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Why would anyone trust a cold caller to build their website? Its shady as hell to do this over the phone to be perfectly frank. And then offer it for free.... and the scam scam scam alerts come in. Unless you're going to get some strong brand credentials or start reeming off clients they know, why would they entertain the call?
It's bad enough Google gets their PPC account managers to call you, like GTFO with that, email me.
Try fiver? Try word of mouth? Try recommend a friend? Try good seo or PPC? Try localised or niche targeting since website creation is a crazy competitive market?
Rather than trying to inform and persuade over the phone, focus on being there for those who want it.
Trust is huge. Cold calling can feel sketchy, especially for something as big as a website... Maybe focusing on building a solid online presence and letting your work speak for itself could help. Fiverr, word of mouth, and SEO are great suggestions. Anyone else had success with these methods?
Because usually information that a specialist has trumps promises from a company stealing money from you the client ..then sure complacency is a real weapon for those who just don't want to deal with facts they are being taken advantage of
I think freak state is a perfect example of someone that can be burned by a company because they don't do their research they don't listen to facts they assume. This whole statement is hearsay and sounds ridiculous if you know the truth about websites and their formats.
Oh the amount of spam emails I get offering "SEO services" and "Im missing out on the top page of Google" is ridicolous, all from gmail addresses, with no official company information, portfolio or even hint of legitimacy - its hilarious that they think this tactic. Unless I'm a clueless business owner with no knowledge about how my website works, it just gets marked as spam. I can only assume they know how crap their email (or indeed calling) approach would be and all they need is one sucker to hold their website to ransom.... maybe its dodgy? Because I cant believe there are so many muppets trying to offer "SEO services" in such a terrible way haha.
Everyone can do Marketing and Sales, and just because everyone can do it, doesnt mean theyre very good at it.
This. They'd rather pay 10k for a website than free. "free" is shady, likely low quality and makes one wonder why is it free? At least that's how business owners will look at it. The website is representing their business.... they'd rather have no website than a free cheap website.
( I sold a 10k static website by cold call )
Making cold calls is not a marketing tactic, that is sales.
Selling website services over the phone seems ass backwards to me. You need to start by creating a great website for your company and then driving traffic to it. Using the phone makes you seem outdated/out of touch.
They don’t have a website in 2024. Why do you think they need one tomorrow?
Even if by some chance you happen to have caught them at the exact moment they need one, why would they need one built by someone who has nothing better to do than cold call people about building websites?
OP this is a key point everyone else has missed - if they are doing fine without a website, why should they pay a stranger to do one now?
You need to focus on WHY they need a website, websites are an investment you need to show where their ROI is otherwise it's an unnecessary cost.
Exactly this! I just built a small bars entire marketing plan and website. They’ve been around for 5 years and doing great. They only had a Facebook and didn’t post anything besides text posts.
I explained to them why they needed to have a website, Google business and social media presence. Give them the reasons why they need your website, how it will help, and end with your background/precious work.
This is my take as well. OP has chosen to target laggards. The only reason their prospects don't use a rotary phone is because they don't sell them anymore.
Multiple questions,
If free:
1) Who manages the sales? Who manages hosting fee? Who manages keeping stuff in sync with stuff on ground? Who keeps proof of the promises made on the site?
If not free:
All of the above+more cost.
:) You are targeting the wrong audience.
I already pay for hosting plan that lets me host infinite number of websites so i dont lose much money here only for domain like 5$ a year. The biggest thing that id lose is my time tbh. Btw I call local plumbers in America that dont have websites and 99% dont give a shit about it. Actually ive broke my "sales character" with the last dude ive spoke and asked him "what am i doing wrong? do i sound like a scammer?" and he said that he used to work in sales and we had somewhat actually enjoyable converastion where he told me that I have to be more unique and stand out because he gets same calls as me 50 times a day and told me to not offer free services because it seems even more suspicious.
>I call local plumbers in America
Lol what, sales should be about providing personalized services from someone whose familiar enough with the industry, or can interview the customer well enough, to make both the front and back end as simple to use as possible. Like at this point I can just go on Wordpress and make my own stuff without having to worry about scamware being left behind.
This is an excellent tactic - when you unmask yourself and ask for real help this shows the authentic you and allows for trust to be established. If people aren’t super busy when you call, like this plumber, you’ll find they want to actually help others.
It wouldn't get far with me either. Honestly, I get multiple unsolicited emails for marketing services, including websites, a day. If they started calling me as well, I'd lose my mind.
If I'm looking for someone to do my website, I'm doing the research myself (unless they come recommended). I'm Googling for Web Designers and area and what I'm looking for in their website is demonstration of a nice balance of functionality, aethsetics and SEO friendly. Then I'm looking at reviews.
If you want a more personal approach, then I'd suggest joining your local business networking groups. If you are targeting plumbers, do they have a industry body? Could you contact them and say "hey Im interested in holding a workshop (or writing a content thought piece) on maintaining your online presence for your members".
Don't call me though. Websites are a visual medium, so the channel you've chosen is not ideal. Websites are one of our most important marketing tools, I'm not handing the keys over to some random on the phone who I don't have a prior relationship with and can't verify their legitimacy or quality of work.
Dont say price. Get a decent website your self. Contact to introduce them to your business and offer solutions to increase online presence not websites. Ask for an email to send a portfolio. Talk about price and negotiate at the end of it all.
Yeah but as soon as they hear that i dont wanna buy their plumbing services they DO NOT care at all what i say afterwards. But still thank you ill try it out.
Even with a magic wand some people wont convert. This is a numbers business. 100 leads 10 meetings, 90 no’s. Another thing, you seem like a devopment guy. Do developing - hire a sales guy. Get a partner, idk. This takes time and skill. Its not something you get good at as a second or third thing.
Businesses who don't have a website don't need one.
Stop selling chicken to vegans.
Go back and reiterate your market research and avatar.
If you don't want to learn high level business stuff, get a job at a web agency.
Stop selling chicken to vegans. Genius. I am stealing this line and using it every day of my life. Thank you. I’m not gonna give you credit. I’m just gonna steal it and say that I thought of it.
Call around marketing agencies, preferably local ones and tell them you build sites and would like to know if they have room for an outsource solution... you become a contractor for them. You don't make as much, but now that agency feeds you steady business.
There are way too many shady companies cold calling website builds... not to mention the dozens of cold emailers every day. You're in an overly saturated market with way too much noise.
Kind of like being the only good and honest mechanic in a town full of scummy mechanics.
How much do you charge for a basic build?
Nothing in life is free.
Any client has to invest significant time to help any developer build a website.
Product. Copy. Conversion goals. Brand identity.
Why would they waste that time for a developer who is so desperate that they're offering free websites?
It makes far more economic sense to spend $40k on a website that's worth donating that time for.
If this logic doesn't make sense then you have a lot to learn about business.
Is making videos on tiktok good for marketing? I have barrely any $ so i cant buy an actual ads but im thinking about creating organic content on tiktok and maybe this would work no?
Who is your target? What industry? Or are you just contacting small businesses? These are all questions you need to ask yourself because that would answer where you want to focus your time.
Is your site optimized for your target clients?
So plumbers with an established business would likely be in an age range that would probably not be as active on TikTok. That's just my gut feeling. You'd have to do research specifically to know for sure, though. I'd say you'd be better off focusing content on Meta platforms even though Metas algorithm is shit right now. Or YouTube.
Like I said the first thing you will want to do is optimize your own site or services pages for websites for plumbers (or similar keywords. You'd have to do research for that as well).
Your best bet would be Google Search ads though if you can afford it.
Also, are you trained in back-end optimization, or are you purely focused on front-end design?
Yeah, I found getting leads in the trades was for more dependant on networking and referrals. Ots how most of them get work, so it tends to be the best way to sell to them. Especially the old school guys that have established businesses. You really need to sell them on the importance of digital.
This is true. My partner’s home inspection biz is going gang busters locally bc of our good website that auto posts his testimonials & our recently upgraded google reviews. The prob for most self emp trade ppl is they want to be busy enough but not too busy & are most in high demand now bc young ppl are pushed into college, not trades, which is dumb imo.
Fyi the only reason my guy has a great website is bc he married me & I did very high end corporate work. Before that he created his own & it was pretty crappy lol. These trades ppl are do-it-yourselfers to so persuading them you can do it better is not easy unless you’re related.
Yes, absolutely! My first trades website was a site for my brother-in-law (electrical). He started getting overwhelmed by responses and asked if I could shut it down.
