Cold Calling Works!

We all dread doing it. We make excuses not to do it, we procrastinate, delay, we put it off. We even consider paying someone else to do it. I refer, of course, to the dreaded cold call. Why do we fear it so much? Fear of the unknown, fear of rejection. Most people tend to shy away from it because it's often not a fun thing to do, since you have to hear "No” many times until you get a "Yes." But there is no question that cold calling works, and is also one of the most cost-effective ways to get business. As they say, successful people became successful because they did the things that unsuccessful people didn't want to do.So as Nike says – just do it. Pick up the phone. Once you get going, it’s not that hard. The first call is the hardest to make – after that it’s easy.

Your pitch should be short and to the point. 90% of the challenge is finding the appropriate person. Once you have the decision maker on the line, explain what you do in 10 seconds – get right to the point. Then continue…keep going and don’t stop - features, benefits, price. Ask questions, have a conversation, be friendly. If you make them laugh you’re half way there. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for the order. Many sales are lost simply for failure to ask. “So would you be interested in getting started with one of our packages today?”

Follow-up is key. If a prospect asks you to call back, write down the date and time and call back.

The most important piece of advice I can give is – HOW you say it is more important than WHAT you say. I’ve had many telemarketers over the years who have read the same exact script, and some were successful while others weren’t – and they were saying the same exact thing! How could that be? It’s because of HOW they said it. If you sound like everyone earlier said “no,” then you likely won’t get a sale. If you sound confident like everyone earlier said “yes,” then you will. People want to deal with successful people. Who wants to buy from someone unsuccessful?

Now go pick up the phone! Your next deal is just a phone call away.

Great Business Blogs

I have really enjoyed blogging for the past few months, and hope that my regular readers find the info here valuable. When I get comments on how a business tip has helped you, or how an idea has proven profitable for your small business, it is especially rewarding and that's what this blog is all about.




There are many great business blogs out there. One I recently stumbled upon is Ben Means Business by Ben Jones - http://www.ben-means-business.com/ Check it out - I'm sure you'll find some valuable info there. Ben recently added a post which listed some other great business blogs - here it is: http://ben-means-business.com/the-41-absolute-best-blogs-about-entrepreneurship-and-small-business/ Talk about a reseource to come back to time and time again! That list will keep on giving. Great job, Ben!

osCommerce Websites

Watt Media continues to specialize in osCommerce and other shopping carts. Just this week we started working on 2 new shopping cart sites that utilize osCommerce, and one site that needed a totally customized cart. For businesses that have 10 or more items to sell, osCommerce still seems to be the most flexible and robust cart, allowing the store owner full control over editing the products, prices, descriptions, etc. We normally populate the first 10-20 products, and then train the client on how to use the cart. Most people cathc on quickly, and we find that anyone who is somewhat computer literate has no problem using the shopping cart's admin.

We specialize in new osCommerce sites, as well as taking over existing sites to make changes and updates.

Get New Customers With a Referral Program

One great way to get some good leads, many of which will turn into clients is to have an annual referral program or contest. I’ve done this regularly at Watt Media almost every year, and have had great results. Here’s the basic idea: I send out e-mails and faxes to all of our clients, old and new, letting them know how much we appreciate their business over the years, and that if they send us 3 referrals, they will get something for it.

There are two ways to do this, and both have worked well for us:
1. Make the prize something big and expensive, like an iPod or GPS system, but they only win it if one of the referrals becomes a client. The idea is that the big prize will motivate them to send their referrals to you.

2. Make the prize small, like a $20 gift card to Starbucks or Barnes and Noble, but everyone who sends you 3 leads gets this prize, whether those leads turn into clients or not.

Several years ago I tried it with the big prize, and it worked pretty well. This year, I decided to give it a try with the smaller prize version, a $20 Starbucks gift card. I was amazed at the results! I am sure many people returned the leads just to get that gift card. How good those leads are remains to be seen, but I am sure that we will get several clients out of it – which will pay for what I spent on the gift cards many times over.

I would recommend that you send an e-mail blast, followed by a fax blast, and then another e-mail blast a week later. I received leads every time I sent the e-mails and faxes. Some people may not have seen the first e-mail, others respond better to a fax, and others may have meant to send it in and were reminded with the 2nd e-mail. On the form you send, the client should fill out their name, and then the names, company names, and phone numbers of 3 referrals, as well as how they know them. This information will be very valuable to you.

Also, when you get the leads, call the sender to thank them, and go over the leads on the phone, so you can get as much information as possible about each one. This is also a great way to catch up with your client, and strengthen the client-vendor relationship between the two of you. Finish by thanking them again and letting them know that their prize is on its way. Make sure you send it out promptly so they are not left wondering where it is.

You can do this once a year. It's a creative, inexpensive, and effective way to get some new customers.

Things You Can Do To Help the Environment

This post is completely off topic, but with the recent Earth Day celebration, I was motivated to do more to help the environment by conserving energy, recycling more, and being more conscious about waste.

Here's a good article that helped me get started: http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/gather/help.htm

There are many little things we can all do that add up and make a big difference.