Hey everyone, I'm new to sales completely. I received my degree in Mass Media but never thought of sales as a career. I kind of fell into this job 2months ago, Im excited and dont want to fail. Ive had some training at a different station in a different city within my company. Here in my city I'm the only sales person for our 2 stations. My sales manager works from out of town, Im flying solo and wondering is cold calling the way to go or just dropping in on businesses randomly? Thanks!
Both! Sometimes you will find owners will not pick up the phone when they see their caller id. Physically going in, does not allow them to ignore you. If they do anser, then calling is a good way to set a meeting where the expectation is set that you are looking to learn more about their business and marketing goals. Some people do not like to be caught off guard.
Either way on cold calls or face to face, if the owner is not in, find out when they are and what their names are. That way you do not waste time going in or calling on times they are never in.
Good luck!!
I would always try and contact the client first, either by phone, email or whatever. Give them a chance to ignore you for a short time... 
Following that, I might walk into the store unannounced, but I would NOT take a briefcase or any presentation materials. Carry only a notebook and pen to make notes. It's research... a fact-finding mission. After all, you can't propose a marketing solution without some information about who they are and what they want to accomplish. If this were medicine, prescribing treatment without any sort of examination or diagnosis would be malpractice. Same in advertising.
Don't ask for the owner. Just wonder through the store making notes about what you see...brand names, customer ages, etc. If anyone asks what you're doing, tell them the truth: "I work for WXYZ Radio and before I can recommend our station or an advertising schedule, I felt I needed to know more about you and I haven't had much luck getting through to the owner on the phone." Feel free to strike up a non-specific conversation with staff or customers (why did you choose this store? what is it you like about this store? why do you like working here? etc.)
That might be enough for the owner to come out of their office to meet this person who is only here to LEARN, not to SELL.
Even if that doesn't happen, you can now leave a new message or send an email that refers to the fact that you've already visited the store, talked to some employees, talked to some customers, etc. and just have a few more questions before you can recommend a schedule and a creative approach.
This will help elevate you above all those other salespeople who just keep leaving messages...
Good luck!
You will have to do a lot of "sorting" at first, meaning making lots of calls. Eventually the true prospects will become more obvious, and hopefully your customers. Be persistant and don't give up!
Great question Dwayne and one all sales professionals face. I will guess that you will receive and array of opinions with this question. I sold very successfully for 13 years and I never once cold called. Here is my reasoning. If I wanted to connect with a business and if I was going to take my time to go there and meet with them, I wanted that person to be ready to meet with me. I don't like unexpected interruptions in my day and I did not meet any business owners that did either.
Even when there was a scheduled meeting, I'd call ahead of time asking if the meeting time still worked for them. Things come up and their days and schedules may change. You want that persons attention and focus. When something else is distracting them you are not going to have a successful and productive meeting.
It may take longer to get a meeting or meetings might get changed but when you do meet, it will be more productive for you and them.
Cold calling is "dropping in" and is okay.... but with a singular purpose Dwayne....... gain an appointment and provide relevant information as to why the business owner should be looking forward to meeting with you. Remember you are interrupting his/her day; do not launch into a sales pitch!! You know nothing about his/her business and what you would need to accomplish with a radio marketing camapign.
You will also need to get very good at using the phone to set appointments for yourself to meet with prospect clients. I dont know the size of your market and more importantly what radio competitors you may have in your market. How has radio been sold successfully in your market before your parachute landing into it?
Before you do anything though.... especially if you are going to make your first sale.... (which is setting an appointment by phone)...do your homework. Business type, competitors, your preception of the product and service [ they ] are supplying. Never Assume anything.... despite the pre- call homework you may have done; don't think that you know what he/she nees to do. All you've done by prepping, is prepare yourself to be in a position to ask "Great Questions," Dwayne.
Great questions speak volumes about how much you genuinely want to help a business grow.
One last point ( of many I could run through) .. the business owner doesn't give a damn about wattage, format, who knows who, who you are; until you have made your stations ability to grow their business "relevant" in THEIR EYES ONLY.
What "you think," is irrelevant until you've earned the right to push your relevance as a sustainable resource to them.... and be concious of when you may use the "I think," words or thoughts.
Okay ... one last thing ( really) never... ever ... state that you want to meet with them to "Learn about their business"
They aren't teachers, nor do they want to take time out of their day to teach somebody about their business when the "whats in it for me "hasn't even been made clear to the prospect.
