WHO’S THERE TO TAKE YOUR CALLS

WHO HAS SOMEONE TO MAN THE PHONE WHEN A CUSTOMER CALLS. DOES YOUR WIFE DO IT, ONE OF YOUR KIDS IN THE SUMMER MONTHS, AN ANSWERING MACHINE, OR DO YOU HAVE A CELL AND ALL CALLS ARE TRANSFERED TO YOUR CELL LINE AND YOU ANSWER ALL CALLS.

all calls go to my cel ph.

I have 3 office girls taking calls and booking appointments. 1 of those girls is my wife and yes she is on the payroll

adcc007 wrote: any quick tips on how to get my phone to ring?  I put out flyers and stuff like that.  Can any of you remember how you made your phones ring when you first started?

We started in February.  Missed the local Yellow Pages.  Put in local newspaper ads, and mailed out 4,000 letters with flyers to local businesses.  Why a business?  Because some will get it done more then the once per year that Mr. & Mrs. Smythe should get it.

Called back as many of those businesses as possible, because only two responded, but most people I called remembered 'something' like that in the mail and 'meant' to call me.

Kept a high price in my own area, but to get work I bastardised my rate for a large property manager in another area. 

Cold called the pubs & clubs, restaraunts, winerys, and other high traffic companies.  If I wasn't cleaning carpets, I was on the phone, or knocking on doors.  Newspaper ads started working after 4 weeks, but barely paid for themselves.  Still knocking on doors and calling people.

Cleaning for businesses exposed more people to the work I do.  A get a lot of people calling me to say that we had cleaned the carpets at their work, could they get a quote from me for thier home.

If you're not cleaning, then market yourself.  See ALL the businesses you deal with regularly, tell everyone you've ever worked for or with, but don't let them give you that, "You can practice on my carpet...." line.

I quote most jobs in person, as that gets me the job more often when I explain the process we use.

Good luck, have fun, and be professional.

-Allen

I've been doing business to business sales for 11 years, but the past three I've been doing 'special projects' that included some sales, handling difficult customers, marketing, research, business development, and advertising.

I've got a couple of ideas.  Not all of them will work.  Not all of them will work for you in your area.  Use every resorce you can: the internet, this forum, your distributor, your competition, your contacts....

Who is your ideal customer?  Figure that out.  Don't give me that stuff about, "Anyone with a carpet" because we all have the IDEAL.  Write down the qualities of your ideal.  This will change as you learn and progress.  The ideal includes the area, financial situation, quality expected, age group, WHATEVER defines your ideal.  Heck, add favorate sport and music taste if you feel it's important and defines the perfect customer. 

Next, how do you answer your phone?  What is your script?  You'd better have a script for making calls, receiving calls, cold calling, and in-home presentations.  Anyone can learn sales.  I've trained sales reps, telemarketers, and secretaries how to answer phones and make calls and do sales for different industries.  Once we figure out WHO you want to speak to, then we figure out HOW you will speak to them.  I am better with businesses then homeowners when it comes to marketing.  They are different fields.

How you clean carpets only counts if you want repeat business and reccomendations... and I want repeat business and reccomendations.   It makes business sense, and gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.  I hope you want these  too. 

What add on sales can you offer?  I've sold a couple of vacuum cleaners so far.  Made an extra $100 each time.   I mention it EACH time: "This is the best vacuum cleaner on the market, and I am a distributor.  What are you using right now?"

Don't wait for your phone to ring.  You want work?  Go out there and fight for it.  Do you expect the whole world to beat down your door on the strengh of your ad?  Wake up and get a job.

If you don't want to talk in this forum, then e-mail me:  shubin@drugsmakemecool.com  (it's a real e-mail address, and a private joke for my friends) or speak to me here.  Let me know what you are currently doing.  Let me know your background. Let me know what you are planning on doing.

I'm doing ok.... after 3 months, the loan money ran out, and we're operating on our own steam (so to speak!).  Most bills get paid on time, and I've only once had to cancel out paying myself.  Yesterday I only had $200 worth of work booked in for this week, but I had three quotes this morning, and I'll pull a minimum of $800 bucks if nothing else comes up.... and nobody cancels.  That's Australian dollars.  It's not enough for me, I need at LEAST $1,200, but it's only Monday.  It's the middle of winter, and if it wasn't for my cold calling and the  reccomendations I recieve, I'd be starving.  I couldn't live off the people that call from my ads.

I'm working on four big quotes, the smallest will be worth about $12,000 over the next 12 months, and the biggest will be worth $40,000 over the same time.  If I don't get them, that's ok, because I'll find out why I missed out... and NOT make the same mistake next time.

Quote as many jobs in person as you can.  You will learn more about what the customer (or client) expects, and have a higher success rate.  If you just started up, you've got nothing better to do anyway, right?  Tell 'em what you do on the phone, tell 'em what you do in person, then tell 'em what you do in your quote.

If I can try to help, let me know.

-Allen