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30 clients in 30 days or money back

mdivljina

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So I'm starting my digital agency (will file for LLC when I get 10 clients on a regular basis). I specialize mainly in Google AdWords since I know how to do it, but as luck may have it, it also fulfills some needs for my clients.

I've been working on my USP and would like you people to comment on it.

The USP is:

30 clients in 30 days or money back.

It sounds good and, when I commented it with my friend she described it as shining and sparking haha.

My main problem is I don't actually get my clients (local business owners) sales with adwords but rather leads. If they don't track the calls (leads) properly they're not going to recognize my value. I'm also working in Croatia which gets you at about 500 clicks per month (in Zagreb, Croatia's biggest city) for a certain niche and I'm not really confident they can convert that much.

TLDR: The USP is in bold, I'm not sure if I can deliver.

Whaddyall think?
 
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rwhyan

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Clients =/= leads

Client = repeat buyer that you are providing a service for
Lead = someone interested in your offer

Andy Black has a post out there somewhere with good definitions of these terms.
 

mdivljina

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Clients =/= leads

Client = repeat buyer that you are providing a service for
Lead = someone interested in your offer

Andy Black has a post out there somewhere with good definitions of these terms.

I know the difference between a lead and a sale, that's not what I'm asking here.

You see, in Croatia we don't have a word that substitutes the word lead. So I cannot say 30 leads in 30 days in Croatian because the word for a lead is non-existent.

This is a pretty specific problem and what I'd like to know is simply are the average numbers from people on this forum with experience in local lead gen with AdWords.

Are the expectations too high if I expect 30 closed deals out of cca. 300 clicks per month?

@Andy Black care to wager in?
 

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Here’s my definitions:

Enquiries (phone calls, form fills, etc)
-> Leads (people interested in their services)
-> Buyers (people who buy their services, once)
-> Customers (people with a custom of buying their services - aka repeat buyers)

...

Personally, I don’t guarantee results. I even state it when I speak to people interested in hiring me: “We don’t guarantee results, just that we follow a process, and our process is this: blah blah blah.”

Even when we can’t get results for a new client and they have to disengage, they understand the process we went through and often still refer people to us in the future.

Maybe it goes against all the sales and marketing books, but I sell the process that should get results, not the results. I speak at length about the process. Prospects can visualise what we will do for them.

If they engage and we start the process then they will “see” the process in action and “get” it. Even if they don’t get results, understanding this process is extremely valuable for them because they can use it for any other business idea they have.


I’m not saying my process is my USP.

Again, contrary to sales books I don’t believe we need USPs. I believe we just need to get the right offer in front of the right people at the right time.

I’ve been on local courses for business owners - as an attendee. At the start folks are asked to introduce themselves and what they do.

“I’m Andy. I do them little ads on Google.”

Ta-da. That’s enough for anyone looking for help with Google Ads to make a note and come speak to me at the coffee break.

What was my USP? Did I even say I was good at it?

Nothing... I was just in the same room as them.

...

Check out the Inbound/Sales braindump in my signature.
 
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MHP368

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why not start the agency with no USP and see what you can actually convert and then

"a lead every 48 hours or your money back", or "two new paying clients a week or your money back" or however it hashes out

end of the day is the same smoke and mirrors, you could use the fact that a car has an internal combustion engine and gets you from point a to point b as a sales point if you worded it the right way

Also why can't you simply track the leads you're sending?

google adwords->landing page->callrail and a google voice number that forwards to the client

boom, you can track how many leads your sending them
 

mdivljina

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This Andy's "personally I don't guarantee results" is something that really resonated with me. I believe I can sell that point at any time face to face.

Maybe I don't even need a clear cut USP. I've made 5 cold calls and scheduled 2 free demonstrations. That's worth it now, isn't it?
 

Real Deal Denver

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I like it, but I think 30 is way too high of a goal.

I would lean towards whatever they are paying you. If they are paying you $1,000 a month, I would say their profits cover your expense or their money back. That's no risk to them for 30 days, which is hard to turn down, and you stand a very good chance of making money too. That's a total win-win. Your time and expertise are worth something so don't sell yourself short.
 
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Roli

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30 clients in 30 days or money back.

It sounds good and, when I commented it with my friend she described it as shining and sparking haha.

