how to exploit cold calling
What business owners say about cold calling
Our business networking group Adelaide Referral and Knowledge Exchange discussed cold calling and ways to make cold calling work better for your business.
- Firstly, it is best if you cold call yourself or train staff to sell on your behalf rather than attempt to use an overseas telemarketing company. Overseas telemarketing will often reflect poorly on your brand, coerce people into getting a meeting, annoy people, have call failures such as hang up when you answer, have poor communication skills or speak in overseas accents, their sales scripts are often bland, poorly put together and ineffective. Typically telemarketers leads can go cold when you actually persue the lead or attend and appointment.
- When cold calling to a business premises, once you put a foot inside the door you are not usually chased off the property, most will actually admire you for your confidence to cold call give you a quick chance to talk so get really specific. It is good to get to the point, perhaps the most important skill is to get past the gatekeeper and find out who is the decision maker you need to speak to. Ask your probing questions such as who is your current provider?, what do you need? or who do I speak to about your current services of this? Try to leave some information at least if you are told it isn’t a good time. Follow up and contact if any interest or buying signals are shown. Results can still come later as often the service you provide isn’t needed immediately when you visit, but is needed in the short term after your visit or better still perhaps you prompted further contemplation of the services from your visit.
- Cold calling is not easy for many to do and you definitely need to be strong and resilient in going out there to cold call. But remember it is a way to attract your ideal client, it makes sense as you can find tons of ideal clients in your local area all one after another on nearby streets, you are probably going where you opposition isn’t, and there is no better way to try to steal clients from your opposition. Being able to handle rejections is going to be hard at first, but definitely worth the go. It will undoubtedly improve your confidence, ability to talk to a variety of prospects in a simple capturing way and make you adapt to any situation.
- Have a plan on the target market clients to cold call. Keep a record of who you have approached. Perhaps develop a list of local business names which you may drive another marketing approach to such as newsletter or social media. Finding out who you need to speak to, may be available online on websites or simply ask around if anyone knows the business. For instance many clubs often proudly avail their president, treasurer and secretary names. Knowing the directors can help you get past the gate keeper and talk directly with the decision maker. Trying an initial approach by email is not recommended as it is too cold and usually ignored. Far better would be to make a phone call, stressing you are local, who you are, a quick description of the solution or transformation you can offer.
- If you do cold call keep yourself professional looking, have your presentation items ready and organised, plan or schedule who you are going to approach and keep your notebook handy to update your efforts.
- If you haven’t got the stomach for cold calling you can still exploit it in other ways. As mentioned before you could hire staff to do it, making sure they have an excellent technical and selling knowledge that you do, which can always escalate your involvement if the opportunity arises. You could use other avenues such as seminars, phone approaches, social media approaches as a stepping stone to get a warmer connection too. Also maybe introduce some of it slowly, like occasionally walk into and cold call on a business ideally suited to your services and expertise, or a business you really want to target or a dream business client.
To business network as well as gain knowledge and refinements to your business and career, why not attend our business networking group as a guest to see if you can gain referral partners and gain an extra gear to becoming a more effective worker or entrepreneur.
Break free with Tax Accounting Adelaide Services call us on 83374460
- Sole trader, Partnership, Company and Trust Tax and BAS returns;
- Self Managed Super Funds;
- Bookkeeping and Choosing Accounting Software;
- New business Start ups Advise;
- Specialising in personal training businesses;
- Improving your business through our business blood test check up;
- We help you get leads with our own business networking events.
More than just Bookkeeping, Bas returns and Tax returns – At Tax Accounting Adelaide we use accounting to grow your business
At Tax Accounting Adelaide we can help your Business use accounting to grow your business