Cold Callers: I want your opinion!

[ButGregSaid]

What are you doing to get around gatekeepers? If you don't mind me asking. What industry are you in and what % of your calls do you connect to a Gatekeeper?

What about something along the lines of "Hi. Maybe you can help me out. Could you tell me who oversees your X (Marketing, Facilities, etc) department? I'd like to mail them a letter."

With luck, they'll give you a name, a job title, and that'll be plenty for you to call back with later and as casually as you can (as if you know the person you're trying to reach) say "Hello, I need to get in touch with Tony. Can I speak with him briefly?"

It's an art form, I know - as Vigilante says.. pays to do the research. The more you can act like an old college buddy, the better.

 

[Andy Black]

It’s not cold-calling, but this thread might help:

• Notable! - I emailed 40 local organisations asking what their problems and frustrations are

 

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[minivanman]

Thanks for the valuable input. Im sure that is going to help me learn more about cold calling




Ahhhhh

You are only laughing at yourself..... and that kind of tells us where this business will end up. If you currently have 24 'contracts' and the commercial cleaning business makes so much profit, how is it that you can't afford Andy to make you a trillion dollar business? Compared to the profit you make all he wants is peanuts to blow this thing out of the water! Hell, you should throw him an extra bone just for being so nice, lord knows your wallet can't hold all that cash you're making.

By the way, these are all things YOU stated, they are not made up by me or anyone else.

 

[Crexty]

Update: 1 estimate from roughly 1 hour of calling, Lady is already in search of a company like mine thumbsup.

Out of 59 connected calls, I spoke with 8 owners / DM's...

And got roughly 20ish emails.

So heres my percentages so far..

88 Dials
59 Calls
8 Connects (Spoke to DM) : 8%
20 Emails : 33%
1 Estimate : 0.0169%

My goal is to get 2 estimates everyday. Minimum of 1.

 

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[Jordi]

Hey Crexty great thread;

I have a doubt: of those 20 emails you got, about how many are their DMs' personal email vs their general contact email (like info@, contact@, hello@, etc.)?

 

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[Real Deal Denver]

All righty then. NOW we have some meat to work with! Get the barbecue sauce and napkins and let's fire this grill UP!

First of all, the population being 4 mil, you're in a feeding ground for your business, and you're never going to be able to saturate it. In other words, it's a wide open ocean for you to fish in, and you're never going to run out of fish.

You couldn't ask for better news than that!

Most importantly - you have a variety of clients already. Great. Do you know what you have there? Testimonials. That is going to be your dynamite you need to break through the stone walls of your business.

You got those clients somehow - when you DIDN'T have testimonials. Now, it's going to be much easier.

You couldn't ask for better news than that either!

This is a time intensive hands on business, so I'd forget mass marketing - which includes cold calling, by the way. There are 100 ways to go about this. Not having been in this business, this is one way I'd approach this...

You're only looking to add 3-6 contracts a month. That's about one a week. Incredibly small. That's not a bad thing - it's an easy thing.

First of all, I'd map out every business within two miles of where you mainly work from. Ideally, wouldn't it be great to have, say, seven or eight clients all in the SAME office building? Wow - that's the kind of efficiency that could really boost your bottom line. With that goal in mind, here's what I would do.

I'd make a BOOKLET of before and after shots of some of your clients offices. Spend a few bucks on a classy glossy booklet. Then I'd personally visit every office in ONE office building. Introduce yourself - ask to talk to the decision maker, OR the office manager if they want to play cutesy guessing games. Ask them if they could spare 2-3 minutes for you to show them your "market study." of customers in THEIR SAME BUILDING that are using your services. You may have to come back - fine. When you get to that point, briefly page through this booklet. Make it interesting to see! Say that you realize their time is limited, which is why you have prepared this very graphic aid so they can really see why your service is so special / needed / in demand / whatever. Get some google research data to throw in there. 80% of consumers say they do notice the cleanliness of business' and they DO rate that as an important factor in choosing who to do business with. In fact, that is the number THREE feature that they rate as being most important. Get their attention. This IS important for them to know. Then STRESS that you would like to do a CUSTOM proposal of what you can do for them, which you can have prepared in less than a week. People like custom personalized service. Are you impressing them so far? Hell yes you are. No - don't get it done the next day. You're very busy - they have to wait their turn! Make them want it.

