BUSINESS SENSE
BY SUSAN LOBSINGER LOBDOCK IMPAIRMENT DETECTION OF OKLAHOMA CITY
5 Ways to Increase Your Collection Business Sales Without Ever Making a Cold Call
W
hen I first launched my drug testing business five years ago, I was given a list of 5,000-plus business names in my area and contact information pulled from one of those
paid database services. I was told to start calling them each and mailing out a postcard flyer that was an oversized business card with a somewhat provocative picture intended to draw atention to my card. I mailed out several thousand of these cards, spent thousands of dollars and then decided to follow up with a phone call. I felt like calling aſter I mail something might make the calls less than cold and I’d be more likely to get someone to talk to me. When I started calling each person on the list that I’d mailed
cards to, the calls were still very cold. I was hung up on, transferred to various people, leſt voice mails, and occasionally was able to get someone who wanted me to send more information. But, the only additional information people wanted was pricing information. Ultimately, in order to get business this way, I felt I needed to be cheaper than anyone else. By cold calling, I put myself in a vulnerable position where my only value was price. It wasn’t until my phone rang for the first time aſter my weeks of
cold calls and a few networking events, that a light bulb went off. I remember it like it was yesterday. Phone call comes in, I answer with a bowl full of excitement. He introduces himself and then promptly tries to sell me GPS tracking devices for my fleet cars that I don’t have to track all the employees I don’t have. Tis call annoyed me so much. It then dawned on me why I was frequently hung up or sent to voice mail when I made my calls. Tere had to be a beter way. …And there was:
1
Create a free report for people to download on your website in exchange for their name and email address. This tactic is becoming used quite a bit in all facets of business. The reason is because IT WORKS! Start by writing a report on something that you know your clients wonder about when they begin their search for a company that offers the services you do. Give it a compelling (teaser headline or “click bait”) headline and write it up. Four to five pages are really all it needs to be. Put information in this report that will be helpful to anyone regardless if they use your services or not. At the end of this
24 datia focus
report, make a clear offer to move your target to the next step in your sales process. For us, we offer a free audit of their drug and alcohol-testing program. This is an onsite visit or Skype visit to review the policies and procedures of the existing program, or discuss how they’d like their program to be set up. One way is to put the offer in the form of a questionnaire that
they can email or fax in. The key to this step is to make sure that your “next step” is clear and concise. We currently get a 20 percent conversion rate from people
who download our free report. This does not mean that 80 percent of our leads are dead. You now have their name and email address and you can begin your prospect nurturing process outlined in the other steps below.
2
Create a free introductory audit for potential clients: One of the biggest lessons I learned about the drug and alcohol-testing market is that many businesses don’t know how to buy drug testing services. Your biggest clue of this is if they call you up and their first questions are just about price. Now, just because they ask about price doesn’t mean they don’t know anything about drug testing,
Winter 2016
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