Man, that's one hell of a claim, if you could deliver on that you would be rolling in business, it's why I clicked on the thread. Really powerful, but can you do it . . ?

Croatia which gets you at about 500 clicks per month (in Zagreb, Croatia's biggest city) for a certain niche and I'm not really confident they can convert that much.

This is the problem, you are giving up control if you get the leads, and then the business doesn't convert, I mean there could be a million reasons why a business doesn't convert, from a bad website to a rude receptionist, and there's no way you can cover all of them unless you go in and top-to-bottom consult for them.

You see, in Croatia we don't have a word that substitutes the word lead. So I cannot say 30 leads in 30 days in Croatian because the word for a lead is non-existent.

I love hearing about this stuff, I'm a real languages freak so this interests me massively.

I'm guessing it's because in Croatia you don't place much stock on interest, somebody is either a customer or not... Because I'm sure you could word it I can get you 30 people who are interested in your product in the next 30 days. However that doesn't really have the same impact, and would probably be met with a cold response.

So conclusion, it's a nice idea and it definitely would work as a hook, however I don't think you can deliver on this promise because of the variables.

Also, seeing as you're online do you need to restrict yourself to Croatia? You seem to have an excellent grasp of the English language, why not try some other territories?
 

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Your USP isn’t suitable for a lot of businesses. It’s too many leads and they would know that.

Lots of businesses need more than a day to take on a new client. My friend had a safety company that can take weeks to onboard a new company. Telling him he can have 30 new clients makes zero sense.

I’d try link this to a business goal rather than a random stat. Sure “30 in 30” sounds cool but to attract the right clients you will want something with substance.

Also how can you refund them fully - does that include ad spend? That could be thousands of euros.

I would work with something like this...

> my biggest fear with AdWords is... it doesn’t make any money

> promise that it will make money...

> “Profitable AdWord Advertising or 110% of your management fees refunded”

Something like that maybe.

Honestly though what will sell even better is focusing on the problems businesses have and using the great results you already got other businesses to build sellable stories.
 

Sanj Modha

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I think its a bad idea: who's closing these leads?

Your entire business model depends on someone you can't control (most service clients suck at sales and don't know how to close).
 
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A better idea is: I will send you 10 qualified leads per week - make it a two way process.

If the client is as good as they say they are - they'll close 2 or 3 out of 10 leads.
 

mdivljina

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Okay, all great responses, love them all.

I like it, but I think 30 is way too high of a goal.

I would lean towards whatever they are paying you. If they are paying you $1,000 a month, I would say their profits cover your expense or their money back. That's no risk to them for 30 days, which is hard to turn down, and you stand a very good chance of making money too. That's a total win-win. Your time and expertise are worth something so don't sell yourself short.

I had a chuckle when I read the second sentence. Nobody ain't paying me that amount of money in Croatia. When a local service spends 5000HRK (754,71USD) he's a F*cking God. For that client I am getting paid 75,47 USD (or 500HRK) per month. The market is small and poor and 5000HRK is above the average paycheck down here. Now before you respond to this message read everything else I'm going to write because stuff is linked.

This is the problem, you are giving up control if you get the leads, and then the business doesn't convert, I mean there could be a million reasons why a business doesn't convert, from a bad website to a rude receptionist, and there's no way you can cover all of them unless you go in and top-to-bottom consult for them.

Okay, that's the thing I've come to realize after Andy Black's reply and I've acted on it. I dropped that as the USP and I've decided to play on something more subtle. The thing is, when talking to people I've got this ability to sound like "one of them". I can get the slang right and I talk differently with an electrician and a doctor. You get the gist. People love me on the phone for that and out of 8 cold calls I've managed to secure 2 definite presentations (giving one tomorrow) and 1 next week. Two guys are also interested but they're not really good with their time (logistics) so I'll have to contact them again if I don't land a client out of those 2 presentations. And my client (the only one I've got) just today told me he really likes me and said that I "get what he does". I believe I'm pretty good at building personal rapport with my clients. Just I'm not sure how that's all gonna work when I land 50 of them...

Also, seeing as you're online do you need to restrict yourself to Croatia? You seem to have an excellent grasp of the English language, why not try some other territories?

