How to approach big companies?

[Ant84]

I'm hoping someone can give me a few pointers to approaching large firms in the hope of making sales? Just as a bit of background information, we supply cleaning services on new build constructions, whether it's for residential or commercial clients.

We've spent the last year or so attempting to increase our exposure to the general public as that's where we were sorely lacking in marketing terms. However, we've now decided that we need to start contacting national companies such as the major housebuilding firms (Barratt, Persimmon etc) as they're the ones that usually give you repeat business. What would be the best plan of attack to get in touch with these companies?

I'm guessing most people hate cold calls as much as I do, so I haven't looked at that so far. I was thinking that maybe sending in our information with a covering letter and business card to the relevant individuals might be worthwhile, but I wanted to check here first to see which the best method would be.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Cheers.

 

[Hungry Marketing]

in the past I have done a lot of cold calling for cleaning company's and found that it's a great way to get your foot in the door at least.
I'd have the goal of securing a face to face sales meeting, but in the worst case scenario I would have gathered all the info needed for future communication, know when the prospect is next reviewing their cleaning arrangement etc as well as gaining email addresses and sending out info to the right person instead of wasting money sending "brochures" to everyone.
cold calling really isn't as bad as people make it out to be, just have confidence in what you say, try have a conversation instead of shouting a "sales script" down the phone.

 

[bizwebman]

We have found a combination of different tactics work depending on who the target customer is.

When it comes to dealing with the bigger companies it is best to do your homework and find out the names of the individuals you need to deal with. This can be achieved by checking out the companies web presence or calling the company without divulging who you are and asking the receptionist the name of the person in charge of the department you will be contacting.

Then put the phone down and write a hand written letter addressed to that person explaining who you are and what your company provides - plus why they should be using you when the contract is up for renewal. This may sound very non corporate IT IS and that is why your letter is likely to be opened and read rather than ending up in the bin.

Another variation on this same idea is to use lumpy mail ie mail with something in it that will almost force the recipient to open it to find out what is inside. The lumpy part could be anything from one of those foam style branded stress toys to something similar that is cheap and light to package.

These ideas are nothing new but they are still used today because they work.

Good luck
Grahame

 

[kate1]

Ive done cold calling also for cleaning contractors, best way in my opinion. Like Hungry Horse says, also good for gleaning information, renewal dates etc.

 

[hallli01]

I use cold calling to help market my business and although it can be tough at times it does work for me.

I think the idea of posting a stress toy etc is brilliant, you just need to ensure you target the correct person.

I can supply mailing lists, telephone numbers and email addresses if you do decide you would need them, however I think that emailing is definatly not a very good idea!

Best of Luck

Linzi

 

[Improvesaleswithyou]

The main you need to do, and I would recommend doing this over the phone, sending out marketing flyers is a waste of money, is work out a short pitch which gives two or three reasons why your other customers use you and what benefits they received.

Dont ring up and ask they want a new cleaning contract, because it is a closed question and can be answered by a simple no.

Ask things like "what is the major delay factor in getting new properties ready for sale?" or "what areas of final build are you looking to improve?".

Try and work out some real Pounds savings that your current customers have made or major time improvements, and quote them "we have saved £100,000 for customer etc in the last year I would be delighted to meet up and explain how we did this"

If you find yourself getting cut short on calls then you need more of a specific reason for them to want to hear what you have to say.

Hope this helps.
Gary

 

[writecombination]

Be persistent and don't expect quick results.

You might get lucky, but more likely you need to stay on the case for months, perhaps years.

I know of several small firms who've won contracts with household name companies. They chose their targets, researched them, and began making approaches. It took a long time to secure a deal, but the rewards can make it worth waiting for.

Andrew