Hi,
Just looking for anything anyone has put together for cold call new commercial clients. Any ideas for new scripts…what works and what doesn’t work…what to say and what not to say. Any help is greatly appreciated.
This is Hannah (Bert’s wife). Bert is deployed for hurricane Ike and I am trying to come up with a script for cold calling new commercial clients.
Thanks!
Hello, I’m_______with _______window cleaning. We service other businesses in the area and wanted to know if you’d like a free estimate to get your windows cleaned?
(If they have a WC’er)
Would it be ok to still give you a free estimate to see if our service can save your business money?
After that the conversation can go about 100 different ways.
Wouldn’t this remark lead the party to believe that price alone might/should be the deciding factor?
To be honest I have a lot more conversation then what I talk, and by the time I get to this I’d say 85% will want an estimate. Lately my main thing when cold calling is building a solid rapport. Once you give them an estimate and it’s higher they could choose you because you sold your self and service better, but they’ll only pay more if you took the time to really really build a solid rapport and make them feel that your service has greater value to it. If your prices were lower then maybe they want to save their business money or maybe they just were getting charged too much which is the case around my area sometimes…I see overcharging and under delivering.
“Wouldn’t this remark lead the party to believe that price alone might/should be the deciding factor?”
Naa man. Kevin and the salesman can probably agree with me up on this.
If price was the determining factor in a loss of a customer, you could have done something wrong on your side. If you build a solid rapport, you’ve just built a solid foundation…
So far I haven’t lost a Com to a competitor, and I think it’s because I’ve studied really hard on how to build a solid rapport…plus I kill the person who takes it:)…
I have gotten this response from businesses, and it’s the response I like to hear, (matt) “would you still like an estimate to see if our service can save your business money”, (them) “No thanks, we’re very happy with our current guy/service”…that’s what I like to hear, even though it’s a bummer to hear “no” it’s obvious that window cleaner is doing a fantastic job…in this case I doesn’t matter if I cleaned for free, they don’t want me.
OH…here’s a good example of using that line.
I talked to asst. manager and she said no they have a WC’er, then I said this line. She welcomed it and I wrote it up. She looked at it and went to the back to give it to the manager. Then the manager came out and told me their current guy has not come in a while, so I got it. If I didn’t say that extra line I just would have walked out with a “no”.
Hi Hannah!
Will this be over the phone or in person?
This is how it goes in my market. “hello Mr. Customer, my name is _____ ,who is cleaning your windows and how much are they charging? oh $30 how about I do it for $20 and while im at it I will clean your awnings for free.”
Hello,
This will be a script calling over the phone. Also, when calling a company who is it you ask for? The person in charge of building maintenance, the manager?
Thanks for all your help!
Hannah
Manager. I have only called over the phone a couple of times, but when they asked why I needed to speak to the manager I said for vendor information…I’m interested in over the phone cold calling but I think response won’t be as high, but maybe it will.
I was just opening up the conversation. Your second post states your position much better than your first, abbreviated post.
Dont kid yourself Larry, Commercial is mostly about price. That is why I do residential. Its that way in most parts of the country. Pricing in commercial is the biggest gripe that most window cleaners have on all of the internet forums. Going with the “lets see if I can save you money” route may at least spark interest in letting you do a quote for them.
Steve
I think steve may be the most clear headed guy on the forum with regard to commercial.
Awesome post Steve.
Not according to Matt.
well, I have to admit some are just for price…but I think you can turn a price person into a loyal person, it might be super hard but maybe possible.
Comments Kevin or Sean?
The script is good except for the seeing if I can save your business money. I don’t sell based on price, if my price happens to be lower than what they are paying so be it. But I sell (mostly once I email/fax a proposal after they accept a quote) based on reliability, good communication, quality window cleaning and a quote that takes care of their window cleaning needs. I also include references so that they know that I’m legit, and that our company lives up to our word.
Price is a factor but not the only factor.
This is a hard one. I haven’t got any of my commercial clients based on price, to my knowledge.
However, if someone is happy, then price may pique their interest, and get a conversation started, at which point you can introduce more benefits.
The bottom line is, if someone is pleased with the workmanship and service of their current window cleaners, it’s almost impossible to steal that client.
Not impossible, but almost impossible.
I agree with Kevin this is a tough one. I don’t believe we’ve ever gained a commercial account based on initial price either. To be honest, the majority of times, our prices tend to be higher then most of our competitors. I’ve worked with people on price to gain an account.
