Cold call tips seem to be on some banned list these days. I think that's funny...it just means this article's going to rank just fine in the SERP's! Read on if you want to close the deal before they close the door.
I'd call this a "No B.S. Guide" to cold-calling, but don't want to be sued by Dan Kennedy. Nonetheless, here's a no-strings-to-pull, absolutely free guide to super-charging your canvassing or cold-calling marketing campaigns. How do I know it works? Easy. Our family business went from nothing to about /k volume per month in about a year. What follows are the cold call tips to make it happen.
Target Market Find New Movers When You're at the Door, Sell Without Being a Salesman! Puppy Dogs and Close Ratios
1. Target Market--First off, you need to know your audience. Who has the money to buy your product or service? Who are you selling to? Know your audience. If you don't know, then if you're a bit of a luxury service or product, target the folks with deeper pockets. Go to the golf course homes, the homes on the hillside, the places where you'd only dream of living if you don't already.
2. Find New Movers--Of all the cold call tips, this one's full of low-hanging fruit, hands-down. If you don't already target the new movers, then you aren't marketing yet. Really, plenty of ink and pixels can be spent on this point, but your close ratio with new movers will be something to the order of 3 or 5 times higher than that of your typical cold call. At least that's how our numbers have looked.
Want a quick and easy way to target them without costing a mint? Drive the good neighborhoods, and the places where you already do business. Make your own list of the homes that are on the market, up for sale. Pay attention and watch when the new movers take up residence. Otherwise, there are plenty of ways to do this, such as finding a good real estate agent who can help you with a list. Shop for a deal, though--list vendors can be pricey.
3. When You're at the Door, Sell Without Being a Salesman!--Honestly, who wants to open the door and have a sales pitch shoved down their throat? I do this for a living, and I'd be the first to shut the door on you! Tone it down a bit, and come up with a sales pitch that's conversational. A good opener is something like, "I'm John Doe (only if that's your name...), and I was just in the neighborhood when I noticed..." Make it real, and low-key, and conversational.
Here's a good example: "I'm John Deere, I own John Deere Lawncare and we provide excellent lawn care to your neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I was just here to see if you'd like to save yourself some time this Spring and let us worry about the hassle of taking care of your lawn?"
It's brief, to the point, and gives an introduction, answers their question of "Who are you and what do you want?" before they ask it, gives you some literal street cred (you serve their neighbors), and gives them a couple of benefits to hiring you: "save yourself some time," and "let us worry about the hassle of..."
Cold call tips for hard-nosed cases: if they don't want or need you, then kick rocks! Be a gentleman about it, or a lady, and remain professional. If they don't need you now, you don't want to exclude future business, nor do you want them telling the 'hood what a jerk you were.
4. Puppy Dogs and Close Ratios--If you know sales, then you know about the "Puppy Dog Close." If you don't, it's a great way to lower sales resistance, which is about 75% to 100% of the sales process. If there are no real objections to signing up to your service, then you should consider it.
Basically, this is a risk-free trial of sorts. You set the limits, but you want your would-be new customer to try you out, make sure you're legit, and that you are willing to win their business. Give them their first use or product for free--or let them try it out for a time for free. Whatever that looks like for your business, it's a great way to close the deal before they close the door.
Listen, these are the top-shelf cold call tips to close the deal before they close the door, but not all that you need to learn about marketing. One big element is the tone of voice, another is how to overcome objections. Sales, if anything, is a learning process. Keep your head in the game and keep improving your batting average. Soon enough you'll see your efforts pay off.
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