Contacting prospective clients

[jen]

Hello,

We're promoting our newest site www.theparentingcard.co.uk. If anyone has some great tip/advice on how to contact companies/businesses please let us know.

Do you contact them by phone then send brochure etc.. or send them brochure at first, what result have you achieved?

We've decided to send out flyer to companies then follow up with call so that way they know what the call is about, if we were to call them at first most of the time it will be ignored as it will be another of those annoying sales call.

Or we get our sales people to call them and give them details on the phone and hopefully would visit our website but it's unlikely they will as they would have forgotten the address as soon as they put the phone down. :(

We're just looking at different ways and the most cost effective too to market our site and get more companies on board.

Many thanks x

[WakingDragon]

It depends on your target audience, patience and budget of course, but we have been working with a good little new biz company that have a pretty effective (if labour intensive) strategy.

Will PM ya.

[lorraine1]

Dear Wakingdragon,

I read your reply to Jen with interest as I am facing the same dilemma. :oops: :roll: Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Lorraine.

[WakingDragon]

Hi Lorraine - no problem. What is your line of business? Who are you contacting? I am not a sales expert but I have seen what worked for us and am happy to divulge if it is relevant to you.

[Sarah-Ink Promotions]

Im not the greatest cold call type sales person to be honest but I always ring and find out the contact name, see if I can get to speak to them (doesnt happen often) and then send a brochure, then I ring a few days later to check they got it etc.. the second time I ring I know the person and have a reason to call (to check on the brochure) so get through 99% of the time

Hope thats been of some use! :)

[telemax]

In my experience, it's best to make the call first, you allways get through to some people if you call enough of them.

When someone is interested, then either send them a brochure or better still make an appointment to meet them. They will remember you but not your brochure.

But above all keep following up. In the nicest way always have an excuse to call them back every couple of weeks, and always make an "appointment" to call them back.

This way you build relationships with companies, the average I find is 5 or 6 contacts before people buy from me.

I hope this helps

Regards

Jonathan

[WakingDragon]

Hey Lorraine,

Sarah and Jon's approach is definitely what worked for me in terms of physical activity.

But, as I am sure they will agree, it is about much more than just calling. There needs to be a responsive marketing element to dovetail with the sales or all the calls in the world will not work.

We are using a constantly evolving and changing marketing approach to compliment and support the sales activity. Every week we change stuff in relation to the feedback and opportunities we have seen. We are even developing new products and services at the rate of about 1 per week!

Our agency is very good as they have a strong marketing and new biz background with blue chips. That means lots of contacts and the ability to understand how potential clients are responding (so they can feedback to us and together we can adjust strategy). I think it is too difficult to do all this yourself and it is better to outsource the calling and ideally the postal/email fulfillment too. But you need a company who can talk inteligently and be flexible and agile.

Without more of an idea on what your business is or who you are trying to contact it is difficult to offer more.

[lorraine1]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

Jen, please accept my apolgies for hijacking your post :oops: Good luck with your venture :)

[Bizgifts]

If I'm cold calling to prospective local clients my aim to to get an appointment, which is all I ask for. So I establish if there is an need or potential need for what I offer and then say something like ' I'm in the abc area on Tuesday afternoon, would it be ok if I drop by at 3.30'

I generate far more business that way, than asking if I can send a brochure out, my rep has it down to a tee.

Mark