Just 3 Guys and a Web Dev Agency

[Gar1od1]

Hi all,

I've posted some of my backstory over in my introduction thread here but to give a brief synopsis, myself @Glen7337 and another friend, Jake, have been running an Instagram management service for the past two years with some moderate success. At its peak we had over 300 clients, probably something like 380ish and we we're making around €28,000/month.

The problem is its getting harder and harder to continue on with this business, as many of you can probably guess this violates MJ’s control aspect the CENTs framework. Because of this any changes Instagram make can really mess us up. With this in mind we are going to leave that company running in a maintenance mode and to be honest let it slowly die while we are creating a web development agency help to help move us forward. The idea is to work on this while slowly building up more business acumen and capital to move into more fastlane opportunities.

Myself and @Glen7337 are planning to work on the sales aspect of things going forward, with Jake handling the actual web production side of things. Eventually we'll want to try and outsource most of the production side and focus mainly on sale and working on developing the business not working in the business. That being said we've already begun with getting started, I've signed up to Foxs course and we're finished/finishing off a couple of portfollio projects.

Inspired by @Vilox cold calling thread myself and @Glen7337 have set each other a cold calling challenge to help us getting used to reaching out to people to make sales, we're going to both make 500 calls each over the course of this month. The goal of this is simply to make the call, that counts as a success for our purposes, its all about getting used to talking to prospects on the phone not about making a sale. The plan is to use this to both document our journey and to also use it as a form of accountability.

Current Month Goals
Gar - Make 500 Cold Calls (0/500 Currently)
Glen - Make 500 Cold Calls (0/500 Currently)

 

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[Gar1od1]

First 50 Cold calls in the bag for myself, the difference in my nerves, manner etc between the first and last one was night and day. I got much more relaxed as the calls went on, slowed right down and just have a better conversation overall.

Out of the 50 calls, I'd say about 20 of them went to voicemail, maybe that's common within this particular niche, I don't know yet? When I did get through to a decision-maker I didn't have too much success. My script, for the most part, went along the following lines:

ME: Hey, Is this [BIZ OWNER NAME]?

Biz Owner: Yes my name is him.

ME: Hi nice to talk to you, my is Garreth, how are you today? [one-second pause]

Wait for response

ME: I found your company through the Yellow Pages and I saw a potential fit between our businesses. [one-second pause]

In a nutshell, we help companies acquire and retain customers through their website and I was looking to see if you have 3 minutes to have a quick chat about it? Just to determine whether we're a good fit before we start talking at any length…..

--------------------------Biz Owners Potential Responses----------------------------------

Biz Owner: I don't have time to talk right now

ME: No problem, when is the best time to reach you for a short conversation? It shouldn't take longer than three minutes.

----------------------OR----------------------

Biz Owner: Can you send me an email?

ME: I certainly will. But can you tell me really quickly how your website is doing for you currently? Just so I know what to include in the email.

----------------------OR----------------------

Biz Owner: We already have a guy for that

ME: Great! If you don't mind me asking, why do you have such a good relationship with them?

----------------------OR----------------------

Biz Owner: Yes Sure.

Ask further Questions I had listed (Never managed to get this far)

So while I never managed to book a further call to discuss in more detail I'm quite happy with how this first 50 went, my confidence levels on the phone are definitely improving and that's the main goal of this challenge.

Current Month Goals
Gar - Make 500 Cold Calls (50/500 Currently)
Glen - Make 500 Cold Calls (0/500 Currently)

 

[BizyDad]

This is a true "numbers game" approach. Cool. Confidence is going to be key. May I offer a suggestion to skip some of this?

Try starting the call by asking if you caught her at a bad time. (Not a good time, most people are trained to say No on instinct. So ask if it's a bad time...)

Your responses above feel like you are scrambling or begging for scraps of time. This question starts the call by showing you respect their time. It is a more respectful question than asking how they are doing today.

If she says no (many will), you have permission to go into your script.

If she says what's this about, you have permission to go into your script but quickly.

If she says I have minute, you have permission to go into your script quickly. A minute usually means the 3 you are asking for above anyways.

If she says yes, reply, Sorry to bother you, I'll try back later.

They don't want you calling back later either, but they don't even know why you are calling, so 30%+ of the time she'll ask what's this about and you'll have permission to go into your script.

For the rest, just call back later. Leave a respectful message on voicemail every few days. "Just want to chat about some things I noticed in your website..." That kind of thing.

After 3-5 calls, let it go. Your last voicemail says you don't want to be a bother, and this will be the last time you reach out to discuss the website issues.

Some will call you back after that.

BTW, for any of this to work, the rest of your script better be interesting.

Keep this in mind, in their mind you are an internet marketer, but you are cold calling for customers. You are starting with a credibility deficit.