You may have to remind them that this is totally no obligation of any kind, and of course, no charge. And you wouldn't be talking to them if you were not ABSOLUTELY sure you can deliver superior results for what they are paying now - or even LESS perhaps. For this study, naturally, you will need to know how many times their office is cleaned, what they're paying, and what - exactly - that entails. Holy moly - now you have your competitors blueprints! BE PROFESSIONAL! Name a few clients off the top of your head and how long you've been working with them. You are selling something they already KNOW they need!

When you do prepare the proposal, don't propose only what they have now. Give them OPTIONS. They could go with the plan they have now, which is your gold plan. They could also save a few dollars, if they went with your silver plan, or they could go first class with your platinum or diamond packages. Be. Professional. Never give them a yes or no, take it or leave it, option. Always choices! Give them a "lock in your price for 12 months" preferred customer discount program! Be creative!

This may take two or more trips. This is an ongoing revenue stream, not a one time sale, so work it. It will be worth the effort.

If they refuse or put you off, follow up with them in two weeks. But THIS time you can remind them, and thank them, for the time they spent with you 12 days ago, when you were in the building. Tell them that since that time you have signed up 5 more offices in their building (whatever the number is) of SATISFIED customers, and you'd be glad to EMAIL them contacts so they can get first hand referrals. Most people are not going to do that - but they will be impressed that you have a number of customers in their own building. I bet you don't know that the number of NO responses that is received before a YES is heard is not one, or two, or three. It's seven. It's an art, not an algorithm or a series of emails or cold calls. That's why sales people are well paid.

Next is the hard part. You have to play it by ear. You could offer them 25% off the entire first months service - or you could offer them an entire FREE month if they like your service and refer only ONE customer to them that signs up. And that's an ongoing offer that NEVER expires, by the way. Tell them you'd like nothing better than to give them a free month discount EVERY month! Or you could follow up with an interesting email - a letter - a link to your website - whatever. If all else fails, I'd send them a $10 gift card to Starbucks and thank them AGAIN for their time and you look forward to them being your customer. I didn't say IF did I? I said WHEN they will become your customer. You gotta have brass balls, but not be cocky.

You might not get every customer you talk to. Don't sweat it. But imagine if you got, say 20, did I say 20? Yes I did. Are you paying attention? Imagine 20 offices all in the same building! Now that I have your attention - tell me why it couldn't be 40? Why not? It's there for the taking.

Rinse and repeat for the building across the street, and so on, and so on.

How do you thank your customers? The person that hired you - Ms. Susie High Heels - can you leave a box of chocolates on her desk and a hand written thank you card the first time you clean their office? How about movie tickets two months later and a hand written note saying how much you appreciate their business. Make them love you.

That, my friend, is how to dominate this business. Own a building full of clients! Then a block! You could have your entire business in a population of 4 mil - all running within one square mile or less!

This is absolutely entirely possible. But there's a catch. There's ALWAYS a catch. You are going to buy me not one, but TWO rum and cokes on our cruise after you have this up and running.

Great business model. I am seriously thinking of doing this myself...

Then you can add on things, like - rent a decor. Bring in paintings and plants, and swap them out every two months to keep things changed up and interesting. How about small vending machines or a coffee service for their waiting room? You're there anyway! Damn - this is getting expensive man. Now we're up to THREE rum and cokes. And counting.

 

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[Crexty]

Hello Fastlaners,

This is my first post here, and i'm looking for some genuine help. I am selling B2B Office Cleaning services. I have lots of value in what i'm selling (i'm not just pitching cleaning, but cleaning + plenty of features to reduce micromanagement on their part, hygiene testing, etc.) Basically cleaning service on steroids.

I'm not having much problems closing. I can't get through the door though. I'm calling medical offices, chiropractors, massage spas, lawyers, insurance offices, logistic companies, etc. But I'm always being sent to voicemail or having to leave message.

Main Problems :

1. Gatekeeper's always say DM is not available or out of office, and messages never returned.

2. Gatekeepers always say, We already have cleaning or we In-house our cleaning.

3. Gatekeepers saying , we are not interested. BYE.


My script goes as follows:

Hi this is (NAME) with (COMPANY). May I please speak with (DM), Please?

OR (if I don't know the DM name)

Hi this is (NAME) with (COMPANY). Maybe you could help me, I need to speak with whoever is in charge of the office cleaning being done, could you put me through to that person?

