Not sure what direction to take career wise
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Understood.
I now have a domain name and website (under construction) along with company email - all in the same name as my registered company.
Tomorrow I will secure my Virtual receptionist and free phone number along with business cards.
I now have a domain name and website (under construction) along with company email - all in the same name as my registered company.
Tomorrow I will secure my Virtual receptionist and free phone number along with business cards.
guru1000
Master Don Juan
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This objection may be meritorious. Try to extract what the prospect’s true contention is.
For other objections, begin with (1) “I can appreciate that,” (2) followed by a concrete example, (3) abstract development of why their objection is futile in comparison to the “potential threat” of not moving forward, and (4) close.
Right!
So I turned up to the prospect's place of business promptly on time. It was a good start as she remembered me from Friday's call and took me down to her messy office downstairs.
It didn't go exactly as per the script (so much information to remember under pressure) but it wasn't far off:
She had no literature other than the website which I had already studied. She talked about her ideas about using twitter, facebook etc and how she is taking courses in how to improve her marketing.
I talked about The Modern Flower Company who went bust due to bad marketing. I highlighted certain areas on her website that I could improve. I talked about E-florist and Interflora - the two flower companies whose business prospered due to good marketing.
She wanted to get straight to the point and asked how much. I mentioned £2-5,000 is my fee which she blew off before I could get to the £999 promotion. Even so, she said she was a small business that could not afford such a price. I reminded her the benefit of paying such a price was to increase the flow of business that would more than pay cover my fee. Still she objected to the price. She said she is looking to spend £200-£300. She said she didn't know anything about me or what I've done prior to justify such a price. I stuck to my guns however.
Predictably she asked about my credentials. My experience and what I'd done. I explained my theatre and film-writing background and education and she didn't say any more on the subject.
Basically it all came down to the price. On an online course I am taking they suggest I offer my services for free to local businesses or charities in order to build up a portfolio without which a copywriter is dead in the water. Here I may have sealed a deal for £200-300. I did what you said though and stuck to my price.
I told her to think about it and that I would make a follow up call in a few days and she was happy about it. We shook hands and I left.
I now have Virtual Receptionist. When the toll free number is confirmed I shall purchase business cards.
My next appointment is tomorrow 4pm with another florist which is confirmed.
So I turned up to the prospect's place of business promptly on time. It was a good start as she remembered me from Friday's call and took me down to her messy office downstairs.
It didn't go exactly as per the script (so much information to remember under pressure) but it wasn't far off:
She had no literature other than the website which I had already studied. She talked about her ideas about using twitter, facebook etc and how she is taking courses in how to improve her marketing.
I talked about The Modern Flower Company who went bust due to bad marketing. I highlighted certain areas on her website that I could improve. I talked about E-florist and Interflora - the two flower companies whose business prospered due to good marketing.
She wanted to get straight to the point and asked how much. I mentioned £2-5,000 is my fee which she blew off before I could get to the £999 promotion. Even so, she said she was a small business that could not afford such a price. I reminded her the benefit of paying such a price was to increase the flow of business that would more than pay cover my fee. Still she objected to the price. She said she is looking to spend £200-£300. She said she didn't know anything about me or what I've done prior to justify such a price. I stuck to my guns however.
Predictably she asked about my credentials. My experience and what I'd done. I explained my theatre and film-writing background and education and she didn't say any more on the subject.
Basically it all came down to the price. On an online course I am taking they suggest I offer my services for free to local businesses or charities in order to build up a portfolio without which a copywriter is dead in the water. Here I may have sealed a deal for £200-300. I did what you said though and stuck to my price.
I told her to think about it and that I would make a follow up call in a few days and she was happy about it. We shook hands and I left.
I now have Virtual Receptionist. When the toll free number is confirmed I shall purchase business cards.
My next appointment is tomorrow 4pm with another florist which is confirmed.
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No idea. I've never done this before!guru1000 said:
I'm a bit of a perfectionist and am still tweaking scripts I wrote over ten years ago!
However when it comes to writing other people's stuff I find it a lot easier. Provided she gives me a rough idea of what she wants I reckon I could rehaul it in a few hours or so over a few days.
guru1000
Master Don Juan
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Congratulations!
You have far exceeded all the neophytes in any of my previous ventures. On average, it would take 10+ appointments before a prospect would accede or even present a counter-offer.
You, with no business experience, track record, business card, office line, website, and suit, were counter-offered 100/hour on your first appointment! Like I stated earlier, you are in a superb market. Unquestionably, your business has the potential for seven-figure annual gross revenue.
Sounds to me like the florist didn’t have more money to speculate with. This can be avoided in the future, when you have telemarketers who will further qualify the prospect:
1. To accumulate capital to re-invest into the business; and
2. To build confidence in your presentation.
Next time you encounter a counter-offer, proceed with:
You have far exceeded all the neophytes in any of my previous ventures. On average, it would take 10+ appointments before a prospect would accede or even present a counter-offer.
You, with no business experience, track record, business card, office line, website, and suit, were counter-offered 100/hour on your first appointment! Like I stated earlier, you are in a superb market. Unquestionably, your business has the potential for seven-figure annual gross revenue.