If I were you, I'd point out 2 things about their website most marketers ignore, then I'd ask to schedule a longer strategy call. When you get good at this, they will keep chatting instead of waiting for a future call.

Hope this helps.

 

[Gar1od1]

This is a true "numbers game" approach. Cool. Confidence is going to be key. May I offer a suggestion to skip some of this?

Yeah this is basically all about building up confidence and getting rid of anxiety when picking up the phone.

Try starting the call by asking if you caught her at a bad time. (Not a good time, most people are trained to say No on instinct. So ask if it's a bad time...)

Your responses above feel like you are scrambling or begging for scraps of time. This question starts the call by showing you respect their time. It is a more respectful question than asking how they are doing today.

If she says no (many will), you have permission to go into your script.

If she says what's this about, you have permission to go into your script but quickly.

If she says I have minute, you have permission to go into your script quickly. A minute usually means the 3 you are asking for above anyways.

If she says yes, reply, Sorry to bother you, I'll try back later.

They don't want you calling back later either, but they don't even know why you are calling, so 30%+ of the time she'll ask what's this about and you'll have permission to go into your script.

I'm going to incorporate this into my next set of calls and see how it goes. I like the way you've framed the conversation differently here.

For the rest, just call back later. Leave a respectful message on voicemail every few days. "Just want to chat about some things I noticed in your website..." That kind of thing.

After 3-5 calls, let it go. Your last voicemail says you don't want to be a bother, and this will be the last time you reach out to discuss the website issues.

Some will call you back after that.

I'm not too concerned about leaving voicemails at the minute and chasing up, my main goal currently is just to actually speak to someone and build up my confidence on the phone.

BTW, for any of this to work, the rest of your script better be interesting.

Keep this in mind, in their mind you are an internet marketer, but you are cold calling for customers. You are starting with a credibility deficit.

The rest of the script goes into trying to figure out how their website is doing for them currently, if its solving certain challenges/problems for their business and what could be improved. I haven't actually gotten this far yet though so I'm sure I'll need to rework it after I get some real-world feedback on it.

If I were you, I'd point out 2 things about their website most marketers ignore

I'll definitely be doing this down the road while prospecting but at the minute I just want to get a phone number and call, its purely a confidence thing and getting used to speaking in a calm relaxed manner, not coming across as nervous.

Hope this helps.

Honestly, this is great and I'll be putting some of it to use asap. Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it!

 

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[Glen7337]

Hi All,

Before jumping in, I just want to thank everyone on the forum for all the amazing insights we have picked up over the last few months. The fast lane forum has become an essential resource for our new project, I hope we can provide as much value in return.

Brief Background
I worked in the Irish construction industry as a Control Engineer for a little over 5 years before meeting @Gar1od1. Garreth, Jake (our 3rd business partner) and I have worked together for the last two years, in this time we have learnt to lean on each others strengths and compensate for each others weaknesses becoming a good team.

Over the past two months I have been consuming as many Sales related books, articles and blogs as I can get my hands on. @Fox's thread and YouTube series have been a massive asset, the value Rob provides is incredible.

The book "Spin Selling" by Neil Rackham (which I found through @Fox) breaks sales down from an art to a measurable science. This is ideal coming from an Engineering background and as @Gar1od1 often says in the office "what can be measured can be controlled".

With an understanding of the importance of building value in high ticket sales and the ability to assess a sale on more metrics than simply success we set out on this 500 cold call challenge to put theory into practice.

From memory, Neil finishes the Spin selling book with the concept of entelechy, to turn something into practical usefulness which seems particularly fitting in our case.

Current Activity
Over the past week I've been working on a portfolio project with Jake. The project consists of a 13 page website for a friend who has a really successful tech startup. While a big enough website, I think we have been able to identify and show where we can provide value.

Yesterday I met with the directors for the first revision of the website. Things went well and we are working on the updates discussed in the meeting. As the website enters the revision phase, I'm looking to improve my sales skills while Jake works on finishing the project up.

In order to achieve this goal and to get the next project in the pipeline I will be prospecting and making cold calls for 2-3hrs each day moving forward. Starting today I made my first batch of cold calls.

Leaning on my engineering background I called 50 engineering companys in the USA from Ireland.

1. Cold Call Method
Starting today I wanted to try something a little different to Garreth so we can get attack this challenge from multiple angles with the aim to learn from each others successes and difficulties. With this batch I focused on introducing myself as an engineer rather than as a sales rep.

My script went something like this:

"Hi, I was looking to speak with the business owner

await receptionist/owners response

My name is Glen, I’m an engineer from Ireland. I found your company through the Yellow Pages and noticed a potential businesses opportunity and just wanted to get in contact.

are you looking for a job? OR what's the opportunity?