My goal right now is to get 5 paying clients in Croatia so I can have a portfolio and I can produce some real results. Then I'm gonna start going after US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and UK clients. Pretty much the English speaking world. Although, I am very worried how am I going to conduct outreach. Cold emails just don't work. I've tried it. Cold calling, I've got no idea how I'm going to get someone to answer a phone when they see a +385 number (Croatia state number). They might as well think the Nigerian prince is calling haha. And even if I get them on the phone, what do I ask for? Like I cannot ask for a meeting because well... F*ck. And I just don't think local business owners will trust someone on the other side of the ocean, or Europe. I've worked with a British guy before, he was an online marketer and travels the world so he gets the concept, but I just don't see an electrician in Leeds, Nottingham or Winston-Salem talking to me via Skype and being very responsive (maybe that's Croatia talking out of me, don't know). Everybody's doing that shit on the internet and they're bad, they destroy the reputation of good marketers. So about reaching people online, still haven't figured it out and I've done a lot of outreach, sales courses, etc., etc.

Your USP isn’t suitable for a lot of businesses. It’s too many leads and they would know that.

Lots of businesses need more than a day to take on a new client. My friend had a safety company that can take weeks to onboard a new company. Telling him he can have 30 new clients makes zero sense.

I’d try link this to a business goal rather than a random stat. Sure “30 in 30” sounds cool but to attract the right clients you will want something with substance.

Also how can you refund them fully - does that include ad spend? That could be thousands of euros.

I would work with something like this...

> my biggest fear with AdWords is... it doesn’t make any money

> promise that it will make money...

> “Profitable AdWord Advertising or 110% of your management fees refunded”

Something like that maybe.

Honestly though what will sell even better is focusing on the problems businesses have and using the great results you already got other businesses to build sellable stories.

Actually I'm pretty much closing businesses right now that get to the client in a matter of hours so that's not a problem. Need a car towed? You call the towing service I'm doing AdWords for. Need a light switch fixed? You call an electrician. Those are the kind of businesses I'm closing right now. But I do see your point.

The 30 for 30 number isn't so random because I got 33 clients for the towing service client past month. Like when he covered the ad spend and my cost he was 100% profitable (not counting the fuel for the trucks and the payroll). The interesting thing he said to me was that this month was surprisingly bad overall, so I'm expecting more closed leads this month.

But again, I do see your point and I pretty much agree with it. The USP sounds sparkling, but it's not in my control and nobody guarantees somebody will get those clients, lie to me about the results and ask for a refund.
 

mdivljina

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There is one more thing I'd need your point of view on.

I called a guy today (he was third and last for today), it might be just calling fatigue (or whatever you call it) because I call one after another, no in between time, and I decided to change the script a bit.

Usually I come in and say hello, did I get X? They respond with a yes. Then I say I found about you through Y, you're advertising there, am I right? They say yes and then I say I'm not selling anything (we both chuckle a bit) and offer them a free demonstration of how they can get more clients online. No mention of AdWords or any technical stuff. Then they got some objections I handle and it's pretty much a deal or no deal. But not selling anything, that's the most important part.

Then today, I changed the script with a last one and told him I do digital marketing and asked him would he be interested... the guy cut me off in the middle of a sentence and just said no thank you. I tried with a "but it's (free)", didn't even get a chance to say it till the end, the guy just said no thanks again and cut me off.

I know this stuff happens and I know it should happen more often than it did for me (8 calls and 2 presentations is some crazy numbers) but it left me with a bitter after taste and it lingered the whole afternoon.

I guess my question here is, what kind of mindset and point of view should I adopt towards situations like this? I know it's going to happen in the future so I better be ready for it. Advice anyone?
 
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There is one more thing I'd need your point of view on.

I called a guy today (he was third and last for today), it might be just calling fatigue (or whatever you call it) because I call one after another, no in between time, and I decided to change the script a bit.

Usually I come in and say hello, did I get X? They respond with a yes. Then I say I found about you through Y, you're advertising there, am I right? They say yes and then I say I'm not selling anything (we both chuckle a bit) and offer them a free demonstration of how they can get more clients online. No mention of AdWords or any technical stuff. Then they got some objections I handle and it's pretty much a deal or no deal. But not selling anything, that's the most important part.

