You love making cold calls, right?
Today I was purchasing some water filters for my home and I asked the gentleman serving me how business was. He said ‘it’s up and down’. I am hearing this a bit. Businesses are feeling the pinch.
Now is the time to get out there and hustle. Now is the time to increase your brand awareness. Now is the time to focus on your sales and marketing.
How do you find prospects or new customers?
I don’t know a single person who is a fan of cold calling (and I know quite a few people who work in sales). The reason for this is it sucks. And while it works, It makes you feel uncomfortable and awkward. And that’s why I like this video from Phil M Jones, international speaker, trainer and author of Exactly What To Say.
The acronym, F R I E N D S is easy to remember and provides a variety of ways to ‘warm up’ calls.
F: can your FRIENDS recommend a potential prospect?
R: compile your RECORDS to create an effective prospect list that makes it quicker and easier to make contact.
I: which INDUSTRIES do you want to focus on? Believe it or not, not every person / organisation in the world is a prospect. Concentrate on those industries where you stand out or have a good track record with.
E: stands for E-MARKETING. There are more than 2.8 billion Facebook users and 780 million LinkedIn users. Many of your customers will be online, using Google and many other digital channels. Digital marketing is cost-effective, measurable, versatile, fast and should not be ignored.
N: is for NETWORKING. People buy things from people they trust. You create trust through consistent and authentic relationships. Even low-key social events provide an opportunity for creating awareness of your business and what you offer.
D: stands for DIRECTORIES. I love this one - there are so many online directories out there making it relatively easy to find a group of prospects within those directories. And rather than making a call about your business, you can simply ask them how effect the directory is for driving business. It starts a conversation.
S: is for SAME NAME. This is a little more obscure, but useful when brainstorming. Look at your prospect list that you have now created using some of the techniques above. Go to the top of your list and examine each name. Who else do you know that also has the surname Smith, for example, or who else do you know that works in the water filter market, for example?
You are a problem solver.
Finally, remember these two key things:
#1: You are not selling a product or service. You are solving someone’s problem or pain point.
#2. To find out what the problem or pain point is, a great conversation starter is ‘what is happening in your business’, or ‘what is important to you’.
What are you going to do right now?
You have three options, having read this article:
Do nothing. Carry on. Don’t expect anything to change - why would it?
Do something. Pick off one or two techniques to try and see how they work for you.
Do lots. Try each technique. Talk to your team. Divide and conquer. Celebrate your successes and learn how to get better. And watch your business flourish.