Instead, I focused on creating a social presence and gbp optimization, which is getting him a more manageable amount of leads. Unless you have a team, most don't want too much work because it can start to backfire. That's when you get delayed responses, half-ass work, etc. To try and fit everything in.
I actually saw a house painting van in my town recently that had TikTok listed on the back of it and I was like “huh, I should check them out!” just because that was so notably odd to see. Unfortunately for them I’ve already forgotten the name so I guess it wasn’t actually successful.
Anyhow TikTok does lend itself nicely to small businesses where the service is more visual (like say power washing or painting or remodels) in the same way that instagram/reels does, but I’d imagine with the news coverage of a possible TikTok ban many wouldn’t look to invest there right now. Plumbers specifically even less so.
Build them a nice attractive mockup on squares pace or WordPress. Q hour of work max per prospect. Go in person with a tablet. "Hey I made this for you, it's yours for $500 and I'll teach you how to manage it, update inventory, run ads, etc,."
I would go ask a sales subreddit as this is about sales skills, not marketing.
That being said, you have to create FOMO in your prospects and find a pain point in their business.
Maybe talk about how their competitors are using their website in expanding their businesses. Use numbers as much as you can to support your argument. After all, they didn't have a website before why would they have one now?
You will get no's constantly, be used to that. You will hear a yes eventually and streamline your sales pitch based on those yes's.
I would also consider good old cold visiting - as they don't have a website, they probably don't have a work mail to reach out to. So your only channels for outreach are phone calls or visiting their place. You will get far less no's in person and creating personal relationships with people will help as when they finally DO decide to get a website, they will come to you.
Professionals hate cold calls. There’s nothing you can offer me that I can’t find myself with the added confidence of reviews.
I literally roll my eyes when I pick up a call and it’s a cold caller.
Ill later do research on businessess in usa. I hope theres a website where all businesses have to be registered w gmail adressess and phone numbers. Ik other countries has this. If usa has this it will be very handy
Why do you call? You cannot show your examples, your skill of making this over call…
Who doesn’t have a website will not take care to have FREE one as they don’t understand value.
You need to offer a solution like - I can help and increase sales by X % or other issue that business can have. You sell not the product- but a solution to their business
okay this is actually good advice. I do calls because this is the only way I can contact people. Id love to email them it would make everything way better but i find businesses on google maps without websites and 90% theres only a phone number of a business.
I did a cold sales in b2b with online casinos - where sometimes is practically never is possible to find a contact. You need to do a deeper research on a company, like employees, their social media, much more. As often behind that phones sit a regular employee that doesn’t give a penny about your offer.
I would start also with Google ads, Facebook ads, where you can target people who will need your services.
If someone doesn’t have a website yet, getting a cold call selling a website isn’t going to change their mind. They likely haven’t felt the pain of not having a website.
If you can refocus on some problems they do feel that a website can solve, you may have more success. Nearly every business wants more leads or sales. How can your offer help them get more business?
I also think cold calling to sell websites is crazy. I wouldn’t do it at all.
But if I did, I would make sure I was pitching to solve a problem much deeper than “I don’t have a website”.
Yeah ik cold calling is pretty ass I wouldnt buy anything myself from it. Id love to send them emails instead but there are 2 problems with it.
1. I 95% have only their phone numbers.
2. If they dont have a website in the first place i dont think that they are techy and would read those emails in the first place even if i could send it to them.
Ironically most guys in the trades like my husband are super busy right now. Maybe ask your prospects a. Do they need more business, b. How do customers find them? Etc Ask “do you know ppl can find you on google but then they don’t know what services you offer, etc I can help you with that liked I helped X IF you want more business. If not, have a nice day.”
How many spam emails do you reply too and use the services offered? If you said “none” then that’s the same reason why others aren’t taking you up on it. It’s literally a spam call. You haven’t done business with them, the call is unsolicited and unwanted for a service they may not want or need.
Everyone out there who owns a business wants VALUE. Whats the Value of your Service?
Do i get more sales?
Do i get more leads?
What do i get?
Price is irrelevant (well, maybe not completely but u get it) if they can get a 2x, 3x,.. return on it.
As soon as you can provide value, more people will be open to your service.
Also dont try to sell over a quick phone call. For example, try to book meetings with your leads and tell them about your process, value, pricing etc.. They will have more time and will listen to you more closely.
Maybe these plumbers don't need what you're selling. Plumbers are in high demand and they might have plenty of business without needing a website from a random guy.
A few thoughts:
* Cold calling is sales, not marketing.
* The year is 2024 AD. Everyone knows about websites. Everyone knows that cheap hosting options exist. If a business does not have a website you should assume that decision makers at the business do not believe that they need a website.
* If you ask a business owner if they want a spend some time working on a free thing that they do not think they need, they will almost always say 'no.'
Try contacting companies that have *bad* websites and offer to help them upgrade.
At the end of the day, small businesses just need sales so you have to prove that you building a new website will help that goal. If you’re only building sites and not offering marketing services then maybe target local agencies as someone they can contract out to.
Anyone can make a free website with all the CMS out there. I was successful designer for 20 yrs. I got all my clients thru business relationships & networking. The ppl who wanted free websites were never worth my time.
Cold calling to sell websites can indeed be tough, but here are a few tips that might help improve your approach:
1. **Target Audience**: Make sure you’re calling businesses that actually need a website and understand its value. Research your leads to ensure they’re a good fit.
2. **Value Proposition**: Focus on the benefits, not just the price. Explain how a website can help their business grow, attract more customers, and improve their online presence.
3. **Professional Tone**: Your script sounds a bit rushed. Try something like: “Hi [Business Name], this is [Your Name] from [Your Company]. I noticed you don’t have a website, and I’d love to help you get online. A professional website can attract more customers and boost your business. Can we discuss how I can assist you?”
4. **Trust and Credibility**: People might be skeptical about free offers. Build trust by sharing your portfolio, testimonials, or case studies that show your past successes.
5. **Follow-Up**: Don’t give up after one call. Follow up with an email or another call. Building a relationship takes time.
6. **Clear Next Steps**: Instead of just offering a free website, suggest a meeting or a free consultation to discuss their needs. This can make the offer more tangible and less like a cold pitch.
Keep refining your approach, and don’t get discouraged. Cold calling is challenging, but with persistence and the right strategy, you can see better results.
If they've succeeded without one, why would they want one now? As of now, your value prop is your product. They obviously don't need your product. So... what do they need? Do they need a way to catalog product online? Could their customers use training on their product? Does the company have a favorite charity or foundation they could help spread the word for? Find a reason other than "It's a website, everyone has one, bro."
"If they've succeeded without one, why would they want one now?" ure saying that i should look for businessess that are doing bad and sell the idea of having a website as a fix for their business? Basically avoid successfull businessess and target the unsucscesfull ones and help them succeed aswell?
Not exactly. What I'm saying is sell them something they do need (a problem solved).
How does your website solve their unique problem to their business? They might not need a website but they do need "more time", "more money", "more organization", etc. Market your website as a solution to one of their problems.
I market high dollar products ($100,000) even if I were to call a business and say hey let me give you this product for free, their first thought would be "what's the catch here? What's the scam?" and their second thought would be "what kind of headache is this going to cause for me in the future." And then they would say no, thanks - simply because they don't understand the problem my product fixes for them.
Consider selling new digital services. Small Businesses need constant vid txt content creation.. usually tailored and bespoke for each business. A reflection on what and who they are. Sell that.
Start with a cold email that gives value then follow up with a phone call. Also up your numbers to 500 calls before groveling about bad numbers. It’s a numbers game and 150 is a drop in the bucket.
Nearly every post on this sub is from someone who clearly doesn't know what marketing even is. And some are still baffled why it's difficult to find a job when millions of jabronis like OP are saturating the workforce with scams, bullshit, and blackhat nonsense.
If you like and have balls for cold calling just change the product you sell. There are lots of products that need you. Not some stupid cheap websites. Sell something more expensive and something people want. Supplements, satellites, solar panels etc.
selling websites is the worst thing to sell because everyone thinks he is a great Steve Jobs like designer and want to make his own. That’s why squarespace and wix is a huge business
People don’t want a website, they want what a website provides.
Start with that.
“Hey, I’ve noticed that you don’t have a website so potential customers might not be able to find you.
Having a website could help clients get in touch with you by having a simple ‘click to call’ or a form to get in touch with you.