Then today, I changed the script with a last one and told him I do digital marketing and asked him would he be interested... the guy cut me off in the middle of a sentence and just said no thank you. I tried with a "but it's (free)", didn't even get a chance to say it till the end, the guy just said no thanks again and cut me off.

I know this stuff happens and I know it should happen more often than it did for me (8 calls and 2 presentations is some crazy numbers) but it left me with a bitter after taste and it lingered the whole afternoon.

I guess my question here is, what kind of mindset and point of view should I adopt towards situations like this? I know it's going to happen in the future so I better be ready for it. Advice anyone?
Sorry... I can't help you. I don't cold call or cold email!


Have you worked your way through this?
 

Real Deal Denver

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Usually I come in and say hello, did I get X? They respond with a yes. Then I say I found about you through Y, you're advertising there, am I right? They say yes and then I say I'm not selling anything (we both chuckle a bit) and offer them a free demonstration of how they can get more clients online. No mention of AdWords or any technical stuff. Then they got some objections I handle and it's pretty much a deal or no deal. But not selling anything, that's the most important part.

This is a great approach. You have a lot of knowledge to offer and you are not selling anything. You are putting the customer's interests first. Great job.

Then today, I changed the script with a last one and told him I do digital marketing and asked him would he be interested... the guy cut me off in the middle of a sentence and just said no thank you. I tried with a "but it's (free)", didn't even get a chance to say it till the end, the guy just said no thanks again and cut me off.

This approach puts you in the sales mode, even if it is free. Free is such a bait term, which creates suspicion, and it doesn't sound professional. If you really want to say free - say - "a totally free trial period to introduce you to our system." After the trial, if we don't deliver great results to you, there is no sense in going on - wouldn't you agree? Ask questions and WAIT for an answer - make this interactive. You want to be in the authority mode where you have something valuable that he should want to know about. If you approached it as offering some valuable information, I think almost everyone would be very receptive.

Make it valuable. Say, but I'm so sure this is going to work so well for you that you will want to use our systems to grow your business (state the benefit!) every month (show confidence - don't beg and don't use bait words - you will get respect that way). For example - Hello Mr. Smuck - I am calling today because I help businesses like yours find customers and grow. Now because I don't know how your business operates, (you're backing off here - so their defenses will go down) I would like to send you a link to a detailed case study of a local business we (not just you alone) have been working with for a few months now (this is not overnight success get rich plan) that will show you exactly (power word) how we have grown their business every month, even starting with the very first month (make it sound doable). Now THAT is interesting and exciting! All I need is your email and I will send you a direct link to our private (we don't give this valuable information out to just anybody) webpage that has the step by step method that we use fully explained. I think you will find this can be of great help to you and your business as well, but if not, I don't want to waste yours or my time if, for example, you are busy and don't have the time or resources to take on more customers (I have talked to businesses that have told me they are so busy they are turning down work - and I knew these people, so I know they weren't lying). Is there anyone else that I should send this to in your company that should know about this, besides yourself? Ask questions - be interested - don't sound like you are reading from a script. Establish yourself as an authority and you will get respect.

Now you will get clowns that think everyone that is selling something is evil. If they say "we're not interested" - be blunt - say something like, "really? Why would you not be interested in just looking at how we can help your business grow?" Push buttons. Every business sells something - a service or a product. So every business has one common goal - they need customers. I don't mind "getting face to face" with someone if they are shutting me down. If they are going to shut the door on me, I figure I have nothing to lose anyway. And you WILL lose some of them. God made idiots - you can't talk sense to idiots. So don't let it bother you. Let them stay in the stone age that they live in - and go to their competitors and say something like - I just talked to XYZ and they weren't even interested in talking to me. How would YOU guys like to see my marketing system? I'd love for you to use this to gain an advantage over XYZ, because, frankly, I don't like talking to close-minded people, so this may be a great day for you. I can send you a link to a web page that has all the details right now. Look at it at YOUR convenience.... and on and on.

The trick here is to COMMUNICATE with people. Everyone wants to hear from an expert - everyone wants to know the inside track of some trick that will help them. Be that person for them. Forget about selling them anything. Your job is to INTRODUCE them to your system - and the system will sell itself. You can even tell them that. Say, I'm not here to sell you something in 5 or 10 minutes. All I want you to do is to LOOK at what we HAVE already achieved and see if it would be something that you can use for your business. It's not for everyone, but for the ones that we do work with, it's giving them GREAT results. See? No selling. No pressure. No bait words. One on one coaching is the style you should be using.
 

