was my first video with fuzzy crapping pictures BUT.....HE LOVED IT!

      I've since done other videos and other promo stuff for him AND....I'm showing this to maybe .....provide some of you guys with CONFIDENCE to... GO OUT AND DO IT!....NO MATTER HOW BAD YOU THINK YOUR PROJECT IS!

      And.....I used this video as an example of my "work"....to show to OTHER restaurants and.....ALL SIX of the 1st 6 owners I showed this video to.... BOUGHT!

      Why? Because it was a.....(now PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WHAT I'M ABOUT TO TELL YOU!).....FELLOW RESTAURANTEUR, WHO HAD A BETTER RESTAURANT THAN THEIRS!" (Even though this TOP restauranteur did NOT PAY for the video! It was FREE for the 1st one....just so I could "Get In The Door of this Town's restaurant owner community!)

      I'd walk into another restaurant in the same town...ask to see the owner and when a "rejectionist" asked asked, "What is this about?"....I'd respond with, "I'd just like to show him what "Ambrosia" is doing to generate MORE DINERS...and how he can do the same!"

      You Kiddin' me? When the "rejectionist gave the owner THIS message, the guy could've been in a conference call with the Pres of the US....he'd drop the phone and rush out to SEE WHAT I HAVE!

      And....when I showed them this "terrible example" of a Video, with fuzzy photos....their eyes lit up and they responded with...."CAN YOU DO ONE FOR ME?"

      Now....some of you may think this is "Black-Hatish" because...I did NOT tell any other potential clients that the video they were looking at....was....FREE! Nor, did I tell any other restaurant owners....THIS WAS A "MARKETING PLOY" I was using to GET THEIR MONEY!

      However....IF anyone asked, "Hey! How much did Ambrosia pay for this video?".....I would have instantly spurted out...."Hey! It was NO CHARGE to the best restaurant in town to get other restauranteurs, like you, to BUY MY VIDEOS!"

      Nope! I wouldn't go that far. I'd just reply with, "I made this first video as a Sample for them. What I charge other restaurants is MY BUSINESS!"

      However....that question NEVER COMES UP!

      So....my "Sales & Marketing" advice to anyone wanting to get into the "Website" Niche....or ANY Niche.....make a Sample Website, Video or whatever (so potential clients can SEE...FOR THEMSELVES...AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF DOING)....go to the biz you made the Sample for and see if the owner wants to buy it!

      If not....now....understand, I AM NOT SUGGESTING ANYTHING HERE....this is MY OWN OPINION! However....when I was first getting started, I made a video for a restaurant (in a different town) The owner wasn't in when I went to see him BUT...the owner of the restaurant across the street was having lunch on a table in front of his place.

      He saw me come across the street to my car (I was carrying my Portable DVD Player with Charlie's DVD) He stood up at his table and asked me, "Hey! I see you were over at "Charlie's Place"....what you got for Charlie?"

      So....I plopped the Portable DVD Player down ON his table and told the "Restauranteur Across the Street from my Initial Target"...."I wanted to let Charley SEE what I had created for him! But....he had to run out!"

      So....the owner across the street says, "Could I see what you're doing for Charlie's?

      So....I flip the switch on the SAMPLE I made for Charlies.....the other owner watches and when it finishes he says; "Hey! What would it cost for you to do one of these for me?"

      I quote a figure and he says, "How soon can you do it?"

      I respond with, "Right Now! I have my digital with me and I can take the shots! BUT....I ask for 1/2 payment On Acceptance and Balance when I show the Final product"!

      He says, "Who do I make my check to?"

      So....here's a biz owner wanting ME to do the SAME for him as I was preparing to do for his competitor....even though his competitor had NOT YET BOUGHT....or even SEEN....what I had made for him.

      Anyway.....some of you will probably think that what I'm about to tell you is "Black-Hat" or....totally "Under-Handed" BUT.....IT GETS BIZ OWNERS IN THE RESTAURANT NICHE (Actually....ANY NICHE) to WANT....what I have!

      Puleeze! I do NOT want any "goody-2 shoes" to jump on this and call me Names....however....I'm going to reveal what I discovered about "Human Nature"!

      "....if you APPEAL TO THE "GREED" or COMPETIVENESS...... IN EVERY BIZ OWNER.....you can ....SELL....EVERY PROJECT....Websites, Videos, FB, etc, etc by....;

      1) Creating a project (website, video, fb home page...etc) for the TOP biz in the Niche you chose
      and...
      2) Rather than showing it to the biz you created it for....you show it to their Competitors!...saying, "Here's what I created for X biz! If you'd like a similar program....join in!"

      Now....NO COMPETITORS or others in the Same Niche will NEVER ASK; "Hey! Did you ACTUALLY sell this to X biz?"

      So.....after you've got 3 or 4 or more competing biz who've joined in...you can NOW go to the biz you created the project for in the first place and say; "Hey! Here's what I've done for some of your competitors!"

      Do you think for a second....the 1st guy will turn you down?

      Anyway.....I am NOT espousing the above "technique" but.....if you're in need of an "easy way" of getting paying clients INT0 YOUR project....give this a toss!

      Note: You will NOT find this "technique" anywhere else HOWEVER.. .....this has helped a number of my IM Friends OUT OF A FINANCIAL BIND and....if you want to make a "Federal Case" out of it....it's because YOU have enough money to take care of YOU and your family!

      PLUS....this does NOT HURT any biz! In fact it gets them MORE BIZ!

      Don Alm.....
      2)
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8473150].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Seantrepreneur
    One thing to keep in mind is just because they are in charge of their website doesn't mean they are the one's the built it. Maybe they are just the point person for their web person. Maybe they aren't happy with their results or they don't know what they don't know. Meaning they probably don't have a clue about SEO and how to structure a site and the results they can get with a solid SEO marketing plan.

    That's all stuff you could help them out with.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8473340].message }}

Trending Topics