Sounds to me like the florist didn’t have more money to speculate with. This can be avoided in the future, when you have telemarketers who will further qualify the prospect:
For now, you will accept every prospect, irrespective of the counter-offer for two reasons:
1. To accumulate capital to re-invest into the business; and
2. To build confidence in your presentation.
Next time you encounter a counter-offer, proceed with:
Call Prospect 1 in two days with the above.
guru1000
Master Don Juan
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Eh ... when you succeed ... that is all I would need.
The battle is not over; the journey has just begun.
You will need a retainer agreement, which I will send to you in a couple days.
You will secure the VR, business cards, a suit, leads, and build your website.
Next, you will accumulate $5,000 in reserves. Then, we proceed to Stage 2, where you will hire your first telemarketer.
The battle is not over; the journey has just begun.
You will need a retainer agreement, which I will send to you in a couple days.
You will secure the VR, business cards, a suit, leads, and build your website.
Next, you will accumulate $5,000 in reserves. Then, we proceed to Stage 2, where you will hire your first telemarketer.
Ok just hot back from prospect 2. Total waste of time.
Got to the shop only for no one to be there. When I called it was clear she had forgotten. However she told me she'd be there in ten minutes. Half an hour later she turned up.
Kooky looking with a stern face she was around late forties and an artsy type. Very bohemian. She took me inside and we stood at the counter and she prompted me to begin. I mentioned how her website was very simple and that was about as far as I got.
She launched into how that was the way she liked it and how she was building it up and had a writer etc. basically that my services were not required! I pointed out that this was not the impression she gave over the phone the two times I called her to which she insisted she had.
She also made silly statements like 'I don't want to appeal to just everyone. I'm targeting a specific market' which was fine but when I asked her which market that was exactly there was an incredibly long silence as she fumbled for something to answer me with before answering 'creative types' as if other people's money wasn't good enough. She also said she was happy relying on 'word of mouth'.
Basically she seemed pretty clueless yet wanted to give me the impression that she had it covered and that she'd worked in media and she had done a promotion with Nike in SOho recently and that her friend was a writer, qualifying herself as if I was the one hiring her! wtf?
I struggled to find anything to counter her with as it seemed to me that she wasn't looking for any help and she seemed quite on the defensive. As if my pointing out things lacking on her website was somehow an attack on her personally. Typical egotistical arty type.
Not wanting to waste any more time I told her I would touch base in a couple of months to see how her business was doing. She gave me her card, we shook hands and I left. I honestly can't fathom why she would waste her own time (never mind mine) with such a pointless meeting unless she really had nothing better to do than talk to salesmen. However, I'll probably keep tabs on her website to see if it improves over the months and try her again later.
Anyway, what I learnt from this? I can screen people like this better during the initial teletalk before making appointments like this.
So. Tomorrow I shall see if I can close prospect 1 after which it will be back to the drawing board.
Got to the shop only for no one to be there. When I called it was clear she had forgotten. However she told me she'd be there in ten minutes. Half an hour later she turned up.
Kooky looking with a stern face she was around late forties and an artsy type. Very bohemian. She took me inside and we stood at the counter and she prompted me to begin. I mentioned how her website was very simple and that was about as far as I got.
She launched into how that was the way she liked it and how she was building it up and had a writer etc. basically that my services were not required! I pointed out that this was not the impression she gave over the phone the two times I called her to which she insisted she had.
She also made silly statements like 'I don't want to appeal to just everyone. I'm targeting a specific market' which was fine but when I asked her which market that was exactly there was an incredibly long silence as she fumbled for something to answer me with before answering 'creative types' as if other people's money wasn't good enough. She also said she was happy relying on 'word of mouth'.
Basically she seemed pretty clueless yet wanted to give me the impression that she had it covered and that she'd worked in media and she had done a promotion with Nike in SOho recently and that her friend was a writer, qualifying herself as if I was the one hiring her! wtf?
I struggled to find anything to counter her with as it seemed to me that she wasn't looking for any help and she seemed quite on the defensive. As if my pointing out things lacking on her website was somehow an attack on her personally. Typical egotistical arty type.
Not wanting to waste any more time I told her I would touch base in a couple of months to see how her business was doing. She gave me her card, we shook hands and I left. I honestly can't fathom why she would waste her own time (never mind mine) with such a pointless meeting unless she really had nothing better to do than talk to salesmen. However, I'll probably keep tabs on her website to see if it improves over the months and try her again later.
Anyway, what I learnt from this? I can screen people like this better during the initial teletalk before making appointments like this.
So. Tomorrow I shall see if I can close prospect 1 after which it will be back to the drawing board.
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guru1000
Master Don Juan
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What Kind of Idea Are You?
When you walk into a room, who is Smile? Is he a commoner begging to sip the milk bottle, or is he a valuable mogul, who challenges, perseveres, transcends, and reverses his unpropitious fate; who entrenches the road with the will of his own design, notwithstanding the cost, with the willingness to embrace failure interminably, but the incentive of changing the world should he succeed?
