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A Room Full of Opportunity (Follow up on the darn leads!)

RahKnee

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Not really. The mindset is applicable, but not the actual material. By the end of the course I just wanted it to end. Way too much "feel good" kool-aid to drink for me. Literally got a participation trophy haha

There's nothing in the course you can't learn from threads on this forum or books on the subject.

Thanks for the quick response and honesty.
 
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rogue synthetic

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Thinking back over expensive things I've bought, almost a perfect 10/10 are purchases that took multiple (as in, 10+) touches before pulling the trigger.

It isn't because I didn't like the product.

It isn't because I didn't trust the pitch-man or the company.

Mostly isn't to do with price.

I buy because I keep seeing it over and over...and over and over... again...

...and one of those days, I just say, what the hell?

Out comes the card.

If I've only seen one email, or a 5-day onboard sequence (I mostly ignore these, funny enough...), and left it at that, I'd never have bought it. Show me something worth wanting over and over again, and you've got me thinking about it. Sooner or later it's gonna happen.

But not if you stop pushing the buttons!

There are a lot of myths about sales out there. The idea that you've got to convert RIGHT NOW OR ELSE has to be one of the worst. Maybe that's true for commodities...for anything worth buying, the slow-burn seems to be the rule.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Maybe if I wait another 3 weeks, they'll call back. SMH.

OMG, I heard back from one of them today! Nearly 3 weeks later! We're do I sign to hire you? (sarc)
 

DVU

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Question for the experienced sales guys here:

Do you mention the price in the initial written cold contact like email or DM?

Or do you mention it down the line if they are interested? I feel like the second approach might scare away interested leads by thinking "oh it's probably too expensive for me I'm not going to act" versus if they know how much it costs its either a yes or on in their mind right away.

Would love if someone could expand on this.

Thanks.
 

MidwestLandlord

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OMG, I heard back from one of them today! Nearly 3 weeks later! We're do I sign to hire you? (sarc)

They must have so much business that they can't keep up and call back quickly! Haha!

Question for the experienced sales guys here:

Do you mention the price in the initial written cold contact like email or DM?

Or do you mention it down the line if they are interested? I feel like the second approach might scare away interested leads by thinking "oh it's probably too expensive for me I'm not going to act" versus if they know how much it costs its either a yes or on in their mind right away.

Would love if someone could expand on this.

Thanks.

Well...I sell real estate and CPG's, so yes.

With the CPG's the price is always included because a retailer wouldn't look at the information otherwise. Also I include the price so I can include their margin based off the SRP.

With real estate, I would lose my license if I didn't include the price. (and MLS #)

Hopefully others will chime in with more help.
 

MTEE1985

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They must have so much business that they can't keep up and call back quickly!

Interestingly enough, my wife called an air quality inspector yesterday to come to a house we’re in escrow on and while he did reply quickly, his response was “I’m booked for the next two weeks and do this all over the country, there’s not a lot of people that do what I do”

Opportunity abounds where people don’t respond and also where demand is high.

Hopefully others will chime in with more help.

I personally think pricing should be included when it’s fixed or can be calculated ahead of time. The reality is, lots of prospects will think you are trying to hide something by not disclosing it upfront. Plus, by cutting to the chase you can get to that Yes or No more quickly.
 
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mtnman

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This is such a good thread OP, I can't tell you how much I love your quote at the end!

There is so much opportunity out there, simply because of this dynamic... I even see it everyday in the blogging world when people constantly say stupid shit like:

JD: I've been blogging for 8 months and haven't made a dime
Me: How many words have you published?
JD: Almost 4,000 now!
Me: ....come back and see me when you've actually done some work
AcSYU5F
 

fasteddienc

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Great post, @MidwestLandlord. I'm looking at transitioning in my day job to a more direct sales role. Is there any material out there beside the books you mentioned you would recommend in terms of cold-calling? I'm not afraid of public speaking, but cold calls I have always struggled a bit with in terms of developing my own process. I do a bit of it now, but I don't think I'm good at it and want to get better quickly.


Check out this book. I started it recently and it looks promising. I purchased strictly based on reviews. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GVHS6BQ/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20
 

mtnman

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I didn't check out the book, but thanks for bumping the thread...

This is alive and well still to this day. An old local lead gen client reached out a couple weeks ago... said they weren't getting any leads, could I help?

Meh, I don't really do it anymore, but felt bad for the guy. A bit of leg work, some call tracking numbers, and a couple ads later... BANG - calls like a mofo. These are $20k + jobs, so if you're a half decent service provider at all, it's good money.

But you know what I learned? #1 I wasted my time, but I had fun doing the little experiment. #2 you can't help the helpless, who don't want to help themselves. F*cking crying left and right, but unwilling to learn or do whatever it takes... SMH

Turns out, getting leads wasn't the biggest problem, answering the phone and customer service is the real problem. (time and time and time and time AGAIN FFS!)

I started taking the calls myself to my personal cell phone, just to see if I still had it... one appointment after the other. Did I have to wade through some annoyances, sales calls, etc... Sure, but it's not a big deal if you develop qualifying process.

F*cking opportunity out the a$$ if you're willing to get after it!
 
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Womat

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So I have a routine I follow.

I move away from my desk to my "calling area", I have a mug of hot green tea to sip on, I flip my laptop open to my "scripts" word document, put my headset in and start calling as quickly as I can. I stand too, I'm an energetic guy so standing and walking around gives me an outlet for my energy during the calls.

The moving away from my desk and the green tea are cues in my "cue, routine, reward" habit, so it subconsciously tells my mind that we are making calls now, and nothing terrible happened the last 50 times we did this, so there's nothing to be anxious about.

I've done a variation of that routine for years, and I actually LIKE cold calling now.

I made 32 cold calls yesterday, got 2 new customers out of it.

Love the idea of creating in the brian attchment with safe environment feeling. I will use it. Thanks!
 

Itizn

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This seems like an appropriate thread to post the following:

Cold called a company offering my services (web design). After a few back and forth emails, I got a meeting scheduled with a DM.

That call went well enough, but after taking my bid for a quote, he reminded me that I was one of a dozen candidates for the project.

I sent one follow up email that next Monday offering insight into a particular issue he had mentioned during the call. No response.

I'm going to call him back this week, aiming to at least get a hard no or a hard yes, but regardless any other insight from experienced sales people appreciated.
 
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