I understand that this is not a one shoe fits all question and that i'll need to do plenty of testing. However for those of you who have had success reaching decision makers in similar conditions.

What worked best for you?

What ideas do you guys have that I can test?

What type of companies would you focus on calling if you were selling this product?

 

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[ButGregSaid]

Anyobody? Please Help.. I'm trying.

Hey @Crexty, was going to suggest @Scot's AMA thread that may be helpful to you but I see you already found it - think you might have a better chance jumping into the conversation there since it has quite the following atm - Ask Me Anything - The Beginner's guide to Sales + AMA

Good luck!

 

[Crexty]

Okay volume good.

Out of 100 calls how many appointments do you get?

Also from my experience most medical facilities for business related task you have to go through the office manager. Then they get the owner( possibly doc) involved. Multi step sales process.

Just had a meeting last week with dentist, but I originally had to meet with office manager and wow her first.

FYI I did a in person drop in for that. That may be some to consider as welll. Phone is obv. Faster and cheaper but you can't beat in person drop ins.

Out of calling 100 Dental Clinics.. I believe I got 1 appointment, sometimes none. When i call other types of businesses , like general offices.. i'm able to get 1-3 per 100 calls..

 

[jlwilliams]

But my problem is not selling that to decision makers..

My problem is getting to the decision makers...

gatekeepers never want to hear about what i have to offer, they just want a name and a message usually

Ahh, got it. If I had the magic key to bypass sales prevention managers (aka gate keepers) I'd hook you up, but that I don't got.

I try different times of day. Some owners are there all day, some early and some late. I try the same business at different times and AS MANY TIMES as it takes to get to them. Persistence is the closest thing I know to the magic key.

 

[Doug Smith]

But what do you do if that ask who I am? or what company i am with?

What if they ask me what is the call regarding?

I'll check them out

If they ask, Tell them. Maybe you could lead with your name, company name and reason for the call. If it were me, I would probably say to them It's Doug Smith, with Smith Cleaning and Restoration. The reason for my call is to setup an interactive demo our service.

I don't know how well it work, but what I would do is experiment with different lines and see what works. I think once you get passed a few hundred gatekeepers it will get easier and your script will evolve naturally.

One think I know for sure is make as many calls as you can. The numbers will always be on your side.

 

[Crexty]

If they ask, Tell them. Maybe you could lead with your name, company name and reason for the call. If it were me, I would probably say to them It's Doug Smith, with Smith Cleaning and Restoration. The reason for my call is to setup an interactive demo our service.

I don't know how well it work, but what I would do is experiment with different lines and see what works. I think once you get passed a few hundred gatekeepers it will get easier and your script will evolve naturally.

One think I know for sure is make as many calls as you can. The numbers will always be on your side.

Okay gotcha. I'm going to try a few variations and i'll post what works here best... I'll do 100 calls mon-fri trying different lines each day and see what works best. and at the end i'll make a report including ratios, numbers, and observations i've made

 

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[minivanman]

You've got to realize it's a numbers game. My friend Elena used to make 100 calls in less than 2 hours and she only got an average of 3 appointments a day. So you either need to get serious and do more calls yourself or hire someone to make the calls for you if this business is ever going to grow.

How did you get the customers you have now?

I still don't understand why you gave up the maid business and think you will make as much in the commercial business. It's not even close on the hourly average. I used to hang with hundreds of commercial cleaners in this association I was in many years ago and most of them had money struggles all the time. The few guys that did well.....1 was backed by his wife who made a very nice paycheck from her job and 1 that did all government work. The reason he did well with government work was because he had so many jobs and even though he didn't make that much profit, he still did pretty dang good from quantity. And both of those guys had their own floor crews. But hey.... if you can make it work so you are making great money from it more power to ya, I've just been around it for a LONG time and it is very rare.

 

[Crexty]

You've got to realize it's a numbers game. My friend Elena used to make 100 calls in less than 2 hours and she only got an average of 3 appointments a day. So you either need to get serious and do more calls yourself or hire someone to make the calls for you if this business is ever going to grow.

How did you get the customers you have now?

I still don't understand why you gave up the maid business and think you will make as much in the commercial business. It's not even close on the hourly average. I used to hang with hundreds of commercial cleaners in this association I was in many years ago and most of them had money struggles all the time. The few guys that did well.....1 was backed by his wife who made a very nice paycheck from her job and 1 that did all government work. The reason he did well with government work was because he had so many jobs and even though he didn't make that much profit, he still did pretty dang good from quantity. And both of those guys had their own floor crews. But hey.... if you can make it work so you are making great money from it more power to ya, I've just been around it for a LONG time and it is very rare.

