I would rather poke my eyes out with a burnt stick than have to pick up the phone to try to sell something to someone I have never spoken to or met before.
Yet we are often told that cold calling is the only way to grow our business and that it’s a numbers game. For example, if you make 100 calls you may, if you’re really lucky, get 10 people to agree to see you/talk further and then maybe get two clients at the end of it. For some, these are acceptable odds, but they completely paralyse me.
Some people are brilliant at it and even if they don’t like doing it, they will pick up the phone and make those calls. These people are much more successful than me and deservedly so.
But I decided that if I had to do something that made me feel sick with nerves and took me two hours to wind up the courage to do it, I shouldn’t do it and if that meant my business would fail, then so be it.
I am perfectly happy to talk to someone who is interested in my services, I just don’t like the prospecting bit and trying to persuade someone that they might well be interested in my services.
This has meant I have had to find other ways to get business with the result it has taken me a lot longer to grow my business…
What are those other ways? Here are some examples of ways to generate interest and leads without the dreaded cold calling.
Have a tip-top social media profile
Know where your ideal clients go to consume content online and make sure you are highly visible there. Because my business is B2B, LinkedIn is my main profile, but for others, it may be Facebook, Twitter or Instagram (or wherever the cool people hang out these days – I’m not one of the cool people…).
Make sure your social media profile reflects not only your expertise but also how you help your clients.
Post regularly demonstrating your expertise and engage with other people.
Find groups where your ideal customer hangs out and give value on other people’s posts (without overtly selling – because it’s simply not cricket for you to try and sell the same services as the person who wrote the post!).
Create a lead magnet
Something of value that encourages people to give you their email address so you can start ‘nurturing’ them through your emailing system.
This could be a set of handy hints or a useful survey with feedback that helps them implement something now.
Speaking/presenting opportunities
Demonstrate your expertise by offering to do talks at networking meetings or conferences. If you have an offer at the end of it all, so much the better e.g. you’ll give free 15 minute sessions to the first five people who give you their business card, or a discount off a workshop you are running.
Have a documented sales process
So that when you do get a warm lead or the opportunity to speak to people you have a well-structured process and methodology for selling.
Hint – it’s about understanding their challenges and issues and matching your offering to those, not giving them chapter and verse on your company and services.
I highly recommend the Sandler technique – HubSpot Academy have free sales courses which are based on these techniques.
Encourage referrals
Happy clients are the best source of new business. Have a referral strategy to help your clients point you in the right direction of potential new clients.
There are lots of other ways too, for example, blogging, doing regular ‘lives’, wearing a sandwich board on the high street. It’s about finding what works best for you and accepting that your business is likely to grow at a slower rate.
Or, don’t be like me and get over yourself! Apparently, it gets easier to do and less soul-destroying if you do it regularly.