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I was working with a dropshipping broker based in HK (they source the cheapest items in bulk for major retailers like Target, Wal-Mart etc).

Anyway, they wanted lots of B2B leads with the lowest cost per lead (who wants to pay more?). I sent them 1000+ using landing pages and chatbots but they weren't closing many.

When I dug deeper, I found that their sales teams were trying to "close" via email (LOL) when I had the lead's contact number!

The moral of the story - you can plan for a lot of things but clients close the leads and that's something you can't influence unless you give them a script and help them close (if that's possible).
 

Real Deal Denver

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I was working with a dropshipping broker based in HK (they source the cheapest items in bulk for major retailers like Target, Wal-Mart etc).

Anyway, they wanted lots of B2B leads with the lowest cost per lead (who wants to pay more?). I sent them 1000+ using landing pages and chatbots but they weren't closing many.

When I dug deeper, I found that their sales teams were trying to "close" via email (LOL) when I had the lead's contact number!

The moral of the story - you can plan for a lot of things but clients close the leads and that's something you can't influence unless you give them a script and help them close (if that's possible).

Just have to add how much I love your tag line; formally a chess piece, now a chess player.

LOVE it! That might even be worthy of a tatoo!
 

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I was working with a dropshipping broker based in HK (they source the cheapest items in bulk for major retailers like Target, Wal-Mart etc).

Anyway, they wanted lots of B2B leads with the lowest cost per lead (who wants to pay more?). I sent them 1000+ using landing pages and chatbots but they weren't closing many.

When I dug deeper, I found that their sales teams were trying to "close" via email (LOL) when I had the lead's contact number!

The moral of the story - you can plan for a lot of things but clients close the leads and that's something you can't influence unless you give them a script and help them close (if that's possible).


All these info and knowledge which you posted in the forums......did you learn all of this from starting and running your business and learning along the way, or were they picked up from business/marketing school?
:duh:
 
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Roli

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The thing is, when talking to people I've got this ability to sound like "one of them". I can get the slang right and I talk differently with an electrician and a doctor. You get the gist.

This is a golden skill, and you are right to highlight it. Trust me, most people when they try this sound corny, so keep sharpening that pencil!

Cold calling, I've got no idea how I'm going to get someone to answer a phone when they see a +385 number

You can buy internet numbers these days to make you look like you're in any country.

And even if I get them on the phone, what do I ask for? Like I cannot ask for a meeting because well...

A Skype meeting?

I just don't see an electrician in Leeds, Nottingham or Winston-Salem talking to me via Skype and being very responsive (maybe that's Croatia talking out of me, don't know).

There was a guy once at Dekker records who didn't see the public going for another boy band, so the Beatles got their deal with someone else. You don't know till you try, and it will cost you very little to find out.

Usually I come in and say hello, did I get X? They respond with a yes. Then I say I found about you through Y, you're advertising there, am I right? They say yes and then I say I'm not selling anything (we both chuckle a bit) and offer them a free demonstration of how they can get more clients online.

This links to the one above, if that works in Croatian, I'm pretty sure it'll work in English....

PS the Slavic accent is very much liked over here.

PPS sorry if Croatian is not Slavic, my geography is not great :)

Then today, I changed the script with a last one and told him I do digital marketing and asked him would he be interested... the guy cut me off in the middle of a sentence and just said no thank you. I tried with a "but it's (free)", didn't even get a chance to say it till the end, the guy just said no thanks again and cut me off.

I know this stuff happens and I know it should happen more often than it did for me (8 calls and 2 presentations is some crazy numbers) but it left me with a bitter after taste and it lingered the whole afternoon.

Huh? Why would you do that?

Back in the day when I was a cold-calling salesman, I would start on a project, perfect the pitch then sell like crazy. Then after awhile I would notice sales drop off, and this would happen on every project, you know why?

Well one day I analysed the script that I had been using, I realised that every five or six pitches I would change a couple of words here and there. The result was that every couple of days my script was noticeably different, technically it meant the same thing, however words can be beautifully subtle, they are the conduit for meaning, and some times just a simple "and" there or an "if" here can change the way we think about what is being said.

