I'm just about at ground zero, Need help with getting things rolling

[petesign]

Another good thing is Facebook. You might think I am nuts, but I have gotten a good bit of my business from there. Friends of friends who also market their business are on there like crazy, and guess who gets their sign business?

Might not hurt you to go on there, make a page for your company and showcase some work, then start networking like a mad man.

 

[tomence]

Jon for every $50 that i spend monthly for ConstantContact email marketing it brigns me anywhere from $500-$2000 per month. Cold Calling brings me more that's why i said Ok money. I call my existing customers as well to get more business since they trust doing business with me and it is easier to talk to them.

 

[tomence]

Lets say i don't have any customers at all, just starting out. How am i suppose to get clients. Who should i contact if there is no existing clients.

 

[Gino]

Lets say i don't have any customers at all, just starting out. How am i suppose to get clients. Who should i contact if there is no existing clients.

:Oops: . . . . . .

 

[John L]

I didnt read many of the follow up posts here. But I'd walk into the local building permit office (or look online) to get a list of building permits issued in the last year.

The hot list will be the older ones, maybe 3-8 months out on smaller businesses. Cause a sign is about the last thing they will think about and now they need it quickly. This is an effective sign marketing angle that may put you in front of someone at least interested, with a fire lit beneath them.

For the long haul though, you are gonna have to start selling something they can't get elsewhere, something you hold proprietary in some way, something you can be profitable on at a cheaper cost, faster, better, whatever. Sounds cliche but it's true.

 

[Jon Aston]

John, I could not disagree more about calling my existing customers and bugging the snot out of them for an order. I've got two big vendors that I bailed on for that very reason, one I had to go as far as call blocking them. There's no way I'm going to try that with my loyal customer base.

Pat,

Nobody suggested bugging the snot out of anyone for an order. That would be worse than calling. For reasons you have already demonstrated.

 

[Jon Aston]

This was a TERRIFIC post, Gino!

I too, hate when phone solicitors call and bug me.... especially the ones that are annoying or hardly speak English. My problem is, I don't want to speak to those people that are only making calls as their only means of doing business if they can't get their message through to me in a minute and a half. Then its screw them.....

Build relationships. Sales follow. Pat's "sales" technique was so effective (in part) because he built instant rapport with the prospects. That gave him the opportunity to show his abilities/expertise. There is no better sales tool than demonstration. Pat achieve immediate credibility, which led to trust. Trust led to sales.

I find by calling someone you already know and talking a little and getting to the nitty-gritty will work most times. It's all in how you call and not always why you're calling. If I don't have time to talk to someone I know, I generally apologize, ask them what the call is about and I'll tell them if I'll get back to them or not. However, if I'm making a call to an existing customer and I let them know of a value product I have that I know they use and I could stretch their advertising dollar, do they want me to stop by and discuss it..... that works. I just did it last week and my customer is placing an order next week for almost $52,000 of products.

This is several nuggets of solid, 24K GOLD. Best post so far, along with Pat's (not the one about snot... the other one). Congrat's by the way Gino.

However, the same approach of suggesting a meeting by cold calling someone most times works for me also. In the last two months, I've been running a special at our shop. I cold called some, e-mailed others and phoned yet others. I got a good response from all of them. The biggest problem is getting small businesses to take advantage of anything. No one wants to part with their money these days, so you have to explain how you can save them money in these lean times in under two minutes.

As above. Bet you didn't land any $52K orders this way though. That kind of sale takes an established relationship, based on a much deeper level of trust, as a rule.

Talking by phone to set up an appointment is in my opinion better than just showing up on their doorstep.

Always.

Many have to do things in the way they feel comfortable. That method I feel is wrong. Just because something is out of your comfort zone does not mean it won't work or that you can't learn to do it. Like anything, you must start doing something [everyone has to start somewhere] and start talking to people and selling themselves therefore their business in order to gain new accounts. Unless you have unlimited funds and/or can stay afloat some other way.... you either hire someone to bring work in or you do it yourself, but again the main ingredient is going and getting worthwhile customers.

Sales/selling is a set of skills that anyone can acquire. And it's a skill set that is essential to the success of your business. Anything else I might add, Gino has already said.

 

[tomence]

You didn't answer my question. Lets say i am a new business with no clients yet. Tell me the most effective way of finding clients. Should i just seat home and wait for somebody to call me.
Also would you agree with me that guerilla marketing if done right is the best and cheapest method of finding new clients in the world no matter where you are and tell me what this method really is. Why do large companies hire sales people and what this sales people do. Aren't they cold calling, visit businesses, talk to people, follow up by email etc etc. and yes they do talk to their existing clients as well.
I understand what you are saying by talking to existing cusomers but what if they are none or what if my existing customers don't want to order from anymore so the point is how you go or what you do to find new clients.