I'm working with an engineering company in Ireland, a few months back I revamped the company's website in my own time and the results have been amazing. Would you be interested in having a quick chat?"

From there I free-styled the conversation and allowed it to flow naturally.

Note. I put a particular effort into being authentic and normal, rather then putting on "the sales voice". Being Irish I used my accent and language to try separate myself from the normal "sales calls" they might be receiving.

2. Cold Call Analysis
The nerves surprised me before starting, but after 10-15 calls it became a bit easier. After that point I started to think of the calls in a similar light to how I seen the gym when I started weight lifting a couple of years back. "I'm already in pain, I might as well give it everything".

In the first 10 calls I said "The companys project load increased by 10%", which was meet by "we have enough sales at the moment, goodbye".

Reason.​

As I lead with a benefit, this was met by an objection.​

Change.​

I changed my script to say "the results have been amazing", to avoid offering a benefit too early.​

Result.​

Moving on from that point I received far less objections.​

After roughly 35 calls things started to get harder from an energy point of view. Staying positive, peppy and friendly became harder over time as I ran out of juice.

Reason.​

Discussing with Garreth, he had something similar happen. We think this may have been a "too much, too soon" problem. Using the gym analogy again, it's best to start off with a moderately difficult workout and push more and more each day to build up strength and endurance.​

Change​

Starting tomorrow we set a target of 25 calls, adding a minimum of 2-3 calls each day depending on how we feel on the day. We will prospect and prepare 50 leads each day in case we get on a roll.​

Result.​

To be seen.​

3. Conclusion
It was a good first day, but it was difficult. With a steep learning curve ahead, we have our challenges cut out for us... progress through pain I guess.

Any feedback or opinions would be much appreciated!


Current Month Goals
Glen - Make 500 Cold Calls (50/500 Currently)
Gar - Make 500 Cold Calls (50/500 Currently)

 

[Fox]

Hey - just seen this now @Gar1od1.

Ill sub for sure and jump in when I can. Tag me in as well if you need me.

Nice - wish you all the best with this and let's see how 2020 goes!

 

[Gar1od1]

Cheers @Fox

Update for today, made 25 cold calls, not really feeling any nerves or anxiety on the calls now. I did get slightly tripped up over my words once or twice but recovered pretty well. Booked a discovery call for Monday to talk in further detail so pretty happy about that! When I got that far I wasn't really expecting it funnily enough but managed to get a time and date for the call at least!

I was definetly feeling a little mentally drained by the end of it though so I need to build up a tolerance/endurance. Ideally, Id make calls earlier on in the day (I'm a morning person)but because I'm in Ireland and we're calling companies in the U.S. I can't make calls until around 1-2pm my time. I'm playing around with the thought of either just starting my day later or maybe trying to do something a bit more stimulating in the morning before the calls, maybe hitting the gym or something, not quite sure yet though. Maybe I just need to suck it up and force myself into it anyway.

Came across two issues I think I'll need to figure out, the first is getting voicemail. That happened 7-8 time today where I got passed through too the decision-makers voicemail, gonna have to go away and come up with something for this situation. The biggest thing I feel like I need to do going forward is probably to prospect a little better. There were some companies I called that realistically I'm never getting through to a decision-maker or have a shot at getting work off them. Basically just wasting my time and mental energy calling them in the first place.

Gonna need to pick up the pace on calls next week if I'm gonna hit 500, especially with the holidays coming up. We've definitely come to the realization over the past few days that sales skills are gonna make this business sink or swim so we know we have to get on top of this to succeed. I have recently started reading Fanatical Prospecting and while I'm only a couple of chapters in its definitely helping my mindset with cold calling.

In other updates, I'm currently working on a portfolio project for a life coach I met recently at a start your own business course here in Dublin. I had a discussion with her last Wednesday about her current site, (she built it herself last ear using Wix) how her business is going, where her problems are and am working on developing a new site for her. Her main problems are too much back and forth with clients looking for information such as price, how a session works, what is life coaching among other things so that the main focus on the new site. I have a skeleton version of the site done and we're gonna jump on a call on Monday evening to go through and see what she's thinking so far of it.

We also only realized today we made a rookie mistake and potentially let a decent lead get away by not checking emails. Basically the 3 of us have a company email address and we have a generic 4th one that's linked to a contact form on our website. Well, we all assumed the others were checking it and I logged into today to find someone referred to us looking to get a website built for a restaurant here in Dublin. They sent that email over two weeks ago!

I've followed up apologizing profusely and we'll see if anything can be salvaged but it was a stupid mistake that won't happen and learn, I've set up an auto-forward on that generic account to go to my own personal one, live and learn I guess!

Current Month Goals
Glen - Make 500 Cold Calls (75/500 Currently)
Gar - Make 500 Cold Calls (50/500 Currently)

Currently Reading
Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount

 

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