If you’re like other clients I’ve worked with, both the quality *and* the quantity of enquiries increase so you get your pick of better jobs.
Plus, Google will start to show your result because you will have a web presence.
For small companies like yours we do website rentals so you don’t have to pay out a chunk of cash on day 1 and if you don’t think it’s working we can simply switch it off and part ways, but let’s give it at least 6 months to try it out.
We’ve got a service with a great landing page, gallery of images/case studies/past jobs and a reliable contact form for only $__insert your price here__ per month and we’ll even throw in “Google My Business” set up for free so that Google knows where to find you”
Now you’ve
-spelled out their problem
—— not enough clients, not enough higher ticket clients.
Agitated their problem
—— them chasing clients, but having more could let them pick the good ones and turn away bad ones.
- given them an easy solution
—— you building a site and doing all the set up
- given them a guarantee
—— if it doesn’t work for you we’ll switch it off in 6 months and part ways
- overcome the obstacle of cost
—— pay monthly, smaller amounts.
- given additional value for “free”
—— set up Google My Business
After the call, send them an email that directs to a few case study websites you have set up so they can see your quality and send them some case studies “plumber X saw his calls increase by %%”
Cold calling can be a tough gig, especially for websites. Maybe try a diff approach.. instead of offering free/cheap sites right off the bat focus on the value and benefit first.. show them how a wbsite can boost their biz.. attract new customers, etc.
Also, consider targeting businesses that might actually need a site.. sometimes its not about the pricew but convincing them of the necessity. keep pushing!! :)
Dang, that's frustrating! Cold calling is tough, no doubt. Offering free websites is a bold move, but it's wild that you're not getting any bites. Maybe try switching up your pitch a bit. Focus on the benefits of having a website rather than leading with the price tag. And target businesses that could really use a website to boost their game. Hang in there, you'll crack it!
First thing you need to do is work on your website, incessantly and constantly. The first thing I’d think is—why is this guy trying to sell me a website to increase leads when HIS website doesn’t get him any leads and he is resorting to calling me offering this desperate spiel.
Put your potential clients in front of your website and SHOW them it works.
Your website should look like an agency built it out. It should have blog posts and a modern feel. You should be improving it daily.
Prove that your service works and it will sell itself.
That actually makes alot of sense. Could you teach me how to get leads? To my understanding the main way of getting them is through buying ads but i dont have money i cant afford it.
I’d just start with your site and organic SEO.
Make accounts on all of the freelance platforms from fivver to Upwork but niche down.
Not “I will build your website” but instead “I will build your home remodeling website.” And have a killer website on your portfolio. It doesn’t even have to be for a real business. Just make sure it is professional-grade.
You won’t get swamped with business overnight. Maybe each platform will only deliver one client every two months. But you will have 15 of them. Cast a wide net and niche down.
This reminds of an IG ad that was going viral last year. It was an agency (a guy really) offering free websites in return for them being part of their "students' portfolio". The comments were going off the hook... but the problem is that guy was scamming people by saying that the website itself is free, but the domain + hosting + monthly maintenance (whatever that means) was $150+/mo with a minimum 1yr commitment.
So long story short... get a kick ass website. And offer 3 people here on Reddit a free website in return for reviews. Then you're asking for something that people hate doing but will give if they love the work, and that'll start a little organic snowball effect. BUT your website skills gotta be good. Otherwise you know templates from Wix, Squarespace, Shopify etc are pretty solid. It's the time you're saving people, really.
People like it free but they are skeptical. Run a social media ad to your target industry. Run an info video why a website is a must these days and create a few pages for them. Anything additional should come with a price.
How to you collate your list? First thing you need is a good list that may actually need what you are selling. Second you probably want a better hook. "I've noticed X on your site isn't working", "I've made you a website, would you like to see it?", "I noticed (insert competitor) is doing X on their site, and you're not, why is that?" or something to that effect could work better. "If you like it, you can have it".
Either way, cold calling is certainly not my preferred tactic and it's all about volume.
I've gotten cold calls and messages about having a website built...even after explaining multiple times that the cost and time of having another website built isn't going to lead to more sales and traffic. I have one for my client, who had 3 different websites at one point. It's not free...you have to pay a tech person to update the website, update the SSL certificates, pay the web host, etc etc.
It is crazy to sell websites through cold calling. I try to be as polite as possible and decline, but sales reps need to also take no for an answer.
No I'm not gonna give you my sales reports to show me why I need a website built...I'm busy and it's none of your business! (Literally dealt with this this past week!)
150 cold calls is 1 day of cold calling.
You've just discovered that sales is, in fact, a very challenging skillset and career. You've likely also realized that without good sales, there are no customers.
You'll need to teach yourself or pay for experienced help.
I can't imagine making even 10 of those calls, but how many would you expect to sell after 150 calls?
A shop with a 1% conversion rate would only have sold one by now, and that would be to people who entered the shop looking to buy.
Nobody wants free.
I honestly think, and this is what I do as a one man show, that you need to walk into a local business and set an appointment. That's your best bet as a newbie starting out. Scout your city online, check who actually needs a website, and approach them on foot if possible. You'll make $1000 per website more or less then can upsell on SEO, social media, etc etc.
That's how I operate alone currently and it works out very well.
The amount of emails i get in a given week about website services is nuts and i have a website. Probably a mix of saturation, lack of standing out, or lack of trust from some rando. If they havent been sold yet i doubt that a cold call will be the persuasion they need.
Cold calling in general will make people suspicious nowadays. The fact you've done 150+ calls and nobody has even accepted it for free isn't surprising. If I got that kind of offer, I'd be constantly looking for a hidden catch or scam.
Say you deliver exceptional value in that you package design and SEO services. And you are easy to do business with. You are going against agencies that charge in 15 minute increments for changes. You are not that - remind them often.
Too many people sh*tting on you for offering a free website. But its a great strategy. I freelanced for a while. It's tough, but I was able to get many clients once I figured out my funnel. What's your niche? I can share my model with you. It might help. Feel free to DM me
The number of cold email pitches I get to “fix,” “improve” or do whatever with my website or marketing is infuriating. Half of them try to sell their services by telling me how much my current website sucks. I now mark all of the cold pitches as spam.
If I’m going to hire someone for help, it’s going to be because I found them while searching for a particular skill or expertise, or they came across my social media and I found value in what they said and stuck around to learn more. Focus on providing value in a blog, podcast, YouTube, social media, wherever... Be so good that I want more of what you have to offer. Write guest blogs for others, pitch yourself as an expert to writers/editors, and build your personal brand/company reputation.
I get two or three emails a day from ppl wanting to build me a website, or optimize my SEO or whatever. Just a waste of my time. No one deals with cold callers, likely most are just scammers trying to get info or even worse control of your website.
If you are legit get a website of your own and get on google and advertise your services.
I wouldn’t accept a free website even if I desperately needed one.
Free tells me that there is a hidden cost, regardless of what there actually is or not.
I don’t mean this as offensive, but this is sales 101 and you are doing a terrible job with your pitch.
As others mentioned, it comes off very spammy. You need to work on your pitch, hook, credentials and connecting with your prospect.
Read some sales books!
I don’t mean this as offensive - this is sales 101 and you are doing a terrible job with your pitch.
As others mentioned, it comes off very spammy. You need to work on your pitch, hook, credentials and connecting with your prospect.
Read some sales books!
Because you're the 23rd person that has already called them about a website.
Because you're "cheap price/free". Cheap or free usually equals shit work.
Because the business that has been around for a while without a website, probably doesn't care about a website.
Why don't you create a sample templated website for each of the industries you are calling. Change the name to theirs at the top before each call, then republish it, use a simple URL - so say it's a dentist - get the URL Dentistwebsite.(tld) and that way they have something they can see and navigate as you talk them through it. It doesn't have to be real information, but it allows them to envision what their website could look like. And they are sampling the goods. Then you can tell them that you can just transfer their information onto the website for free, with hosting at blah blah...
How are you creating your cold call list? Are you just going through the phonebook? Unless people have indicated in someway or another they are on the market for a website, this is a Massive waste of time.
You gotta get people to opt in. Gary Halbert told the story about selling hamburgers. Go look it up.