So to turn those price people into loyal people is difficult, to say the least. I think just trying to build that rapport with people is the most important thing here. Make them like you and therefore, like your company.
I sold an account recently, where the guy was satisfied with his current window cleaner and was being charged less then what I was offering but by the time I ended the conversation with him he opted for our service instead. He told me: “I really like you, you are a genuine person and that’s why I bought from you. My window cleaner has never spoken to me like you did”
I’m not sure how relevant that is but I feel that I turned a price person into a loyal person by selling myself first. This guy was an older gentleman and probably respected the fact that I not only talked about myself and the company but I asked a lot about him and what he was about. He certainly had a lot to say. I’ve employed that strategy a lot lately, especially after that meeting, with success. I think if you can show a genuine interest in people they will have no problem switching to you and not being concerned over price. What you have to do after that is maintain that rapport!
Amen. Sean.
I made a similar observation in my new book on page 26:
[INDENT]"[I]How, though, can you make them like you even MORE within the first 5 minutes of meeting you? Simple. Just start a conversation about their favourite subject: Them.
If they are a Commercial client, ask them about their priorities, their challenges, their feats of tremendously impressive business strength! Talk about them, and ask them about what they care about in the context of their workplace, and how your services could help them solve their problems more efficiently and effectively.
If they are a Residential client, this is a little easier, and the same principle holds true. Ask them about them too! Comment on their beautiful home, or, even better - their incredible view! Ask them how they like the neighbourhood, and how long they’ve lived there, and look for more things that are sincerely interesting about them, and ask some sincere questions.
And, again – this may sound simplistic, but I guarantee that if you stay focused on them with the conversation, that within only 5 minutes you are going to be their new favorite person, and they are going to be telling their neighbours, their family members, and their workmates about the “wonderful window cleaning man/woman that they met this morning”…all because you maintained a sincere interest on their favorite subject: Them.[/I]"[/INDENT]
So true.
It just goes to show that old quote is true:
“People don’t care how much you know–until they know how much you care.”
–John C. Maxwell
A good book to improve on your skills in showing an interest in people and using that knowledge to win over clients.
Is How to win friends and infleuence people by Dale Carnegie.
Of course you have to be sincere too, and really show that you care about people, not just something you throw on to make sales.
Hey Guys and Gals,
I finally had a chance to log on from South Texas and a Deployment from Hurricane Ike, but thanks for replying to Hannah’s post. She is doing a great job running things in my absence.
I agree with what you are all saying about building the rapport with the prospect, but my thought line was, “how do you get by the gatekeeper, to establish a working rapport, when you are doing cold calls.”
We want to build our commercial service, but no so much in storefront, but larger more established companies (preferably with big buildings and jobs over $1500). I realize that typical marketing and bidding is not as easy as a walk-up storefront. Hence the request for a script. I have Hannah and another girl in the office now, and I have tasked them with cold calling new prospects. Unfortunately for me, neither have much experience in cold calling, nor do they particularly enjoy it.
I need a solid opening line to get past the secretary that screens the bull**** callers and telemarketers. I’d really like to hear what the Salesman (Sean) and Steve Wright have to say to those people.
Again, thanks for replying to Hannah on this thread. I have to commend her efforts while I’m not even at home for the last, and possibly the next, week and a half.
Thanks again guys!
And P.s. Hannah just bought Kevin’s Book.
Well with a little research you can sometimes figure out the Facilities Director name and ask for them directly and they should put you through, especially if you have a name and try from there. Talk to people you might know who work for or who have done work for the company and try to get a name.
Also, some larger businesses simply have a automated phone directory and you can be guided through, by pushing some buttons, to the correct department.
And if you do get a secretary, you could even just try asking for the facilities/maintenance department and go from there. They may simply ask who’s calling and put you through. Or you could, if you aren’t opposed, use a little white lie:
“Hi, my name is ________. I’m calling from _______ Window Cleaning. I received a message that your facilities department was interested in a window cleaning estimate but I unfortunately did not get a name in the message. Could you please put me through to someone in the maintenance department?” If this works just make your pitch to whomever answers from there.
The bottom line is usually just confidence. Always sound like you are supposed to be calling or try to come across like you are returning a call to someone there and you should eventually be able to get through to the correct party.
