resourcescoldcalling

Cold Calling
16 May 2004, 10:23:56 PM
Subject: RE: CN Discussion.....Cold Calling...Some things that have worked for me
From: Kevin Stirtz

Hi Mike,

We could talk forever about cold-calling and how to make it work better. But, in the end it's a matter of what works best for you and your goals, personality, market and style.

I found I was a lousy cold-caller when I first started my Coffee News. My phone calls generated about a 1% success rate and my in-person visits were clumsy and awkward. I hated it!

Why?

Here are a few reasons (in no particular order):

I was too new to have much faith or belief in my product. I hadn't yet seen it work so I was not yet convinced.
On every call I felt I was intruding and interrupting. Cold -calling has a negative stigma and that can make it psychologically difficult to do it for long.
CN was new to this market. I was selling something that had no awareness and therefore no value in this market yet.
4. I was calling on them to "sell" them something, to generate revenue for my business (as opposed to helping them solve a problem).
5. I had no real plan. My cold calls were haphazard and unorganized. I had no good follow-up system in place.
6. I wasted time with people who were lousy prospects.
7. Too often I tried to rush the sale, to make it happen as soon as possible.

How to resolve these problems and make cold-calling work?

Here's what worked for me (also in no particular order):

Time - by building my distribution and letting CN become a part of my community, I developed a strong market awareness for the brand. After only 4-5 months many people I cold-called were CN readers or they had heard about CN.

Success stories - I'll never forget when one of my first advertisers stood up in a regional BNI meeting (there were at least 200 people there) and said: "I got 5 phone calls my first week from my Coffee News ad". I still use that testimonial. Success works!

I figured out that everything is an interruption. No matter who you are or what you're doing, whenever you contact someone you are interrupting something. I just learned to live with that and not worry about it.

In my approach now I always check with people to see if they have time to talk - rather than diving into a sales speech. It's not worth it to talk to someone who is too busy to listen. Call back later.

I stopped "selling" and started "helping". I took "me" out of the picture and I stopped worrying about making sales. I started focusing on helping people promote their businesses. When I started taking this approach people responded differently. People can tell when you're sincerely trying to help or when you're just there for a commission.

I accepted the fact that not everyone I talk to today wants to buy an ad in Coffee News today (no matter how much I want them to!) Some people will never buy advertising from you. Others buy will next year or next quarter or maybe next month - but not today. Patience REALLY is a virtue in sales.

I got a lot more patient with people and started using my cold calls as a part of a long-term selling system (or process) rather than trying to sell everyone the first time I spoke with them. I started taking notes and following up with people so when they were ready, I'd be there. I found when I ask people when I should follow-up the are happy to tell me (and some of them even tell the truth!).

I found ways to keep in touch with people that were non-intrusive like emails and postcards. These help keep the Coffee News name in front of hundreds of people. I combine a monthly email and or postcard with a phone call every couple months (more or less depending on the prospect's situation). This helps me stay in touch without being a pest and without taking lot of my time away from my paying customers.

I started asking more questions so I could qualify people better and sooner. By finding out more about people sooner I can determine how much time and attention I should give them. Some simple questions can help:
*What other types of advertising have you done?
*Why do you advertise?
*How well has it worked?
*Who is a good customer for you?
*Who would you like to see more of?
*How is business these days?
*Is there a seasonality to your business?
*How interested are you in getting more customers?

There are plenty of fish in the sea. Just because one person is not interested in Coffee News doesn't mean you should stop cold-calling. There are plenty of people in every community who Coffee News can help. It's a tired old saying but it's true. Every "no" gets you closer to a "yes".

I remembered that I started my Coffee News franchise to help people promote and grow their businesses. There is a huge need in our communities for effective, inexpensive local advertising. And there is a great need for people who can help local business owners do their marketing better.

Coffee News is perfect to meet both these needs.

So, remember evey cold-call you make could be a future success-story, a future long-term customer, a future source of referrals, a future friend. You are calling on them with a good reason. You just need to communicate that message. Do that with enough people and you will succeed.

Good luck!

Kevin Stirtz
Coffee News Twin Cities LLC
952-960-9090
www.coffeenewsmetro.com

From: B Black

I can heartily recommend Stephan Schiffman's book, "Cold Calling Techniques That Really Work." ($9.95, Adams Media, available at Kinko's) He also has an excellent audio book of the same or similar title. His systematic approach to cold calling was very helpful in the beginning.

Bob Black