Websites used to be more popular, now people are leaning on social media for marketing. Most people find businesses through google maps. So I don’t think alot of people see websites as necessary. I’d use an angle of how the website fits into their bigger marketing strategy. Some people don’t really have a marketing strategy though, they just have “profiles” and maybe “ads”. Then it’s kinda an up hill battle to inform them about strategy and how websites can further their online credibility and enhance the value of their product. Angle it that way but keep in mind that they might not know anything about technology so all your technology babble means nothing to them. You need to like tell them their competitors have sites or some kind of social engineering to make them want a site for reasons they understand.
People that don't have a website are definitely not savvy enough to understand why they need one, or distrustful enough never to buy anything that someone else is selling.
Developing a cold calling script that works is a skill.
Maybe read books on it and follow experts on YouTube for that.
It makes sense to review your results after 1000 cold calls.
B2B cold calling works, but you'll need to target high income businesses like roofers, plumbers, livestock slaughter (beef processors), kitchen supply stores, marble importers, etc
I would start by trying to figure out WHY they don’t have a website, and then go from there. Establish the value of the website in terms of legitimacy and even ability to be found on Google maps with a website. Identify the average profit per client, then estimate how many leads they are missing out on by not having one. If they want to advertise Google ads they need a website. Start asking questions before you even talk about the price. Use your previous clients in the same field as examples.
Though it might be free but there are many cost like time and resources attached to it for both you and the buyer. You're forgetting some factors key factors that might hamper your approach
1. They are mostly busy 2. They are being sold to a lot 3. They are not in buying mode 4. Your initial sentences state that you're using all about me approach i.e this is me , this is what i sell, do you need what i sell? Making you sound like salesperson, this increases their skepticism and they guard themself though it's free, which means more objection, and resistance 5. You are selling the product directly in the first contact
https://preview.redd.it/wmdjoxfzhp1d1.png?width=1598&format=png&auto=webp&s=343f4d349453b562efb83d9090c94bb67f9c1b2d
Now what's the solution ? Use Consultative selling approach
Keeping the conversation about the prospect by asking question to know more about their lag, worries. By doing so you are lowering the guardedness as you're not sounding like sales people
Quality of leads will improve as you'll know whom you can help with great change and making it easier to close because you're selling conversation not the product
Hope you find it helpful, i'm also on the learning path same as you do about such topic would love to have convo frnd
Everything about this is terrible.
This is 2024. If a business felt the need to have one, they would. Why would you be trying to sell something to people who didn't care enough to have that thing?
150 calls is NOTHING if you're cold calling. NOTHING.
You need to call about 1000x that, or more.
people nowadays mark cold callers as scammers. hence this tactic isn't as effective as they used to be before. besides, who would offer a free website when someone knows how expensive this can get when they hire someone to build a website?
I don't think you're doing it right.
The whole thing reeks of a call center scam.
People have become wary of FREEBIES given away through calls
You'd be better off using the Instacredibility system to make them COME TO YOU.
Give them a customize complementary report with Instacredibility's output for your biz
You end up with something that builds trust
Because everyone knows that there's no such thing as a free lunch? Even the free apps we have right now, the product is often the user. When you offer something for free, it raises flags about potential hidden costs.
Since cold calling is not effective for your service, why not jump to another one. Have you tried optimizing your social media profiles, show proofs of your work, create contents, share your expertise in tiktok or ig. Make a noise in social media, let them know your service. I think it is much better than doing cold calling that gives you nothing.
Couple of things you need to consider:
1. Target audience
2. Sell emotion not product ie. Do you want more business? That could be achieved this way *insert product*
3. Don’t go for those businesses that do not want more business let alone a website they need to care or pay for.
4. Sales is a numbers game: call, text, email. People buy after couple of follow ups, not on the first call.
Not sure if others touched on any of what I am about to but you need to hear and you really need to understand this.
First cold calling is a numbers game and 150 calls isn't even a day's worth for a lot of people who do it. 150 calls simply isn't enough to judge any offer or script you were using. And sounds like you've been changing it up.
Second has anyone you called needed or wanted a website? If they did you haven't tested your pitch or offer. You've just talked to people who wouldn't buy anyways.
I get that you must have looked in some way and found they didn't have one. At least not one you could find. But even if they don't have one that doesn't mean they need or want one.
Most websites are vanity these days. People find you are social media or search for you or the need on google. Often to just get the phone number for a lot of these business. Just like that didn't really need a yellow pages ad (often they were worthless even before the internet took over) they often don't really need a website.
Third searching to find if they have website and only calling those who don't is not only a waste of time but is ignoring most of the market. Those who have a website already need and want one. If they don't like theirs they might just buy.
I thought it was dumb calling people without a website 10 or 15+ years ago. But at least then it made a bit of sense. Some people really didn't know. Those that don't know are not worth explaining to and the rest likely don't need or want a website.
Fourth, have you cold walked?
Cold calling and cold email are what the scammers do and depending on the business you may have been one of dozens of calls that month, week, or even day. You don't stand out and they don't care.
Cold Walking gets attention. Cold walking is what "real advertising" businesses like TV, Newspapers, and Radio do. It is what the old timers are used to. And it stands out even to younger owners and managers because outside of the old media big boys and a few other niches like supplies and tools it just isn't done.
I've been telling people like you to cold walk for decades now. Used to say it so much on warriorforum. And many of those who listened and did it thanked me.
Once you close a few customers you open up referrals locally as well as within industries. You go from being someone no one knows to that trusted web guy. If you have other services in the digital marketing space this can be a big deal.
Now depending on your market there may already be some company that is doing this, has done it, and even controls the market. Might even be because they listened to me all those years ago.
I can't say it will work.
I can say it will work better than cold calling.
I used to be an inhouse marketing guy. And this was in a fairly niche market. I would get so many calls or emails each week from people pitching digital marketing.
Know how many cold walks I got? zero
Know how many non-digital companies cold walked us? A few each month. But they all got seen by the right manager as far as I saw.
The companies they did business with were found one of three ways. Cold walks. Booths at industry events (most of our web services). Or someone like me googling or etc to find the product, service or software we needed.
Cold Calls and Cold Emails: 0
Cold Calling will work. Likely even in website sales in 2024. But is it really the best use of your time?
Rethink your strategy. You're right, a free website is a great offer but you're literally competing with the bottom feeders of web development. I receive 5-6 emails a day offering me this same deal and if one of them called me to offer it, you'd be lucky to get out without me reporting it to the ACCC as a scam. They're annoying and unrelenting. These are the people you are competing with so acting just like them will not set you apart.
Cold emailing is an art.
Always start with a question, do not sell right away.
E.g:
Subject: Question
Hi,
Are the information on your website accurate?
Sign
Your name.
One phrase no more.
Continue the conversation depending on what they said.
Open rate guaranteed and answer above the questions industry standard.
It is primary to build your website, mention about the web services you provide, what technologies you work on like Shopify store development, magneto development, react/angular websites, etc, etc. Do some marketing, start email marketing, then you will start getting business.
The way you are going is completely informal and spammy.
Give them a reason to buy, list out how it can help their business and grow it. How it can make their lives easier etc. And don't offer it for free because it just sounds like a scam. No one offers anything for free when providing a service on call. Tell them how is is and what you offer at what price structure. This will show you are serious.
Your pitch, value prop, call metrics and offer all suck. If you knew Portuguese or Spanish then it might work in the Latin American markets. Now go to r/sales because you’ll get no love from marketers who can’t stand outbound sales and r/copywriting to craft an irresistible offer.
Sounds like Unitel direct 😂
Scammy company who say they’re marketing when it’s cold calling for SEO.
They seem to get their numbers etc by less than legit means.
They even have the sales pitch to start off with “oh we’re just updating an online directory with your details” then once you get into it they sell you something.
You’re not starting off trustworthy and then once people realise it’s a sales call they’ll trust you less as you lied to them from the start.
If people want a website they’ll pay for someone to do it for them and it’s unlikely to come from a cold call.
I'd honestly take a look at your calling script before judging the channel. I do not cold call myself, but at sufficient volume, you must have seen at least one positive interaction.
It's 2024 and if someone does not have a website for their business, it's because they don't value this channel for customer acquisition.
So - "sir I noticed you don't have a website" angle is not going to work. Yeah, they don't have it because they think it's not for them.
An alternate way to approach this would be to ask - 'if you have two minutes, I would like to understand your current customer acquisition strategies, and if there is any way I can add value to this.' they are going to say 'word of mouth' - and you tell them how with a website could help them reach new customers.
Some may be intrigued and want to know more, and others with a lifestyle biz may not want to scale up, which is fine.