We have a saying here in England it says; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I guess my question here is, what kind of mindset and point of view should I adopt towards situations like this? I know it's going to happen in the future so I better be ready for it. Advice anyone?

Everyone's different, however I used to get over it by saying some really quite disgusting things to them ... after they hung up the phone.

I'm serious, I would get quite creative over varying sexual positions that I felt they should try out with different members of their family, I would get right into it until I made myself laugh, then I'd move on and make the next call.

Somewhat ironically,, when someone calls you after they've been laughing, they make you feel good and you're more likely to buy from them! :-D

All these info and knowledge which you posted in the forums......did you learn all of this from starting and running your business and learning along the way, or were they picked up from business/marketing school?

Click the link in his signature, it explains everything from start to finish.
 

Sanj Modha

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All these info and knowledge which you posted in the forums......did you learn all of this from starting and running your business and learning along the way, or were they picked up from business/marketing school?
:duh:

Yes, I figured this out myself from 7 years of pain, suffering, tears, breakdowns etc.

I've learnt that anxiety, stress, depression is a great teacher. Don't fight your lizard brain - use it as fuel to fire your ambitions.

That nagging voice inside your head is telling you something important. If you want more information on this - read The Chimp Paradox by Prof Steve Peters. It's changed my life.
 

Sanj Modha

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Just have to add how much I love your tag line; formally a chess piece, now a chess player.

LOVE it! That might even be worthy of a tatoo!

Do it!

Its taken me a long time to get from piece to player too. I'm just happy to share my journey now.
 
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mdivljina

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PS the Slavic accent is very much liked over here.

PPS sorry if Croatian is not Slavic, my geography is not great :)

Where you from, so I know where to start when I go international haha.
Yea, Croatia is Slavic. It's in between Western Balcans and Central Europe.

Huh? Why would you do that?

Back in the day when I was a cold-calling salesman, I would start on a project, perfect the pitch then sell like crazy. Then after awhile I would notice sales drop off, and this would happen on every project, you know why?

Well one day I analysed the script that I had been using, I realised that every five or six pitches I would change a couple of words here and there. The result was that every couple of days my script was noticeably different, technically it meant the same thing, however words can be beautifully subtle, they are the conduit for meaning, and some times just a simple "and" there or an "if" here can change the way we think about what is being said.

We have a saying here in England it says; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Yea so I don't have a script script, but a script that serves me as a guideline so I know the course of my call. I switched it up just to see what happens. I've scheduled two meetings and I pretty much believe I'm going to close at least one of them to become my client and I don't want to have two guys in a same niche because of conflicting interests obviously.

Because of that I decided to play a bit and see what happens. As of now, it seems people have a knee jerk reaction when someone bluntly mentions the term "digital marketing".

Everyone's different, however I used to get over it by saying some really quite disgusting things to them ... after they hung up the phone.

I'm serious, I would get quite creative over varying sexual positions that I felt they should try out with different members of their family, I would get right into it until I made myself laugh, then I'd move on and make the next call.

Somewhat ironically,, when someone calls you after they've been laughing, they make you feel good and you're more likely to buy from them! :-D

This is funny, but I don't think it'd be right for me. It reminds me of Ari Gold methods hahaha.

I'm just going to shrug it off and continue with my endeavors. It's bound to happen cca 10% of the time. Swallow that shit up and just continue.

Sorry... I can't help you. I don't cold call or cold email!


Have you worked your way through this?

I've been through your other posts. They're all gold. I'm reading this one right now and I'm really feeling it. I did the digital agency thing cca. October last year, but everyone around me was busting my balls pretty much and I gave into the pressure. Lesson learned, moved on. That's why I haven't been talking to people about what I'm doing, but will definitely try out your methods.
 

Andy Black

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it seems people have a knee jerk reaction when someone bluntly mentions the term "digital marketing".
Agreed. It’s too catch all, and too much of a buzzword that smacks of snake oil and a money pit. Get more specific with your positioning.

Who you help. What you help them with. How you do it.

I’m a “Google Ads Guy”. Kinda simple positioning, but specific enough to bring decent quality leads.
 
