more info for Karls thread.
when cold calling … or calling a solid lead … you gotta set the appointment.
You start … give options … but limited options.
What day of the week is best, would Monday, Wed or Fri work best?
then narrow it down … OK … Wed. Does morning, afternoon or evening usually work best for you?
Afternoon … OK … great.
(remember to repeat each bit of new information)
Wed afternoon … this Wed … early afternoon or late … would 1pm or 3pm be better?
1pm … fantastic.
I have you at 1pm this Wed … May 6th.
* now the important part *
I’ll hold the line while you get a pencil and paper to write that down. I’m going to note that in my calender while you find that pencil …
Then … talk it thru again.
OK … we’re set for this Wed, May 6th … at 1pm.
I’ll see you them.
Following these steps greatly reduces the cancellation or “we forgot” rate.
I’ll usually meet with anyone at any time … but if I have a preference … I direct them to that day/time if possible … while still giving choices.
Also … if you’re booked ro too busy … you’re booked and too busy!
Don’t be afraid to say so … people seem to like dealing with someone that’s not available every waking moment of the day.
and once I book an appointment … unless i burst into flames … I keep it.
if it changes … it’s not gonna be me changing it if at all possible.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Replies
I hate making cold calls. As George McFly said in BTTF part I, "I just don't know if I could deal with that kind of rejection." LOL....
I also hate the thought of becoming one of the losers I love to hate (telemarketers), like when some idiot calls me in the middle of dinner or just as I'm settling down for a nice long soak in the tub after a day crawling around in the mud under some lady's leaky plumbing....
How do you deal with that aspect of it, Jeff? What percentage of live leads do you get out of, say, 100 phone calls?
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
dunno ... don't make 100 calls in a row.
But I will make the occasional cold call if I find a warm lead somewhere.
even at 1 out of 100 it'd be worth the 3 seconds each call takes.
I learned a ton from my days as a telemarketer. Like I've said here before, was down to the last penny and needed money immediately. It was telemarketing or stocking the shelves in the grocery store ... figured over the phone they couldn't see me.
Rejection? No such thing ... each no is just a step closer to that yes.
I'd never bought over the phone before ... and haven't since ...
But I made good money selling carpet cleaning to strangers over the phone.
Companies telemarket because it works.
Companies cold call because it works.
no one watches crappy TV but the ratings are usually thru the roof.
weird huh? Must be magic ...
off the top of my head I think the sold ratio from the carpeting cleaning days were soemwhere around 10 to 15%. There were enough sales to keep 10 chairs filled in the phone room on a regular basis.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Is it really cold calling though if you know it might be a lead? If someone says "Hey, I hear John wants to remodel" and I call him offering my services, I think thats just good business. If you do that Jeff, I think thats a smart thing to do.
To me a cold call is me just calling folks out of the blue and telling them I am a GC and can build them something. I can see the responses on the other end already "Whoopde ____ do!" :)
I really don't see that kind of cold calling ever working as how may folks are going to be sold on that?
It might work for repairs or small projects but I don't think it would ever work for large jobs (say $20k or higher) or complete homes.
I don't think calling a potential client is cold calling ...
but I'm sure some here would argue that point to death.
I don't care what anyone calls it ... if I have a reason to call I'm gonna give it a shot.
nothing ventured nothing gained.
when work's slow, I'll get out the yellow pages and get a list of company names off the net and do real cold calling. Just call every kitchen and bath company name that comes up and ask if they're looking for a qualified installer.
Have found a ton of work by doing that over the years.
my position ... I'm helping them ... not bothering them.
I have skills that will only help their company ... they just don't know that yet!
my skin was definitely thickened during the 2 years I worked and ran the phone room. Also discovered there's money out there ...waiting to be spent ... just gotta find it.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Jeff,
I TOTALLY agree with calling other companies! Sorry, I misunderstood and thought you were cold calling homeowners.
Two of the best subs I am using right now cold called me and I went with them. Best call they ever made as I have been giving them a ton of work and I didn't have to beg someone to come work at my job.
Mike
the only cold calling customers I've done was for that carpet cleaning company back in another lifetime ...
but I have thought from time to time I'd like to give the cold calling a try just to see if it went anywhere. More as an experiment than anything else.
I was simply amazed at how effective it was for the carpet cleaning. I would have bet anything that it wouldn't work ... was amazed for 2 years straight!
Was even more amazed when the Boss would walk in on a Fri ... say he felt like working over the weekend ... and he'd tack a $100 on the board for who ever booked him the most jobs.
Each and every time ... no more than 2 to 3 hrs later he'd have a full Sat / Sun schedule. Just nuts ... the thoughts of dialing a few numbers and ending up with a weekend fulla paying customers.
For it to work on any real basis though ... you'd need a 5 day week working the phones for 6 to 8 hours.
And all this was before the "do not call" list ... so I'm sure that's got alot more people pissed when their phone rings. Might be a losing battle now.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
off the top of my head I think the sold ratio from the carpeting cleaning days were soemwhere around 10 to 15%.
That's huge.
When I did do cold calls it was for my graphics business in New York; working out of the Yellow Pages and creating a semi-'qualified' list by business category (no point trying to sell commercial typesetting services to a business that doesn't need 'em).
I just dug around in the office here and found my old sales book from 40 years ago. (Jeezus I'm a packrat!) I kept an index card on every call I made--contact info; contact person; when each call was made; what I said; what they said; what (if anything) they bought.
Closing rate on those calls?
Less than 0.5% ever gave me an appointment to go to their office. I must be the worst phone salesman in history.
I think the only reason I managed to stay in business all those years was that once I finally did get in to see the guy who actually did the buying--a process that sometimes took over a year--I could close on one in four... 'cause I was very sincere and truly believed in what I was selling (me). People can sense that.
But I kept telling myself there had to be a better way to get in there....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
I was consistently amazed at the sales we closed over the phone.
The boss was cheap ... didn't even buy his own Coles Directory ... just had the girls go to the library and photocopy the better streets every now and then.
Then we'd just make copies and work our way down the street list.
Only top 2 income levels got called.
That was in Houston TX about 15 years ago ... always thot I'd never see the same results here in Pgh. Would guess there'd be alot more instant hang ups.
Thru cold calling and repeat customers ... he kept 10 phones going in the office ... and usually 3 cleaners busy in the field 5 to 6 days a week. Then again ... the owner Ron was by far that very best salesman I've ever run into.
I've been to many high dollar seminars ... they all said the same thing's Ron figured out on the streets ... but he knew more and was better at living it and teaching it.
Coupla years after that a salesmanager at a security system firm had me write up a new script for the very limited cold calling they did ... I think I increased set appointments by 25% ... something crazy like that.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
So if I interpret what you're telling me correctly, most people actually like getting calls from strangers who wanna separate them from some of their dough. I would have gone to the grave believing otherwise...but then I have this really bad habit of thinking that the rest of the world thinks like I do. Duh....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
appearantly so.
there's a whole telemerketing industry out there for a reason.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I guess what I'm wondering is, does the type of approach we make to the client--telemarketing; direct mail; screen-door flyers; print ads; referrals--have an impact on the type of client we wind up with? Or is that strictly a function of the list/neighbourhood we're working?
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....