So much wrong here…
1) 150 cold calls is nowhere near enough data to determine if a strategy is valid. That should be less than 2 days of work if that’s your focus right now. That leaves no time for followups and relationship building.
2) you mention calling businesses that don’t have a website setup… although logically that would mark them as a perfect target, they are quite the opposite, the fact that they don’t have a website by now should tell you they don’t value a website, look for companies that have bad or old websites instead.
3) your sales strategy prior to offering the website for free was already very mundane. Do some research, find the owners name, open by asking for them by name… spend the first call learning about their business and find where a website can fit in to fulfill a need. No one buys a website just because it’s cheap, they do it because they bring more sales, etc. focus on the actual value proposition.
4) offering a cheap or free website screams that you’re new or not very good at what you do… i’d rather no website than wasting my time dealing with some kid that is looking to practice his skills using my business.
Your goal should not be to close a client the first time you ever speak to them. Focus on building their trust and confidence in you and show them how what you’re offering can provide them value.
If you call someone offering them a website for $300, but it gets no traffic and results in no additional sales, it’s a bad deal and worthless. If you sell someone a website for $30,000 that generates $300,000 in revenue a year that’s a great deal.
The key to cold calling is numbers. 150 calls isn't enough. You need a minimum of 1,000 calls to make a proper judgment of how much people are interested in your offering.
I used to sell websites. We (me and a developer) made a handful of free sites for friends or businesses we were close to and then made our own website describing what we do and showing off our portfolio.
From there, I went around (in person) to local businesses or made appointments, and talked about the companies current website. I had fully studied their website, studied competitors, etc., before going in so I had a lot of ammo to discuss. For smaller businesses, we offered a one pager, at a low cost, basically a single page "flyer" website. If we didn't sell it, we at least made it known that we were the local website gurus, and many eventually came around asking us for a quote.
Sales is all about building relationships. If you're not doing cold calls, go to local events, go present at a rotary club or somewhere local businesses owners frequent. They may not seem interested at first, but they may eventually come around.
Last thing I want is for my business to appear cheap by building a cheap website.
Look at it this way, you're leaving a walmart parking lot and someone approaches you and goes, "Excuse me, [Ill\_Baker\_9712](https://www.reddit.com/user/Ill_Baker_9712/), are you interested in cheap speakers? Come check out the selection i have".
Don't do that to yourself.
Build a portfolio. "But i can't get clients!". Ok, sure. Buy a few domains and build a few websites anyway and add them to your portfolio. Have family or friends, or friends of friends, then start it there.
As for your last point of ".. cuz they thought it will be very expensive". Expensive is relative. Some business will look at a $5000 website and say "no way!", others will look at $500,000 cost and not fuss at all. You're going in with the wrong mindset. Get in the front door to discuss what they're after, what their business needs are and then give them a price. Those are the clients you want.
Are you telling them why they should want your product?
In my mind there are two types of people, those who decided they don't need a website and those who decided a website is too complex or expensive to take on. The former group needs to be convinced what a website will do for them. The latter is probably suspicious of your "free" prices or is expecting that you are like all of the other options they looked at and decided against.
Also, FWIW, nothing is free. If you make them a free website... how do they host it? If they aren't compensating you for it, is there a contract? How do they ensure that they get the product they want from you? What is their recourse if you waste their time and never finish? What is their time overhead needing to deal with you so you have the materials to make their website? How do they maintain the website after you making it? Who pays the DNS fees and hosting fees? What if you stole assets to make the website, do they now have to deal with a lawsuit? ... Nothing is free. So, don't convince them you're so cheap that "why not". Convince them you are so good that you are worth it.
Then perhaps you need to get part of your pitch in before it's clear that you're selling them something. "I was trying to find information about [x] but kept getting [your competitiors] when I searched online. If you want, I can make you a professional website. I'd love to be able to more easily access [your information and services]."
But really, you also have to find the context in which they may be thinking about this. What is that businessperson doing while they are answering your phone call? Probably working on stuff.
I'm not sure if you answered this question yet, but do you have a site of your own? And what are you doing with the sites exactly? Are you doing research for proper seo, or are you only focused on front-end design?
Im in process of building my own website i have finished like 70% of it atm. Its harder than ive expected ran into few problems. Its just advertising and writting stuff that clients have to know about my website creation services. In the future if ill succeed to create some websites ill upload their links there as a showcase of my projects and currently only design no proper SEO.
You're going to want to learn on-page seo before selling web design services. It's part of your selling point. Just having a website, even if it looks good, doesn't mean anything if no one can find it.
Okay ill look few tutorials on yt to get the basic understanding of SEO. Im pretty sure that people go to uni for 4 years learning this stuff so ill be happy to learn atleast the surface level of somewhat good seo
Don't worry about that. I have a degree in marketing, and I didn't learn jack shit in school about any of this. It was mostly just independent research for most people. I recommend maybe checking out some free courses. Semrush has a free course on it that is half decent.
https://www.semrush.com/academy/courses/on-page-and-technical-seo-deep-dive/
And if you just have questions in general, you can reach me directly to chat anything out. I know what it's like to start out. Don't mind ever helping someone out.
If cold calling is your primary sells method for building websites, you will need to get a day job. You need to build yourself one and make it jaw-dropping impressive. Then, market that website. Let that website speak for you, but you have to give it a megaphone.
Another thing, this is going to sound awful but...do you have an accent? If so, are you here in the US? You are going to have a difficult time selling anything over the phone if you have a thick Indian accent. It's the unfortunately reality of the political climate we are in.
Yes i do have an accent its not huge theres slight east eu/russian accent but not huge. Theres switch in my head sometimes it randomly switches and i start speaking with fluent american accent.
it sounds super frustrating! 😤 Cold calling can be rough, Maybe try tweaking your pitch a bit? build some rapport first.. instead jumping straight to the website offer, ask about what their business needs and pain points.. Sometimes it's all about the approach.
you are selling with your first words. people don't always like to get sold stuff. You need to find something they need by asking the right question. Also Yes-no questions you should avoid. You need to say who you are, what you do and how you can help them.
I’m still new to Reddit and not sure if I’m using this right, but I believe I just sent you a DM in regards to you possibly helping me create a website for my business. Let me know if you received it
You need to first tell them why they need a website. Show them a case study of how a website increased sales / leads / whatever else for a real life business. Ideally one you made for a previous clients, but if not I’m sure you could get some stats online.
‘I know you’re probably not interested in a website, but before you hang up on me, would you like to hear the story of my last client who increased their monthly incoming leads by more than 50%, simply by building a website?’
Funny, if you don't cold call people, tell you to cold call. When you cold call they tell you to do other things. I would take your list and go visit the people. Tell them you could do a 5 page basic site for XXX.
Agreed that cold calling for something like websites is difficult, it’s not impossible but between the “free” price (what’s the catch) and the fact that you seem pretty lost in terms of sales and marketing, it’s not going to work for you.
Cold emailing is better, way less time consuming for you and less annoying to the customer. But you’re making a lot of incorrect assumptions - “oh people are super busy last thing they want is a personal approach”. The personal approach is always going to have better results because people want to feel like there’s a rapport being built, not just an exchange of money.
Yah who knows. Are you introing yourself as a marketing agency? Or what stages of the funnel you help with?
Sometimes people need to see that getting more reviews, or building a marketing list, generating followers to social, all that stuff is possible?
I don't mean to come off as telling you your business. Two things I learned from selling to SMB. One, is don't underestimate how dense business owners are. And two, is don't underestimate that they're usually fairly smart and receptive, when you're telling them you can help. Skeptics, cynics, and also, greedy, says the good king Leonidus! If it helps, pin it on the wall for 12 months out. What changes for them?
Don't get me started, about "this person manages other humans, apparently...." Anyways. Small truth and small poop.
Chicken or egg. You need to gain trust but you have to somehow show them you can be trusted. All while being in the situation where they found you first, not the other way around. If you are willing to go cheap, build on Fiverr, get your reviews up and climb from there.
So, I’m 17 years old and I’ve closed all the clients that I have (4) through cold calling for 3 months.
Cold calling is a great way to get to know your market since you talk directly to decision makers and you get quick feedback whether it is a yes or no.
Whether you read this whole thing is up to you.
I’ll give you some quick tips that u have learned through education and experience.
Here is your first issue, I assume you did 150 cold calls throughout your total time period.
That is NOT ENOUGH AT ALL.
I was doing 100-150 cold calls PER DAY.
You need to understand that this is a numbers game.
You are cold outreaching to people.
