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12 Handy Tips for Generating Leads through Cold-Calling
...... or make it hard for them to get off the phone. Tell them what you do and that you'd like to send them an email with a link to your website with samples and testimonials (or with an attachment containing samples), then leave them to it.7) Follow up with an email If you have permission, always send a follow-up email ' and do so immediately. Be specific in your subject line. (TIP FOR COPYWRITERS: If you're an advertising copywriter or website copywriter, use the words "advertising copywriting" or 'website copywriting' in the subject. Most people don't get many emails with this in the subject line, so it'll be distinctive and probably won't be snuffed by their spam filter if they have one.) Address the email to them (e.g. "Hi Joe"), keep the email short 'n sweet. Include only the essential info, make it easy to read and conversational, and bold the important words or phrases as they'll probably only skim it. Include a link to your website, reference the day and date you talked on the phone (and thank them for that time), mention any names you learnt (e.g. receptionist's name, especially if the receptionist gave you an email address but you didn't actually get to speak to the decision maker), tell them that you'd like to follow up in a few weeks (assuming the conversation indicated that this would be a good idea).
8) Follow up with another call If the lead looks promising, make sure you follow up. And when you do, always mention the day and date of the original call, as well as the fact that you sent an email. Give a quick summary of who you are and what you do, and say that you're just calling to make sure they got the email. Most of the time, you'll find the lead will talk to you about your services, if only to remind themselves of what you do! 9) Don't expect to make too many calls On a really good day, I've made 80 cold calls. Most days, though, you should be very pleased to average around 40. You'll spend a lot of time playing telephone tag. 10) Don't leave message Unless you absolutely have to (or you've just about given up on the lead), don't leave messages. Most people have trouble returning phone calls from people they know and like; returning phone calls from someone who's trying to sell them something isn't high on their list of priorities. 11) Don't expect to qualify too many leads Depending on your business, if you get one good lead a day, you're probably doing very well. 12) Don't expect immediate conversion Unfortunately, most leads take a long time to come to fruition (up to 2 years). So you have to be prepared to be patient. Good luck and happy calling! Content, Content, ContentA lot has been written and said in Internet marketing circles recently about the importance of 'good ..... ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Glenn Murray is an advertising copywriter and website copywriter and heads copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn@divinewrite.com. Visit http://www.divinewrite.com
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