Cold Calling ParanoiaSales Report

I usually don’t respond to negative emails so if you’ve got any ideas of sending me some zingers you can just forget it.  But this East-Coaster was hilarious. He’ll remain un-named to protect the innocent and his remarks weren’t really as harsh as his quote suggests.

He writes; “What the hell’s a guy from Mizzoury gonna tell me about tow trucks, do they even have paved roads there?”

Ok just relax you’re gonna give yourself an aneurism.

Listen; A long time ago, over 200 years, there was this guy who worked out a deal with a bunch of other guys from France.  It was kind of a Big Deal… he got millions of acres of real estate at an unbelievably low price.  This guy’s name was Thomas Jefferson and they called it the Louisiana Purchase, and this helped to usher in westward expansion—Of course we have paved roads.

Come on now, I don’t assume every guy who lives in New Jersey is named Anthony…(Pronounced– An-ta-nee)

Read a book, take a road trip, expand your horizons.

And to answer your question as to what you can learn from me; My devious little plan… (imagine me rubbing my hands together mad scientist style)

My plan is to give you the right ingredients to properly market your services …to help you get more business

…So you can get more paying gigs

…So you’ll keep- coming- back- for- more.

Ha, ha, he, he, ha,

But I go on…

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Here’s what TTB all about:

 

But what I like to talk about most is the psychology behind the business of getting and keeping customers… marketing.  (And every action you take or fail to take is marketing)

Did you know that most customers don’t even know the name of a towing business in their area?  Sure they can tell you the names of the ones on television but unless they’ve recently been exposed to a towing service or they’re brother-in-law owns a tow truck, they’re clueless.

What does this mean to you?  (Uh… I don’t now…Name your company a Google friendly name like “Tow Truck”?)

Could work.

Besides that… It means you still have to compete and market your business even If you’ve been around for 40 years.

The good news for newbies is you have a good shot at getting business even if you’ve only been around 40 minutes.  That is if you know what you’re doing both on the marketing side and the operations side.

So here’s what this kid from Missouri is going to tell you:

I’ve done face-to-face sales and I don’t like it.  We’ve all done it, you may or may not like it, but I don’t.

It usually stems out of a lack of business rather than working towards growing more and moving forward.

…It’s like being motivated by fear and customers can smell fear.

But I get it.

…I understand why we do it.

Your stomach gets anxious and the next thing you know you’re standing in their garage talking about the weather or something else equally unimportant… hoping you don’t screw up… when all you really want is for him to call you the next time he needs one towed-in.

…And I know how you got there too.

It’s because you’ve been so slow lately.  When that happens the paranoia starts to seep in.

You get sick of seeing the low-ball competition at your repair shops. You’re frustrated and a little hurt.

…So you decide “Tomorrow I’m gonna get back my lost sales”. You’re gonna go stir up some business.

Next day rolls around–you wake up dreading the job ahead.  Not because you dislike your customers but because you know how it feels to have someone walk in your door selling something.

…You’re not the most gracious host to the unwanted “visitor”.  Annoyed, you’re pleasant (maybe not so much) but you won’t be motivated to make a purchase based on his visit, especially if he’s pushy.

You see? You don’t want to be that pushy guy to your customers.  You’d rather just wait until you tow one in… and then talk to them… right?

…But when the heck is that gonna happen?  It looks like he’s pretty happy with the low-ballers towing for him.

It’s eaten you up over the past few weeks as you hope he comes to his senses… or at the very least, the low-ballers screw up.

But nothing’s changing- so you’ve got to do something.

You continue to stew on it and procrastinate- wanting the phone to ring, maybe you’ll get so busy there won’t be any time for making the rounds.  You look for any escape from the dreadful job of actually soliciting business face-to-face.

Face it you truly hate cold-calling.

If only there was a better way, if instead of bugging them at work- when they’re neck deep in the daily muck of running a business- what if they called you? What if they called you because doing so was good for business?

But that’s crazy right?

How can that be?

I’m telling you there is a better way to get and keep customers.

First: If you don’t like cold-callers bothering you then it’s pretty much a given that all your prospects and customers don’t like it either.  So you’ve gotta take a look at how effective cold-calling really is at achieving the desired result of getting customers.

Second:  Ask yourself if your efforts in this regard are actually harming your chances of doing business with them.  Are you getting negative results?

Third: If cold-calling actually still works on a few folks then who’s to say that Mr. Lowball won’t walk in right behind you, after you’ve left, and get the business with his own cold-calling techniques?  It happens.

What you want is a steady stream of phone calls from motivated individuals who are already pre-sold on your brand of service.  They know who you are, they appreciate the service you provide, and they know you’ll take care of their car.  Well guess what?

That’s exactly what your repair shop owners want.

If you could devise a non-intrusive way to let your repair shops know that you’ve got their backs. Wouldn’t that be a much better way of selling?

Instead of jumping up and down with one hand in the air saying “pick me, pick me” wouldn’t it be much more professional to build rapport by showing them how choosing you over your competitor would actually benefit their business?

But that takes work.  You’ve got to think about how you actually benefit their business.

To begin ask yourself these questions.

  • Why do repair shops use my service?
  • What possible gains can be realized from using my service over others?
  • Is there something I do that other services don’t or cant?

If the only answer you can come up with is price then you’re not working hard enough.  There are certain things you do that separate you from the crowd.  You need identify and emphasize how you’re different, here’s some of what I’ve done.