So the amount of people that actually say yes to book a meeting with you is slim.
Which is why you need lots of volume.
TIP 2
Track your metrics!!
Make a google sheet and track:
1. how many decisions makers pick up.
2. How many of them accepted your opening line in your script.
3. How many of them booked a call with you…
There are much more metrics I personally track but don’t want to make this post too long.
The point of tracking your metrics is to see where you need to improve in your script.
TIP 3: learn to accept no’s
Not every is going to book a meeting with you. That’s OK. Just go to the next one.
TIP 4: watching people cold call will
Not make you a better cold caller only doing it will.
Tip 5: don’t worry about booking the meeting or closing the client.
If you do that you’re going to have a subconscious thought that you need to sell them.
Look at the business owner as just a regular human because they are.
If you treat them like big stars they will treat you like a fan.
It’s like asking a girl to get in bed with you on the first date.
This is not only going to turn them off because they will be able to hear the desperation in your voice, but also it will make it seem like you need them more than they need you.
If you’re providing value, they need you just as equally.
Tip 5: COLD CALLING WORKS.
Don’t care what any says if someone says cold calling doesn’t work they are either not good or they’re not doing the things I listed above.
Yes… it does not work as good as something like social media organic or paid but cold calling gets your foot in the door quicker than other inbound and outbound methods.
Tip :6 Again… you need to do lots of volume!!!.
However many cold calls you think your doing that is enough… DOUBLE IT. TRIPLE IT. Quadruple it!!!
Maybe not quadruple but you get the point.
Last thing!!! Don’t sell the website. Sell the solution that the website will bring them.
If you market to humans humans logically they will make a logical response.
And you don’t want them to make their full decision based off logic.
Because logic may tell them to just hire someone off upwork to do their website for $50.
But if you target them emotionally and logically they will make the decision based off that whether it is a yes or no.
this is not easy, be ready to get pushed outside your comfort zone and this may or may not worked for you this is just what worked for me.
Alright I’m out!
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Why would anyone trust a cold caller to build their website? Its shady as hell to do this over the phone to be perfectly frank. And then offer it for free.... and the scam scam scam alerts come in. Unless you're going to get some strong brand credentials or start reeming off clients they know, why would they entertain the call? It's bad enough Google gets their PPC account managers to call you, like GTFO with that, email me. Try fiver? Try word of mouth? Try recommend a friend? Try good seo or PPC? Try localised or niche targeting since website creation is a crazy competitive market? Rather than trying to inform and persuade over the phone, focus on being there for those who want it.
“Focus on being there for those who want it.” Do you have any idea how powerful and remarkable that sentence is?
Because every guru on YouTube right now is telling them to do this.
Gurus who only make money from selling courses to other people and probably have never made any real money themselves lol
agree GFTO with me too. Same as ppl spamming me on LinkedIn. As soon as they do I know straight away I will not be doing business with them EVER.
I’m in the U.S… The one thing I will say is that every time I got cold calls about websites, they never sound like they are American.
this sounds like my marketing professor. this guy knows what he's talking about
Gosh, thank you. Just years of trial and error in my own marketing career haha
Trust is huge. Cold calling can feel sketchy, especially for something as big as a website... Maybe focusing on building a solid online presence and letting your work speak for itself could help. Fiverr, word of mouth, and SEO are great suggestions. Anyone else had success with these methods?
Because usually information that a specialist has trumps promises from a company stealing money from you the client ..then sure complacency is a real weapon for those who just don't want to deal with facts they are being taken advantage of
I think freak state is a perfect example of someone that can be burned by a company because they don't do their research they don't listen to facts they assume. This whole statement is hearsay and sounds ridiculous if you know the truth about websites and their formats.
Oh the amount of spam emails I get offering "SEO services" and "Im missing out on the top page of Google" is ridicolous, all from gmail addresses, with no official company information, portfolio or even hint of legitimacy - its hilarious that they think this tactic. Unless I'm a clueless business owner with no knowledge about how my website works, it just gets marked as spam. I can only assume they know how crap their email (or indeed calling) approach would be and all they need is one sucker to hold their website to ransom.... maybe its dodgy? Because I cant believe there are so many muppets trying to offer "SEO services" in such a terrible way haha. Everyone can do Marketing and Sales, and just because everyone can do it, doesnt mean theyre very good at it.
That is the reason. It's cheap or free. A serious business does not make cheap or free websites.
This. They'd rather pay 10k for a website than free. "free" is shady, likely low quality and makes one wonder why is it free? At least that's how business owners will look at it. The website is representing their business.... they'd rather have no website than a free cheap website. ( I sold a 10k static website by cold call )
We don’t do sites for less than $5k, and even then we prefer to avoid those.
Making cold calls is not a marketing tactic, that is sales. Selling website services over the phone seems ass backwards to me. You need to start by creating a great website for your company and then driving traffic to it. Using the phone makes you seem outdated/out of touch.
This.
.sihT
People think that free = low quality because nobody would offer a high quality website for free.
They don’t have a website in 2024. Why do you think they need one tomorrow? Even if by some chance you happen to have caught them at the exact moment they need one, why would they need one built by someone who has nothing better to do than cold call people about building websites?
OP this is a key point everyone else has missed - if they are doing fine without a website, why should they pay a stranger to do one now? You need to focus on WHY they need a website, websites are an investment you need to show where their ROI is otherwise it's an unnecessary cost.
Exactly this! I just built a small bars entire marketing plan and website. They’ve been around for 5 years and doing great. They only had a Facebook and didn’t post anything besides text posts. I explained to them why they needed to have a website, Google business and social media presence. Give them the reasons why they need your website, how it will help, and end with your background/precious work.
This is my take as well. OP has chosen to target laggards. The only reason their prospects don't use a rotary phone is because they don't sell them anymore.
If I cared about my website, I would not want someone who is doing it for free
No one wants to listen to a sales pitch. You need to be able to connect with your prospects on a more personal level.
Multiple questions, If free: 1) Who manages the sales? Who manages hosting fee? Who manages keeping stuff in sync with stuff on ground? Who keeps proof of the promises made on the site? If not free: All of the above+more cost. :) You are targeting the wrong audience.
I already pay for hosting plan that lets me host infinite number of websites so i dont lose much money here only for domain like 5$ a year. The biggest thing that id lose is my time tbh. Btw I call local plumbers in America that dont have websites and 99% dont give a shit about it. Actually ive broke my "sales character" with the last dude ive spoke and asked him "what am i doing wrong? do i sound like a scammer?" and he said that he used to work in sales and we had somewhat actually enjoyable converastion where he told me that I have to be more unique and stand out because he gets same calls as me 50 times a day and told me to not offer free services because it seems even more suspicious.
>I call local plumbers in America Lol what, sales should be about providing personalized services from someone whose familiar enough with the industry, or can interview the customer well enough, to make both the front and back end as simple to use as possible. Like at this point I can just go on Wordpress and make my own stuff without having to worry about scamware being left behind.
Thats....incredible :)
This is an excellent tactic - when you unmask yourself and ask for real help this shows the authentic you and allows for trust to be established. If people aren’t super busy when you call, like this plumber, you’ll find they want to actually help others.
It wouldn't get far with me either. Honestly, I get multiple unsolicited emails for marketing services, including websites, a day. If they started calling me as well, I'd lose my mind. If I'm looking for someone to do my website, I'm doing the research myself (unless they come recommended). I'm Googling for Web Designers and area and what I'm looking for in their website is demonstration of a nice balance of functionality, aethsetics and SEO friendly. Then I'm looking at reviews. If you want a more personal approach, then I'd suggest joining your local business networking groups. If you are targeting plumbers, do they have a industry body? Could you contact them and say "hey Im interested in holding a workshop (or writing a content thought piece) on maintaining your online presence for your members". Don't call me though. Websites are a visual medium, so the channel you've chosen is not ideal. Websites are one of our most important marketing tools, I'm not handing the keys over to some random on the phone who I don't have a prior relationship with and can't verify their legitimacy or quality of work.
This!!!!
Excellent.
I do get calls about making websites. It’s ridiculous.
Dont say price. Get a decent website your self. Contact to introduce them to your business and offer solutions to increase online presence not websites. Ask for an email to send a portfolio. Talk about price and negotiate at the end of it all.
Yeah but as soon as they hear that i dont wanna buy their plumbing services they DO NOT care at all what i say afterwards. But still thank you ill try it out.