Are you the kind that compromises, does deals, accommodates itself to society, aims to find a niche, to survive; or are you the cussed bloody-minded, ramrod-backed type of damnfool notion that would rather break than sway with the breeze? The kind that will almost certainly, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, be smashed to bits; but the hundredth time, will change the world!
That’s the great thing about life, isn’t it? You choose! Like with women, sales is strictly about owning the frame of interaction. Prospect 2 acted in her volition, as you permitted it! From the onset, you need to present an aura of grandeur (I AM SMILE. DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!), and direct the conversation. It is most often not what you say, but from whom is saying it. In business, if it is a battle of the egos, you must champion the larger ego--ALWAYS.
The Straight-Line
The pitch is called the “straight line,” which represents that all pitches for all prospects are identical. The prospect will try to deviate from the line, swerve your focus, and diverge your thinking, but you must remain steadfast on course. You stick to the pitch and present your diagram. If the prospect does not fully permit you to proceed, you continue with:
Law of Averages
Notwithstanding the above, it is a numbers game. You will not close most prospects. And that's OK, as long as you own the frame. For in-person appointments, you may close 1 out of 5, or 1 out of 10, etc. The Law of Averages differs with each venture. Keep in mind, you have only cold-called one day!
When you walk into a room, who is Smile? Is he a commoner begging to sip the milk bottle, or is he a valuable mogul, who challenges, perseveres, transcends, and reverses his unpropitious fate; who entrenches the road with the will of his own design, notwithstanding the cost, with the willingness to embrace failure interminably, but the incentive of changing the world should he succeed?
Are you the kind that compromises, does deals, accommodates itself to society, aims to find a niche, to survive; or are you the cussed bloody-minded, ramrod-backed type of damnfool notion that would rather break than sway with the breeze? The kind that will almost certainly, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, be smashed to bits; but the hundredth time, will change the world!
That’s the great thing about life, isn’t it? You choose! Like with women, sales is strictly about owning the frame of interaction. Prospect 2 acted in her volition, as you permitted it! From the onset, you need to present an aura of grandeur (I AM SMILE. DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!), and direct the conversation. It is most often not what you say, but from whom is saying it. In business, if it is a battle of the egos, you must champion the larger ego--ALWAYS.
The Straight-Line
The pitch is called the “straight line,” which represents that all pitches for all prospects are identical. The prospect will try to deviate from the line, swerve your focus, and diverge your thinking, but you must remain steadfast on course. You stick to the pitch and present your diagram. If the prospect does not fully permit you to proceed, you continue with:
If you deviate from the pitch, no need to proceed; deal is dead.
Law of Averages
Notwithstanding the above, it is a numbers game. You will not close most prospects. And that's OK, as long as you own the frame. For in-person appointments, you may close 1 out of 5, or 1 out of 10, etc. The Law of Averages differs with each venture. Keep in mind, you have only cold-called one day!
Ok. I stuck strictly to the script.guru1000 said:
She said £500 was still too expensive.
I proceeded to the next line about referrals to which she said she needed to do her figures still and asked me to call back 1st week of September.
I know I could have said something to maintain frame but I didn't know what so I just said i'd call back then. I fvcked up again.
Well it was already shot to pieces after yesterday's appointment. So it couldn't have got any lower really.
I'm building up the website and drawing comparisons between script writing and advertising. The more I think about it the more similarities I find so I should be ok. If I can convince myself that I am qualified to do this then it shouldn't be a problem getting others on board because so far that has been my biggest obstacle. Self-confidence. Even a friend said today after I offered my services that you have to be specialised in that kind of field but scriptwriting is no different only that it sells ideas instead of products (product placement notwithstanding!)
I already have examples of marketing and copy i did for theatre shows that I wrote, produced or directed so that's a start. Thank god we used professional designers.
I'm building up the website and drawing comparisons between script writing and advertising. The more I think about it the more similarities I find so I should be ok. If I can convince myself that I am qualified to do this then it shouldn't be a problem getting others on board because so far that has been my biggest obstacle. Self-confidence. Even a friend said today after I offered my services that you have to be specialised in that kind of field but scriptwriting is no different only that it sells ideas instead of products (product placement notwithstanding!)
I already have examples of marketing and copy i did for theatre shows that I wrote, produced or directed so that's a start. Thank god we used professional designers.
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guru1000
Master Don Juan
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Billionaire Morty, an investment banker, once told me::-) said:
You will succeed only insofar as the number of rejections your ego can bear.
If I were to enumerate the amount of rejections both on the phone and in person in my lifetime, 100,000+ wouldn’t be an exaggeration. The banality, persistence—not talent-- is ALL.
And thus the focus on a rejection target emancipates you from outcome-dependence. Ergo, you set up two appointments your first day cold-calling by diverting your focus to 1000 hang-ups, not to the sale. The same concept applies to in-person appointments.
In concrete terms:
Goal: 1000 hang-ups or 20 appointments, whichever arrives sooner. Strive for rejection in both, but close tenaciously.
Self-confidence is forged through a track-record, engendered by base hits, spawn from a myriad rejections:-) said:
We are ALL salesmen.:-) said: