Response to your letters
Hello, I recently had a booth at a trade show where I held a competition for 50% off of my product. I am a wedding planner. I want to do some follow up to each bride that entered. I was thinking of calling and letting them know they came in 2nd place winning 25% off (who says there has to be only one person in second place). These calls really wouldn't be "cold calls" as they must be SOMEWHAT interested to enter. Do you have any tips for me? Thanks, Shannon ... shannon@eleganteventsbyshannon.ca
Hi Shannon and thanks for reading,
This can be tricky because it really depends on the need of the prospect. Some people will enter a contest just to get the prize and may not want a phone call from you. And quite a few of them may not even remembering entering into the contest.(I've had a bit of experience with this) However, everyone who entered had SOME level of interest at the time. The key here is to contact them immediately if not sooner while their action is still fresh in their mind. Next determine why they entered to begin with by asking" what prompted you to enter my contest"? What type of products are you currently using? Are there products/services that you're having a difficult time obtaining for your big day? There are two objectives here. The first is to let them know they've won something. The second is to probe them enough to determine if there are services that you can help them, with. Obviously,you want to walk away with a new customer if not now then perhaps in the future. I hope this helps and I'll be sure to post this response in my column to possibly help others.
Cold Calling Yuck ...
Personally, as an individual and not a business owner, I am not very keen on cold calling. Just the terminology 'cold calling' turns me off. It probably has a whole lot to do with my own personal experiences receiving cold calls. In my opinion, the company who intends to generate business from cold calls should put substantial focus on the capability of the individual who will be doing the cold calling. They should ensure that this individual is not only charismatic but capable of sounding like he or she is not reading from a script. This I find to be a total turn off.
Thanks for reading and responding. I too find the reading of a script abhorrent and often lecture my readers and clients on the mistake of using one. As a consultant for 30 years I lecture my clients on remembering that cold calling is nothing more than having a focused purposeful conversation with a designated outcome (i.e. an appointment or sale). I have spent the majority of my life making sure that people understand that every business owner uses one form or another of telemarketing/cold calling (appointment setting/lead generation/sales/market research/customer service). This is a necessary evil for doing business . However it is the way we conduct our cold calling program that makes the difference.
Thanks for writng