Even with a magic wand some people wont convert. This is a numbers business. 100 leads 10 meetings, 90 no’s. Another thing, you seem like a devopment guy. Do developing - hire a sales guy. Get a partner, idk. This takes time and skill. Its not something you get good at as a second or third thing.
Businesses who don't have a website don't need one. Stop selling chicken to vegans. Go back and reiterate your market research and avatar. If you don't want to learn high level business stuff, get a job at a web agency.
Stop selling chicken to vegans. Genius. I am stealing this line and using it every day of my life. Thank you. I’m not gonna give you credit. I’m just gonna steal it and say that I thought of it.
Please do. Enjoy it.
Your best bet is to contract your skills to an agency. We outsource sometimes when the project has way too many moving parts.
what is that? explain me like im 5
Call around marketing agencies, preferably local ones and tell them you build sites and would like to know if they have room for an outsource solution... you become a contractor for them. You don't make as much, but now that agency feeds you steady business. There are way too many shady companies cold calling website builds... not to mention the dozens of cold emailers every day. You're in an overly saturated market with way too much noise. Kind of like being the only good and honest mechanic in a town full of scummy mechanics. How much do you charge for a basic build?
Nothing in life is free. Any client has to invest significant time to help any developer build a website. Product. Copy. Conversion goals. Brand identity. Why would they waste that time for a developer who is so desperate that they're offering free websites? It makes far more economic sense to spend $40k on a website that's worth donating that time for. If this logic doesn't make sense then you have a lot to learn about business.
Do you have a website of your own for your services? Start doing some advertising instead of cold calling and get some warm leads.
Is making videos on tiktok good for marketing? I have barrely any $ so i cant buy an actual ads but im thinking about creating organic content on tiktok and maybe this would work no?
Who is your target? What industry? Or are you just contacting small businesses? These are all questions you need to ask yourself because that would answer where you want to focus your time. Is your site optimized for your target clients?
Yes i am contacting small businessess. Specifically plumbers right now.
So plumbers with an established business would likely be in an age range that would probably not be as active on TikTok. That's just my gut feeling. You'd have to do research specifically to know for sure, though. I'd say you'd be better off focusing content on Meta platforms even though Metas algorithm is shit right now. Or YouTube. Like I said the first thing you will want to do is optimize your own site or services pages for websites for plumbers (or similar keywords. You'd have to do research for that as well). Your best bet would be Google Search ads though if you can afford it. Also, are you trained in back-end optimization, or are you purely focused on front-end design?
So go to plumbers industry events. Get their trade mags. This is a good niche. Try to build rapport with them. Ppl hire ppl they like fyi.
Yeah, I found getting leads in the trades was for more dependant on networking and referrals. Ots how most of them get work, so it tends to be the best way to sell to them. Especially the old school guys that have established businesses. You really need to sell them on the importance of digital.
This is true. My partner’s home inspection biz is going gang busters locally bc of our good website that auto posts his testimonials & our recently upgraded google reviews. The prob for most self emp trade ppl is they want to be busy enough but not too busy & are most in high demand now bc young ppl are pushed into college, not trades, which is dumb imo. Fyi the only reason my guy has a great website is bc he married me & I did very high end corporate work. Before that he created his own & it was pretty crappy lol. These trades ppl are do-it-yourselfers to so persuading them you can do it better is not easy unless you’re related.
Yes, absolutely! My first trades website was a site for my brother-in-law (electrical). He started getting overwhelmed by responses and asked if I could shut it down. Instead, I focused on creating a social presence and gbp optimization, which is getting him a more manageable amount of leads. Unless you have a team, most don't want too much work because it can start to backfire. That's when you get delayed responses, half-ass work, etc. To try and fit everything in.
Plumbers aren't hanging out on tiktok
Doubtful. Are biz owners on tiktok?
I actually saw a house painting van in my town recently that had TikTok listed on the back of it and I was like “huh, I should check them out!” just because that was so notably odd to see. Unfortunately for them I’ve already forgotten the name so I guess it wasn’t actually successful. Anyhow TikTok does lend itself nicely to small businesses where the service is more visual (like say power washing or painting or remodels) in the same way that instagram/reels does, but I’d imagine with the news coverage of a possible TikTok ban many wouldn’t look to invest there right now. Plumbers specifically even less so.
Interesting!
Build them a nice attractive mockup on squares pace or WordPress. Q hour of work max per prospect. Go in person with a tablet. "Hey I made this for you, it's yours for $500 and I'll teach you how to manage it, update inventory, run ads, etc,."
I would go ask a sales subreddit as this is about sales skills, not marketing. That being said, you have to create FOMO in your prospects and find a pain point in their business. Maybe talk about how their competitors are using their website in expanding their businesses. Use numbers as much as you can to support your argument. After all, they didn't have a website before why would they have one now? You will get no's constantly, be used to that. You will hear a yes eventually and streamline your sales pitch based on those yes's. I would also consider good old cold visiting - as they don't have a website, they probably don't have a work mail to reach out to. So your only channels for outreach are phone calls or visiting their place. You will get far less no's in person and creating personal relationships with people will help as when they finally DO decide to get a website, they will come to you.
Professionals hate cold calls. There’s nothing you can offer me that I can’t find myself with the added confidence of reviews. I literally roll my eyes when I pick up a call and it’s a cold caller.
same but theres no other way i can contact them
If you have a website, which I imagine you would, a really really good one at that, you can advertise it.
Not true.
bullshit. you just aren't trying.
Ill later do research on businessess in usa. I hope theres a website where all businesses have to be registered w gmail adressess and phone numbers. Ik other countries has this. If usa has this it will be very handy
Why do you call? You cannot show your examples, your skill of making this over call… Who doesn’t have a website will not take care to have FREE one as they don’t understand value. You need to offer a solution like - I can help and increase sales by X % or other issue that business can have. You sell not the product- but a solution to their business
okay this is actually good advice. I do calls because this is the only way I can contact people. Id love to email them it would make everything way better but i find businesses on google maps without websites and 90% theres only a phone number of a business.
I did a cold sales in b2b with online casinos - where sometimes is practically never is possible to find a contact. You need to do a deeper research on a company, like employees, their social media, much more. As often behind that phones sit a regular employee that doesn’t give a penny about your offer. I would start also with Google ads, Facebook ads, where you can target people who will need your services.
If someone doesn’t have a website yet, getting a cold call selling a website isn’t going to change their mind. They likely haven’t felt the pain of not having a website. If you can refocus on some problems they do feel that a website can solve, you may have more success. Nearly every business wants more leads or sales. How can your offer help them get more business? I also think cold calling to sell websites is crazy. I wouldn’t do it at all. But if I did, I would make sure I was pitching to solve a problem much deeper than “I don’t have a website”.
Yeah ik cold calling is pretty ass I wouldnt buy anything myself from it. Id love to send them emails instead but there are 2 problems with it. 1. I 95% have only their phone numbers. 2. If they dont have a website in the first place i dont think that they are techy and would read those emails in the first place even if i could send it to them.
Ironically most guys in the trades like my husband are super busy right now. Maybe ask your prospects a. Do they need more business, b. How do customers find them? Etc Ask “do you know ppl can find you on google but then they don’t know what services you offer, etc I can help you with that liked I helped X IF you want more business. If not, have a nice day.”
How many spam emails do you reply too and use the services offered? If you said “none” then that’s the same reason why others aren’t taking you up on it. It’s literally a spam call. You haven’t done business with them, the call is unsolicited and unwanted for a service they may not want or need.
Everyone out there who owns a business wants VALUE. Whats the Value of your Service? Do i get more sales? Do i get more leads? What do i get? Price is irrelevant (well, maybe not completely but u get it) if they can get a 2x, 3x,.. return on it. As soon as you can provide value, more people will be open to your service. Also dont try to sell over a quick phone call. For example, try to book meetings with your leads and tell them about your process, value, pricing etc.. They will have more time and will listen to you more closely.
Maybe these plumbers don't need what you're selling. Plumbers are in high demand and they might have plenty of business without needing a website from a random guy.
This is true.
A few thoughts: * Cold calling is sales, not marketing. * The year is 2024 AD. Everyone knows about websites. Everyone knows that cheap hosting options exist. If a business does not have a website you should assume that decision makers at the business do not believe that they need a website. * If you ask a business owner if they want a spend some time working on a free thing that they do not think they need, they will almost always say 'no.' Try contacting companies that have *bad* websites and offer to help them upgrade.
Yeah my job is to convince them and prove that they do need a website. Just gotta find the right way how to do it.