Gino is Gino, not everyone is like Gino so lets not focus just on Gino but focus on the newbies too.

 

[Jon Aston]

Jon for every $50 that i spend monthly for ConstantContact email marketing it brigns me anywhere from $500-$2000 per month. Cold Calling brings me more that's why i said Ok money. I call my existing customers as well to get more business since they trust doing business with me and it is easier to talk to them.

I'm willing to bet you're not spending anywhere near 2 hours per day on your internet marketing (including email) and that your wife's salary is better than $50/month. As you build your list, you can also potentially reach far more people (in seconds) than your wife can possibly call (in a week), without layering in additional expenses.

Remember, how I called cold calling inefficient?

Where's the best return on investment today?

Which approach offers exponentially greater return on investment?

 

[Jon Aston]

You didn't answer my question.

Dude. I didn't get there yet. How fast do you think a 2-finger typist can type?

 

[tomence]

Ok dude i have already built my email list so it is easier for me to do email marketing and i was never hoping to get much out of it but i did. It took me a while until orders started coming in. Its not something that happens overnight. My wife on the other hand she likes cold calling and that is the only job that she does and enjoys doing it everyday MON-FRI. So for her 10 hours of work a week bringing us $1000 that is not bad.

 

[Jon Aston]

Lets say i don't have any customers at all, just starting out.

OK. For starters, that isn't John1's problem. I'm responding to his specific situation. It's how I work.

How am i suppose to get clients.

Do you want me to say "cold calling"? How big is your marketing budget?

Who should i contact if there is no existing clients.

I don't know anything about your business Tomence... not your real business and not your hypothetical business. So how can I possibly know who you should be targeting? Do you want to give me a SWOT analysis?

Marketing Strategy isn't "one size fits all". Sorry if that's a disappointing answer.

 

[Jon Aston]

Ok dude i have already built my email list so it is easier for me to do email marketing and i was never hoping to get much out of it but i did. It took me a while until orders started coming in. Its not something that happens overnight. My wife on the other hand she likes cold calling and that is the only job that she does and enjoys doing it everyday MON-FRI. So for her 10 hours of work a week bringing us $1000 that is not bad.

Dude!

NOBODY said your $1000 per week was bad. And it is nice that your wife gets to something she likes. But are you suggesting that cold calling offers better ROI today, or can, in future, than a good web strategy?

By the way - just so there is NO MISUNDERSTANDING - I'm not suggesting you fire your wife. Promote her to Sales Manager, give her a raise, buy her some flowers!

 

[tomence]

I don't want you to say cold calling but want you to tell me or others here what other method than cold calling works to get new clients if there is no existing clients without spending more than the monthly phone bill.

As far as my business, I know who to target, when to target and what time of the day to target, and know a way of how to find them without spending a dime. I have my niche market.

 

[tomence]

Dude!

NOBODY said your $1000 per week was bad. And it is nice that your wife gets to something she likes. But are you suggesting that cold calling offers better ROI today, or can, in future, than a good web strategy?

By the way - just so there is NO MISUNDERSTANDING - I'm not suggesting you fire your wife. Promote her to Sales Manager, give her a raise, buy her some flowers!

I did not say web strategy isn't working. But is it free, can any one do it, does everyone know how to do it.

 

[davidcarr87]

how is the 2 of you arguing on here helping the op??

 

[Jon Aston]

I don't want you to say cold calling but want you to tell me or others here what other method than cold calling works to get new clients if there is no existing clients without spending more than the monthly phone bill.

OK, so I'll concede that if no other alternatives are even possible, cold calling is the best, most efficient use of your time.

As far as my business, I know who to target, when to target and what time of the day to target, and know a way of how to find them without spending a dime. I have my niche market.

Kudos, Tomence. But you can understand why I couldn't answer your question.

 

[Jon Aston]

how is the 2 of you arguing on here helping the op??

Good point.

Tomence, I've enjoyed the conversation - but we have become thread pirates, and it is getting late. Another time perhaps. Good night.

 

[tomence]

Good talking to you Jon. I have nothing against you i think you are a great person and i know you do this for a living.
But anyway good talk.
Have a cold on me. LOL

 

[davidcarr87]

alright...now we can get back to the orig subject..and the reason he posted this..to ask what he could do and im kinda interested in the information as well for myself