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mdivljina

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As of today -- 27.05.2019., I've got 2 new clients in Croatia (out of cca 30 calls) and have started cold calling in the US (US towing services, getting more cash calls for them). That makes for 3 clients total.

I called at about 20 people in the US by now, little less than half picked up. Some said not interested, some said call us tomorrow (happy Memorial Day to my US counterparts here, didn't know it was a holiday until today).

I'll be calling more people tomorrow and will lead with the fact that I'm not selling anything over the phone, it really breaks their pattern of saying "I'm not interested" or "Please take me off your list" and makes them listen as I've found out on a small sample.

Also, some mindsets I've adopted are:
1. Failure is only failure if you stop calling and learning.
2. I'm going to find out if a person is a fit for my company and not try to sell them something over the phone.
3. Seek conversations.
4. Hold onto your niche and bang it through. Go through 2000 leads, call them all and then decide whether that's an industry worth pursuing. If you jump too fast, you won't achieve anything.

If you're looking for cold calling lists, telephonelists.biz provided me with 5000 leads for 99$ per month (I've quit the subscription when I downloaded the leads, those 5000 will last me longer than one month). But you'll have to first go through all the leads and vet them yourself. For instance I wanted towing services only but they put lots of auto body repair shops, etc., etc. which are not my niche. Also they put lots of leads that have a broken website, an outdated domain, etc., etc. If you're starting, it's a good start. I don't have the money to pay more right now.
 

mdivljina

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I managed to call 20 people (only count when they answer) and got 20 no's.

I don't really give a shit about that. I'm hooked. I know what I'm working for and I'm gonna get it.

When I called in Croatia people had a different response to me. When I call the US I get pretty much 3 sentences and they hang up. People seem different than in Croatia. Maybe that's just my subjective opinion, but sure, I did get wildly different responses.

It's probably because they get at least 1 or 2 cold calls like that per day. I understand them and I understand that to them I seem just like another telemarketer trying to scam them out of their money.

The question to the more experienced guys and gals reading this is ...

how do you hook 'em?

How do you get their attention when cold calling?

My script right now is:

"Hey, my name is Michael.
I found about you through Google.
The reason I'm calling you is I'd like to know whether you'd be interested in a free demonstration of how you can get more cash calls online for your towing business?"

I understand that I don't sell on emotion right now (please do add some suggestions) because as I see it, it's very simple math. You put into Google 1 dollar and get 2,5-3 back. If they don't see it. It's their problem, but I know I have to help them see it. I know my service is quality and I am confident I can give them the results they want/need. But I don't know how to sell it on emotion (the thing I'm selling is Google AdWords service for tow trucking companies).

I thought about adding social proof (I already got one tow trucker, he is back here in Croatia, but the guy is more than happy with my service).

But the biggest catch right now is I don't know how to make them listen.

What should I say to catch their attention so I get more than three sentences on a cold call?
How can I get around the fact that this is not just random cold call, but something that can offer and give them real value?
Basically, how do I get around their conditioning to hang up a cold call when they smell it?
 

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The very first thing I thought of was what if your USP was something like:

Positive ROI or your money back

This way you don't have to beholden to any specific # claim, only that you can make them profitable.

Whether they wanna invest $500 or $50,000 so be it.

So long as based on your assessment you feel you can make them profitable, go for it.

What are your feelings on this?
 
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Johnny boy

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Promises and guarantees are tools to increase acquisition rates but can very often greatly increase the obligation to a point that it becomes not worth it.

It’s the payday loan of sales. You’ll say something to get them to sign up but pay for it later. Too high of an interest rate unless you’re desperate.

Another way to look at it is like taking a girl out on an expensive date. You can spend more money to get a girl to like you but it’s just not worth it. Better to do some sit-ups and be the more attractive guy that doesn’t have to work so hard to impress her. Don’t bend over backwards for the customers making crazy promises, cut the promises out and just sell it as is, but talk to more customers. Always be the hot guy, not the chump paying for dates.

Advice: Better marketing so you can sign up as many people but without promising results, don’t lose customers or have to refund them, make more money in the end.
 

mdivljina

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Right now the USP is not so much of a priority because when cold calling, I cannot even get past the third sentence.

I gotta get people to listen to me somehow.

I haven't figured the exact USP by now, but I don't really care about that at the moment. I've put my focus into other things.
 

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