I've gotten the customers I have now from referrals, cold calling, yelp, and other things.

It may be true that cash flow can be an issue but I have other forms of income.

- For bigger accounts like you are thinking $5000+ per month, margins are smaller and hourly rates are lower. In smaller accounts I am able to get away with above $30 per man hour because they love the integration with technology, the precision and detailed work we perform (I pay high and make it clear that I would rather have detailed work than a quick job). There is plenty of business to go around and there are many people I've spoken with who have grown to $5M+ Annually off smaller accounts.

Trust me the money is there, when clients choose the cheaper option over me. Half come back to me after realizing that the quality is ****.

People want the cheapest price, but the cheapest price for what they want.

They will not get what they want for mediocre rates, the ones that understand this have been through the crappy companies and realize that a service like mine is worth more (especially if they like a clean office).

The ones that choose to stay with the fly by night companies because of price.. they can stay. They are the worst type of customers (they want the most for little like you said).

 

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[minivanman]

See, that's what I mean... $30 per man hour. Our average was right at $55. Low side was $30 per man hour and high side was $140 per man hour. And back then I paid $11 an hour to my highest paid girl. We started out at $7.25 and most were at $9-$10. She was with me from start to the end and through 2 other owners (I sold 1 business 3 times). So if you pay a high hourly rate at only $30 per man hour I just don't see where there is much profit in it but far be it for me. Good luck. I hope you stay around and keep us updated. Hell, I'm tempted to have one of my girls call to set up the appointments and go in half with you. I have a bad a$$ girl selling washers and dryers for me, I can imagine how good she can do at other things. But then I bring myself back to earth. lol Keep us updated.

 

[LeoistheSun]

Try direct mail. Theirs a group on Facebook called the charm offensive lead by Jon Buchan. It's it's humor and sticking out. I recommend you do both. Then follow up with calls.

 

[Crexty]

You got me, so if you pay $15 an hour, you have $15 left for profit. If you have workers that work a total of 100 hours per week you make $1500 to put in your bank account. $1500 x 52 = $78,000. Great job. Am I right or did I miss something?

I don't think you missed anything..

that means with 200 employee hours per week, that would be $156,000.

and with 300 employee hours per week, that would be $234,000 (minus a few bigger expenses at that point like a manager, and a supervisor)..

Profit man, profit

 

[itsemdub]

@Crexty it seems like most of the other posts touched on the gatekeeper aspect of the call already, but you will likely never get a Dr/Dentist on the line during the day unless it’s lunch hour. A larger office will have a gatekeeper. Have you tried going direct to the gatekeeper and talking numbers right off the bat? For instance, I’m sure you have a price you’d charge for cleaning services for an office within the Dr office size range. Hit the gatekeeper with that right off the bat and see if it generates any interest. If it doesn’t, pushing for a meeting to attempt to generate a sale will likely be fruitless. I think that most b2b is driven by one thing: price consciousness.

If you’re willing to step outside of cold calling...linking up with the business bankers at your local national/regional banks would be an invaluable step. Most doctors I’ve interacted with take their business bankers recommendations and referrals without question

 

[minivanman]

No no no sir. My labor rate is between 10.50 and 12.50. After taxes, workers comp, equipment and supplies, my cost is roughly 15-16.5/hr after gas and other misc expenses.

I'm just going by what you said. You said you pay well...... $12 an hour is not very well in any area of the US. I paid $11 an hour 15 years ago. And when I asked how much you paid, you said, $15-$16. I'm just sayin..... I've been around a couple of the cleaning blocks and I am actually wearing the t-shirt to prove it. Not near as much money in commercial cleaning as residential and not very much of a profit to be made at all. But we can agree to disagree. Now back to the originally schedule program

So how did the cold calls go and why do you only call 100 or so a week? If that's all you have time to do, hire someone to make the calls for you. Let them call from home and pay them a really good amount when they get you a bid. And $12 is not a good amount. Pay them $25 for each bid they get. I say do this at home because the odds are slim to none that you have a place for them to call from. So you aren't losing anything by giving it a try. How many people did you get to talk to today?