Slow down , prep, ask great questions and always be providing a relevant benefit in nurturing a realtionship between their business and your audience; that's the only realtionship that they care about; it;s all abouit profit.So how are you going to tackle all that? A; In a smart way, and don't rush 'in where all other nedia reps probably have failed..... you know better.
Cheers mate and ask yourself this question"What you are doing right at this second... is it making you money? If it;s not... your doing the wrong thing.
You should also do all your presentations in PowerPoint on lap top... and print out the presentation as a leave behind. Anything that you can do create a visual element to the "pitch"is extremely helpful! It also creates a "tangible"element to the "what they are getting for their Dough,"feeling. Always have a spec peice of creative done as well... it's a game changer man.
Sell the creative.... it's the only thing that will make a positive difference to his sales , revenues, profits and marketshare.
Make sure the creative is awesome!! If you don't know how to create effective, winning ads ,, find somebody that can. If you have a copy writer that can't do either .. you migh want to consider using an out of market production house. It is surprisingly affordable... seriously. You'll become a creative genius in their eyes; and they'll gain respect fior what you bring to them.
D
I've been in sales for nearly twenty years, but on my first rodeo in radio sales I made many "cold calls"! Usually, I would just drop in and introduce myself and leave them with a business card. I never tried to sell anything on my first call ~ simply an introduction. Building relationships is the key!
Dwayne:
I feel that we have become a cadre of Relationship Builders. I personally do NOT want a relationship with ANY of my customers. I want to be the go-to guy to get things done, INCLUDING but not limited to purchasing advertising or giving marketing advice.
Here is what a "Cold Call" says to me: "Hi I had nothing better to do right now so I thought I would suck some time from you so I can tell my sales manager I am seeing prospects".
To save you a lot of reading, and me a lot of typing here is a recent video on Cold Calling, which are MY OPINIONS on Cold Calling: http://youtu.be/a5p7blBIaUA
Ditto.............. absolute ditto............
Building relationships ... Or "trust" ~ whatever you want to call it! There are so many sales reps walking through the door of a perspective client these days; relationship building seems to set one rep apart from the many others. By building a relationship (trust) with a client reflects loyalty!! I just moved into a new market and perhaps I shouldn't refer to it as a "cold call" rather an introduction. After leaving an area that I've lived in all of my life it was simple to just pick up the phone and call most of my clients for an appointment because they knew me and knew I would give them good marketing advice... Moving into a new market & not knowing a single soul ~ getting an appointment without introducing myself first didn't seem likely! It's working so far but others input is always helpful:)
Awesome advice:)
and that's just for starters Dita ... thanks though...
I keep singing this song. I don't know if anyone is listening. Meet clients on neutral ground. Church, Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, Rotary. Meet them, get to know them and let them get to know you. When they ask what you do, tell the truth. You sell radio advertising. And you'd love to come by some time to talk about it. "Not here at the event." It's a kind of take-away sell. Tell them you'll come by next week and talk to them.
Now the guy from the chamber lunch is coming over to help them. And your off.
You are very welcome:) Thanks for sharing!!
Reply by Nancy Mescon on the RSC Facebook page:
If you have a reason to call on a business then just do it! When I first started in sales, I was thrown into it too! I was afraid to make a cold-call. The older I got the easier they become. But have a solid reason why you are calling them. And Don't Be Afraid...You have Nothing to Lose! Good Luck Cold Call Cowboy!
This was very helpful, thank you and to everyone with advice. Like you stated, preparation is a big part of what try to do. And luckily for me researching the businesses its kind of what I like to do most. I attempt to learn as much about the business before i make that call or stop by. Just from trying multiple strategies on a trial and error bases, the more i prep the more confident i felt talking to the decision makers. It may decrease the actual number of businesses i prospected for the day but the quality of the contact I made was better.
Wow! a mouth full...Great info
A cold call is any kind of call the client is not expecting. A lot of cold calling is done in order to get an appointment. In smaller markets there is a lot of "dropping in" type calls. Either way, it is a grind and unless you have thick skin you are going to hate the rejection. While we will never get completely away from cold calling, let me ask this. Would you rather make a cold call or a warm call?
Good luck! This is a great career choice if you can make it through the first year.
Alan Risener
Greenville, SC
at February 24, 2024 3:49 PM PST
