Surface Ripples

Calling "Cold"

Our business was recently visited by an advertising agency, (at least I think that’s what they were).  The young man came in and introduced himself and proceeded to try to “sell” his business’ product to us.

His interest had been prompted by an advertisement on Instagram for a temporary member of staff to handle our Office Admin and Social Media to cover for the regular person who was going off on maternity leave.  

I have to credit him for spotting the advert and for thinking that this could be converted into an opportunity for his newly started business.  This showed creative thinking and he had already signed up 2-3 well-known customers in the area.  Not bad going…

What became clear was that he hadn’t really researched our business.  He had:

• Not asked for an appointment.
• Viewed only our Instagram page, but not our website.
• Not identified who might be the “right” person to meet with.
• Not identified where he might be able to add value to our business.
• Not dressed appropriately for the first meeting with a new customer.  

In all, his approach could have been better.

In other words, he was “calling cold”.  When “cold calling”, the key is preparation.  The business’ owners or managers are giving up time that could be spent on growing or running their business to meet us, so we need to show respect for that sacrifice and prove that it was a good investment.  We may have the best product in the world, but if we can’t show them why it’s relevant to them (and quickly), then we’ve wasted their time. 

If they understand why or how we can add value, they’ll invest more time.  If they don’t, we’ll be (politely) shown the door.  

The key is to take the least amount of time to show we can add the maximum value.  We need to know the:

• Business
• People
• Customers
• Product
• Market
• Competition
• Weaknesses of the business and competition

That means research.  A client doesn’t want to spend time teaching you their business from A-Z.  

If we’ve never visited the client at their premises before, a smarter dress code is appropriate until we know the client better.  It shows respect.  Different industries have different styles (Facebook and IT, for example, pioneered the “jeans and hoodie” look), but until we see the environment, smarter is safer.  I found as a lending banker that it’s easy to remove one’s tie and jacket if the clients wear shirt and trousers only as their “office dress”.  

Our visitor was in jeans, t-shirt and trainers (not that we wear business suits and ties, or expect others to) but still, it suggested a casualness with which I personally wasn’t comfortable at our first meeting.

If we’ve done our research properly and can show we can add real value, we have credibility.  The client will be far more likely to let us give a formal presentation or proposal – the second step in winning new business.  

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

Labels: Customer Care, Selling, Strategy

posted by William Martin @ 14:03