So you have a great business idea, and is loving the new freedom in your life. But how to find new customers? If your business sells to other businesses, you are likely needing to make the dreaded ‘cold call’. In our extensive experience of helping a variety of businesses, the toughest hurdle for any business person is transforming themselves into sales people and having the courage to make ‘cold calls’. For those unfamiliar with this term, cold calling means telephoning a business prospect who doesn’t know you to either make an appointment to meet them or sell them something over the telephone. Failure rate is high as people can become annoyed at your call and slam the phone down on you.
But, there are simple ways to increase your chance of success, and that is to RESEARCH your prospects before calling them. Not just researching the person, but also their company and wherever possible, understand their current needs. It is not that hard to find out information about your prospect, as the internet has made so much information available at our fingertips. In fact, if you cold call without knowing anything about your prospects, that is sheer laziness.
Here are Kudos-PA’s tips on where you can research your prospects before making that successful cold call to make an appointment.
1. Google the Prospect
You can easily type your prospect’s name into google search to find out their contact details, job titles, location and much more.
2. Google the Company
If you type the prospect’s company name into google search, you can also find any old or new press releases about them. Things to look out for are: any new team members joining, new products, new developments in the company?
3. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the best network to research your prospect. You can read about their work history, their current role/responsibilities, shared connections, groups they have joined and also their activity on LinkedIn. This will give you an insight into their business concerns or what they are looking for. This is really useful information when you are on the telephone or emailing the prospect, it shows that you have done some homework.
4. Company’s Press and Media Releases Page
Visit the company’s official website and scroll through recent press releases and see if anything major has been announced such as leadership changes, product releases, financial statements, events, or new customers.
5. Blogs
Blogs are a great way to gain insight into your prospects concerns and also their company developments. Take the time to read their blog to fully understand current developments, as it will also act as a discussion point during your conversation with them.
6. Twitter Account
Check your prospect and their company twitter account. See what they post about, what they retweet. Think about what kind of content they have been promoting and this will help you to present yourself in a way to address their needs.
As you can see, the secret to a successful call to your prospect is to research them first…..know thy prospect! Then be patient, and call them, but don’t expect them to say yes straight away, be prepared to try more than once to get to them. If you back yourself up with good research, and tenacity, you will eventually succeed!
If you need any help with business support, researching your prospects, give us a call. Our team at Kudos PA offers virtual assistance in secretarial services, administration, marketing, blogging, research, invoicing and so much more. We love business, and want to support you to be an entrepreneur! Give us a call if you need any help or just want to chat on 07875108255.
