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Thread: cold calling tips

  1. #31
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    90% of the 325 calls ive made so far are just answering machines.......the most important 1 out of the 325 was the only one to call back!!!...they are the premier home builder...i didnt leave my standard 'basic' msg for him...i talked about me and the 3 large homes i currently have in progress...he said he was moving me off his B list onto his A list...which means i will get to bid on his projects now....11,000 sq foot house is his next project...ive moved into the 6,500 sq foot range w/o any issues, but now im moving into a house which will take 300+ hours of plumbing....it would be a dream come true...the problem will be them awarding it to me w/o any employees.....thats been my problem in the past moving up into this level of house....its probably not realistic for a 1 man shop to handle a project like this AND do his normal work also....if i win it i probably will hire

    cold calling over all isnt getting me any immediate results, but its helping me clean up my contact list and getting my name out there more....im normally against it, but in my case i think it was very positive for me

  2. #32

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    And it's an interesting take on cold calling. You had down time. Could your time have been better spent? - I don't know. You converted a lead lead into a real prospect! You cleaned up your contact list.

    I think this is an example for all the people who say it's a waste of time!

  3. #33
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    Congrats on all of the new business, huggytree! How much time do you estimate you spent making these calls?

  4. #34
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    Thanks for sharing the process with us. It's useful to hear how real world scenarios play out. In this case it sounds like the calling was a good thing, as it brought in at least one potentially big fish and it cleaned out your contact list.

  5. #35
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    i still have 200ish companies to go through...im doing it when i have free time....my ear actually hurt last week from 2 days straight...no blisters though

    ive probably spent 12 hours so far....it wouldnt seem like it would take that long, but when you actually get someone on the phone thats 10-15 mins spent talking

    if i could get every builder on the phone in person i feel that id be extremely successful, but in construction almost no one answers their phone

    i had another call from a brand new remodeler today also...i ran over and gave him a bid 2 hours later....he's small time and my guess is he'll be looking for a 1/2 price side job type plumber....i treated him as a honest/potential client though and gave him an honest price....we will see...my gut tells me he's a good customer, its just going to be a pricing issue

    i have a list of 7 good possibilities on paper that i was planning on contacting monthly....he was one of those 7

    i am going to a remodeler council meeting tomorrow morning and may see some of the people i left msg's for and also a remodeler industry dinner meeting 2 nights from now..........i used to be more pushy at these meetings, but had given up to some degree over the years...i plan on being more aggressive again

    my current customer list is dwindling over 2011 and i hadnt noticed until i looked at it last week...1/2 my customers havent brought me work in 8 months or more..some may have moved on, but more likely they arent working.....i need to create some new customers and gear up for winter

    cold calling seems to work better than i remembered....possibly because my company has been around for 5 years and ive send 15+ fliers to everyone over those 5 years....im legit now in their eyes and worth talking too....thats just my guess anyways

  6. #36
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    You are getting these good results because this isn't cold calling - it's warm calling. This is exactly how the telephone should be used for marketing (if it is going to be used at all.) And you have done it well.

  7. #37
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    just signed that 3rd new builder tonight....3 new builders in 4 business days...a new record

  8. #38
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    my cold calling is complete...finally

    started with 725 builders in 2008....after going through the list its now down to 425 for 2011...300 builders have gone under....shocking!!!

    over 40% gone

    i havent picked up any more new business, but got to bid on (2) more builders jobs...so the possibility of 2 more new customers is there....

    now i have a list of 5 warm leads that said to call back next month...

    now what??????? ive got a few days a week of work now, but am still sitting 2-3 days a week doing nothing...my phone doesnt ring anymore...typically i still got a call or 2 during my slow periods...this time its gone 20 days with barely a call and no homeowner jobs....friends in the industry are doing worse...at least i have future work

    the biggest problem with my cold calls is that the majority arent home...its almost all answering machines.

  9. #39

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    I hope you are maintaining records (I'm sure you are) on the one's that were still in business but you couldn't get in touch with. You need to prioritize them and figure out a way to get in touch with them...

  10. #40
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    most never will answer their phone

    there are some ive called 10x over the years and never got a person...most are that way

    contractors are horrible when it comes to answering their phones....thats part of my success...i DO answer

    when i hired a chimney repair person i called 6 shops....only 1 ever called back and showed up...he got the job (and did a 1/2 assed job)

    this is the nature of the beast....the large companies have a secretaries, but they wont let me get to the person i want....typically they say 'let me see if he's in'...1 min later 'sorry he's out...would you like his voice mail'.....they dont want to be bothered and they are blowing me off.....its very hard to get to the guy you need to get to....i can tell most of them dont want to talk to me....

    some send me a plan to bid on...just to check out pricing...never intending to use me....i figured thats what i had today with the (2) jobs i bid on....when i called back to ask questions they didnt even answer me....they wouldnt call back....i just guessed on a few things and sent the bid....i know the bid isnt accurate, but its a bid........

    out of the 425 on my list i probably talked to 50-75 of them.....thats the highest # ive ever gotten...it shows the despiration out there and how slow they are...i caught alot of them at home.......some said 'i thought you had a project for me!'

    i will spend all day tomorrow writing addresses on envelopes and mailing out fliers to about 300 of them......i also need to design a few more new fliers for next year....im considering doing fliers monthly through winter...typically i dont bother since its such a slow time

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