 

[Scuur]

Okay.. Today I tried with this script:

Gatekeeper: Hello, thank you for calling XYZ Company, this is Mary.

CSR: Hello, is Eric available?

They usually ask me what its regarding and I get shut down when i tell them Janitorial Services...

Ugh.. I might speak with 3-4 DM's? out of 100 Calls... No way thats a good rate.

Your making progress. Maybe try and go like Hey is Eric there, this is Mack

 

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[Andy Black]

I’m curious...

Have you tried paid search?

Get in front of people *already* looking for:

• office cleaners/cleaning <location>
• commercial cleaners/cleaning <location>
• Etc?

 

[Crexty]

I’m curious...

Have you tried paid search?

Get in front of people *already* looking for:

• office cleaners/cleaning <location>
• commercial cleaners/cleaning <location>
• Etc?

I get calls and inquiries here and then from my website from SEO and yelp.

I've spoken with plenty of people about PPC, yelp ads, etc. Almost all have said its not worth it.

I am in a large networking group for this industry. Most are growing from refferal, cold calls , door to door, and direct mail (don't have that kind of money to test around with direct mail)

 

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[Crexty]

I thought it was Tim Ferris who mentioned something about timing being important but I can't seem to find it in his book - 4 Hour Workweek... If I come across it I'll let you know but if my memory serves me right (and maybe someone else can weigh in if they've read it) - he mentions that admins have a tendency to arrive right on time (whether that's 8am or 9am) and leave right at 5. The people they work for usually arrive early and leave late so you might have better luck getting past them 30 minutes before the scheduled open time or 30 minutes after the close. Have you tried this? If you do, let me know how it works.. I'll be curious.

I'll give this a shot! Maybe maybe monday or tuesday!

 

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[Crexty]

Mic drop right

Thanks for the valuable input. Im sure that is going to help me learn more about cold calling




Ahhhhh

 

[thecocopod]

This is what I do for a living. First of all, you get about 95% nos for your calls. You have to keep that in mind. I make about 25 calls an hour and I'm lucky if I get one good lead an hour. I have another client that I'm working for that does partner recruiting for law firms. I only get 1 lead for about every 300 calls. It's not an easy business. I do business consulting too, but on hear I'll do it for free. We have to help each other out.

Script. This is _______. I'm calling from name of business. I was hoping you could help me. (People like to help.) I'm looking for the office manager. If they don't have one, ask again... who they think the best person to start with is after telling them briefly why your calling. (You have to remember all of these people ALREADY have cleaning people.)

When you get the right person. Start that script again, but add what you do in a sentence or two and go from there. People get bored FAST.

Never ask for the owner. Doc offices of any kind are the absolute worst to try to get someone. Never leave a message. When they give you the voice mail, hang up after the first ring. Never send emails out first. Keep the ball in your court. Always be very professional.

Any more questions, let me know. See if that helps.

 

[thecocopod]

Hey Crexty great thread;

I have a doubt: of those 20 emails you got, about how many are their DMs' personal email vs their general contact email (like info@, contact@, hello@, etc.)?

Yep! Most people give spam emails out. I know I do.

 

[thecocopod]

What would you scr


Do you cold call for any Janitorial companies?

So my script is like this for the decision makers..

Hey ______, is this a bad time to talk?

This is Chris Salazar, calling on behalf of ____.

We provide detail oriented office cleaning for facilities valley wide.

Typically, when I talk to companies like yours I am finding that they are having 1 of 3 issues with their current cleaning company.

1. The Cleaners Are Being Inconsistent
   
   
2. Cleaning Company is Unreliable
   
   
3. They are unresponsive and don’t attend to your problems

Now, I don't know too much about your business or what you are doing for cleaning, have you experienced any issues like this?



What would you do to make that better?

I feel like I know you. Perhaps worked for you before on eLance or Upwork? I have worked calling janitorial companies. First, never say "hey". Never ask if they are busy. Everyone is busy. You're calling them at work in most cases.

The script is good besides that. Don't give up. B@B is incredibly tough. You have to have a thick skin and be persistent.

 

[Five Star]

Quit cold calling - Its a waste of time.

Lol, no sugar coating here @FlipFlops

 

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[minivanman]

FlipFlop = one of my new favorite people.

 

[Carol Jones]

Wonderful advice @Real Deal Denver!

@Crexty is fortunate to have so many forum members prepared to help him.

This free flow of information wouldn't happen on other forums. ~Carol❤