Bold calling is a fantastic, effective and low cost lead generation strategy that is vastly under-utilised by small B2B businesses.
Probably not used as much as it should be due to most people’s negative associations with cold calling.
Not many people like to make cold calls, and not many people like to receive cold calls.
However, with the right strategy for you in your business, bold calling can work for anyone.
Bold calling may be outside of some people’s comfort zones – good! You need to move out of your comfort zone in order to grow, otherwise you’ll always get what you’ve always got.
Scripts are a fantastic way to make it easier, and of course practice makes perfect. I promise you, the second time you go bold calling, it will be so much easier than the first.
And at the same time, you’re going to be generating some good quality leads for your business!
Where to begin?
As with all marketing strategies, it’s important to start with the same principal – you need to decide who it is you want to work with.
The next step is to understand where you can find them in their largest concentration – with bold calling, its literally finding out their location so you can start meeting them face to face
This might seem a bit threatening, but there are ways to make it seem less salesy and more natural, because no one likes being sold to.
Example
Target: In my ventilation business, we worked with lots of letting agents. Our solutions solved condensation and mould problems in homes, and letting agents had the keys to lots of properties!
Location: Most letting agents are based on the high street, and tend to be close together, so it was ideal to drop in to potential clients when visiting existing ones.
Strategy: When walking into letting agents, we just wanted to start with a casual conversation to start the process of getting to know them, and for them to get to know us.
It’s always best to have a value adding proposition when introducing yourself. In this example, it was a free survey for any properties suffering from condensation & mould.
Script: The opening script was always along the lines of:
“Hi, I was just passing on the way to see another letting agent who is one of our clients, and I figured that as we’re not working with you right now, I’d come and introduce ourselves, see if there’s anything we may or may not be able to help you with.”
Objective: The aim of these walk -ins was not about making a sale right now. They weren’t expecting you, that can’t be an objective. It was simply an introduction, a bit of research, see if you can find out who the decision maker is, if they’re working with a competitor, if there’s even a demand for your product or service!
Gatekeeper
The only reason people may respond unfavourably to bold calling is if they feel threatened, you’re wasting their time, or they’re being sold to.
The first person you usually speak with is the gatekeeper, who’s responsibility it is to make sure you don’t waste anybody’s time.
So you need to make it clear that you’re not here to do that.
Address that, create rapport with the gatekeeper and show empathy.
A great line for your script would be:
“Normally I’d speak with the business owner, but I don’t want to waste anybody’s time, would it be ok if I told you why I’m here, and you could tell me if that would be of interest?”
Of course the gatekeeper is going to say yes.
This gives you opportunity to highlight the benefits you offer – saving time, making more money etc.
Objectives
Always have three objectives to ask for when bold calling. The first objective should be about progressing the sales process; a meeting, phone call, survey etc. The second objective should be about following up at another time, and the third is an opportunity to collect some information or leave your own behind. Using my ventilation business as an example again:
1 – Would the maintenance manager be available for a quick chat?
2 – Would it be ok to take their details to stay in touch, let them know a bit more about how we can help? etc.
3 – Would it be ok to leave a business card for them?
The reason you should have three objectives, is that the gatekeeper probably won’t say no three times. This gives you an opening to follow up with this business again at a later date.
Principles
- Make it non threatening
- Appreciate the role of the gatekeeper
- Promote the benefits
- Have a process
Although you may find it outside of your comfort zone, I can guarantee you that Bold Calling is lot less awkward than cold calling. People are a lot less inclined to be rude face to face
And as with most marketing strategies, you will find your own way to make it work for you.
The first step is taking ACTION!
For more advice on creating a business that works without you, visit The 7 Day Weekend YouTube channel or come to one of my upcoming workshops.
