"Cold Calling Doesn't Work - Does It ?...."
You'd surprised how often people ask this question. You see in
network marketing, and business in general, we've been trained
to believe that cold calling is aggressive, intruding and just
not the done thing.
How many of you here have ever been phoned by a cold call ?
Pretty much everyone I guess. OK. Think back to that insurance
company that phoned. What was your reaction ? If like most
people you probably said straight off the bat, without listening
"No thanks Not Interested" and hung up the phone. Fair comment ?
So obviously cold calling simply doesn't work, and is just
another of the great MLM myths, when you hear of people being
successful !
If you truly believe that statement then you are seriously
throwing away one of the cheapest possible sources of growing
your business. The key to making cold marketing work is simple.
TARGET your prospect !!
Let me demonstrate. We're all network marketers or soon to be
network marketers. If I phoned you up and out of the blue asked
you "If I can honestly show you a way to add 20 to 30 people a
week to your business, every single week, would that be worth 45
minutes of your time to see how to do that ?" You'd probably
have a few questions but you'd be interested right ? The reason
being that you're a network marketer and have a need, want or
desire for that knowledge.
I do the same thing in my own networking business. You see one
of the problems that I help solve is weight loss. So lets have a
quick peek at what it is exactly that I'm doing.
Key 1 : Target your prospect
So have a think a moment about who my prospect is. What is it
I'm looking at doing ? Well first step - focus on the product
NOT the opportunity. So its weight loss. So that's people who
are overweight right ? Well lets focus in a bit more. Have a
quick think for a few moments and then we'll run through what I
use.
OK as I saw it my prospect needed to
1. Be overweight (obvious right)
2. Have tried to lose weight in the past
3. Failed to lose weight
4. Have a credit card (they need to be able to pay me over the
phone)
5. Be able to afford my product
So here's the cold lead that I found. Its women, aged 25-50,
have been a member of a weight loss club in the last 12 months,
currently wears a large dress size, has bought a product on a
credit card in the last 12 months and has an income about $25000
a year.
A fairly targeted lead right ? So how much did this cost ? Try
10.2 cents a name and phone number !!! That's right. Do you
think they have a want, need or desire for my product ? You bet
! Now lets compare it to the $3-$5 "opportunity seeker" leads
you can buy online. Which will convert better I wonder - kinda
obvious isn't it. And in case you're wondering - that list of
weight loss people is over 11 million deep in just the US alone
! Should keep me busy for a while.
Key 2 : Grab their attention
OK so just having the leads there isn't enough. You got to be
able to reel them in. So lets think like fishermen, where the
leads are fish. What's the first step ? Bait the line.
Sit down and think about how to grab their attention. Either
shock them or scare them to death. Then promise the unbelievable.
"Let me ask you a question. If I could honestly show you how to
lose 10lb in 30 days, without starving to death and even better
guarantee your success would that be worth 25 minutes of your
time to see how to do that ?"
Key 3 : Present your PRODUCT !! Not the opportunity
Speaks for itself kinda. Don't talk about the opportunity until
they've been using the product. Then DON'T mention millions of
dollars. Just help them to earn enough to get their product for
free. After this they'll get the idea and start dreaming
themselves.
Conclusion
Cold calling absolutely works if you are prepared and willing
to do some serious thinking. But it can and does lead to serious
results. I personally have felt the power of it in my business,
and I truly know people who are adding 20 to 30 people a week
using ONLY cold calling !
So go out, and schedule a time to define exactly what your
prospect wants to hear, define who your prospect is and start
growing your business the cheap, easy way.