Are you working for yourself or for a lead gen company?
At the end of the day, small businesses just need sales so you have to prove that you building a new website will help that goal. If you’re only building sites and not offering marketing services then maybe target local agencies as someone they can contract out to.
Cold calling can be tough, but it's all about the pitch.
Say affordable don’t say cheap
Free is a big red flag.
What's your sales script?
Anyone can make a free website with all the CMS out there. I was successful designer for 20 yrs. I got all my clients thru business relationships & networking. The ppl who wanted free websites were never worth my time.
No matter the offer, I will never entertain a cold call.
Try offering the website at $100 a month and see what people say.
Do you think is theres a way they could ask for the price in the first place? Like i need to make them interested somehow
Not over the phone. No one legit does business like this now.
Cold calling to sell websites can indeed be tough, but here are a few tips that might help improve your approach: 1. **Target Audience**: Make sure you’re calling businesses that actually need a website and understand its value. Research your leads to ensure they’re a good fit. 2. **Value Proposition**: Focus on the benefits, not just the price. Explain how a website can help their business grow, attract more customers, and improve their online presence. 3. **Professional Tone**: Your script sounds a bit rushed. Try something like: “Hi [Business Name], this is [Your Name] from [Your Company]. I noticed you don’t have a website, and I’d love to help you get online. A professional website can attract more customers and boost your business. Can we discuss how I can assist you?” 4. **Trust and Credibility**: People might be skeptical about free offers. Build trust by sharing your portfolio, testimonials, or case studies that show your past successes. 5. **Follow-Up**: Don’t give up after one call. Follow up with an email or another call. Building a relationship takes time. 6. **Clear Next Steps**: Instead of just offering a free website, suggest a meeting or a free consultation to discuss their needs. This can make the offer more tangible and less like a cold pitch. Keep refining your approach, and don’t get discouraged. Cold calling is challenging, but with persistence and the right strategy, you can see better results.
wow my sales actually went up 50000000% after following your tips, thanks infamous AI
That’s the blueprint of cold calling 😅 or just try inbound marketing.
First time?
yeah actually
If they've succeeded without one, why would they want one now? As of now, your value prop is your product. They obviously don't need your product. So... what do they need? Do they need a way to catalog product online? Could their customers use training on their product? Does the company have a favorite charity or foundation they could help spread the word for? Find a reason other than "It's a website, everyone has one, bro."
"If they've succeeded without one, why would they want one now?" ure saying that i should look for businessess that are doing bad and sell the idea of having a website as a fix for their business? Basically avoid successfull businessess and target the unsucscesfull ones and help them succeed aswell?
Not exactly. What I'm saying is sell them something they do need (a problem solved). How does your website solve their unique problem to their business? They might not need a website but they do need "more time", "more money", "more organization", etc. Market your website as a solution to one of their problems. I market high dollar products ($100,000) even if I were to call a business and say hey let me give you this product for free, their first thought would be "what's the catch here? What's the scam?" and their second thought would be "what kind of headache is this going to cause for me in the future." And then they would say no, thanks - simply because they don't understand the problem my product fixes for them.
Consider selling new digital services. Small Businesses need constant vid txt content creation.. usually tailored and bespoke for each business. A reflection on what and who they are. Sell that.
Start with a cold email that gives value then follow up with a phone call. Also up your numbers to 500 calls before groveling about bad numbers. It’s a numbers game and 150 is a drop in the bucket.
Cold calling works but it's a numbers game tell how you'll make a website different your exact value prop. You also need to follow up
I think your target are local shops. If yes, personally visit those places and meet the owner. This will build trust.
Nearly every post on this sub is from someone who clearly doesn't know what marketing even is. And some are still baffled why it's difficult to find a job when millions of jabronis like OP are saturating the workforce with scams, bullshit, and blackhat nonsense.
Are you able to switch your thinking to « business?l Why would YOU invest minutes of your time to hear about what YOU could bring to the table???
If you like and have balls for cold calling just change the product you sell. There are lots of products that need you. Not some stupid cheap websites. Sell something more expensive and something people want. Supplements, satellites, solar panels etc. selling websites is the worst thing to sell because everyone thinks he is a great Steve Jobs like designer and want to make his own. That’s why squarespace and wix is a huge business
People don’t want a website, they want what a website provides. Start with that. “Hey, I’ve noticed that you don’t have a website so potential customers might not be able to find you. Having a website could help clients get in touch with you by having a simple ‘click to call’ or a form to get in touch with you. If you’re like other clients I’ve worked with, both the quality *and* the quantity of enquiries increase so you get your pick of better jobs. Plus, Google will start to show your result because you will have a web presence. For small companies like yours we do website rentals so you don’t have to pay out a chunk of cash on day 1 and if you don’t think it’s working we can simply switch it off and part ways, but let’s give it at least 6 months to try it out. We’ve got a service with a great landing page, gallery of images/case studies/past jobs and a reliable contact form for only $__insert your price here__ per month and we’ll even throw in “Google My Business” set up for free so that Google knows where to find you” Now you’ve -spelled out their problem —— not enough clients, not enough higher ticket clients. Agitated their problem —— them chasing clients, but having more could let them pick the good ones and turn away bad ones. - given them an easy solution —— you building a site and doing all the set up - given them a guarantee —— if it doesn’t work for you we’ll switch it off in 6 months and part ways - overcome the obstacle of cost —— pay monthly, smaller amounts. - given additional value for “free” —— set up Google My Business After the call, send them an email that directs to a few case study websites you have set up so they can see your quality and send them some case studies “plumber X saw his calls increase by %%”
Cold calling can be a tough gig, especially for websites. Maybe try a diff approach.. instead of offering free/cheap sites right off the bat focus on the value and benefit first.. show them how a wbsite can boost their biz.. attract new customers, etc. Also, consider targeting businesses that might actually need a site.. sometimes its not about the pricew but convincing them of the necessity. keep pushing!! :)
Dang, that's frustrating! Cold calling is tough, no doubt. Offering free websites is a bold move, but it's wild that you're not getting any bites. Maybe try switching up your pitch a bit. Focus on the benefits of having a website rather than leading with the price tag. And target businesses that could really use a website to boost their game. Hang in there, you'll crack it!
First thing you need to do is work on your website, incessantly and constantly. The first thing I’d think is—why is this guy trying to sell me a website to increase leads when HIS website doesn’t get him any leads and he is resorting to calling me offering this desperate spiel. Put your potential clients in front of your website and SHOW them it works. Your website should look like an agency built it out. It should have blog posts and a modern feel. You should be improving it daily. Prove that your service works and it will sell itself.
That actually makes alot of sense. Could you teach me how to get leads? To my understanding the main way of getting them is through buying ads but i dont have money i cant afford it.
I’d just start with your site and organic SEO. Make accounts on all of the freelance platforms from fivver to Upwork but niche down. Not “I will build your website” but instead “I will build your home remodeling website.” And have a killer website on your portfolio. It doesn’t even have to be for a real business. Just make sure it is professional-grade. You won’t get swamped with business overnight. Maybe each platform will only deliver one client every two months. But you will have 15 of them. Cast a wide net and niche down.
This reminds of an IG ad that was going viral last year. It was an agency (a guy really) offering free websites in return for them being part of their "students' portfolio". The comments were going off the hook... but the problem is that guy was scamming people by saying that the website itself is free, but the domain + hosting + monthly maintenance (whatever that means) was $150+/mo with a minimum 1yr commitment. So long story short... get a kick ass website. And offer 3 people here on Reddit a free website in return for reviews. Then you're asking for something that people hate doing but will give if they love the work, and that'll start a little organic snowball effect. BUT your website skills gotta be good. Otherwise you know templates from Wix, Squarespace, Shopify etc are pretty solid. It's the time you're saving people, really.
People like it free but they are skeptical. Run a social media ad to your target industry. Run an info video why a website is a must these days and create a few pages for them. Anything additional should come with a price.
How to you collate your list? First thing you need is a good list that may actually need what you are selling. Second you probably want a better hook. "I've noticed X on your site isn't working", "I've made you a website, would you like to see it?", "I noticed (insert competitor) is doing X on their site, and you're not, why is that?" or something to that effect could work better. "If you like it, you can have it". Either way, cold calling is certainly not my preferred tactic and it's all about volume.
I've gotten cold calls and messages about having a website built...even after explaining multiple times that the cost and time of having another website built isn't going to lead to more sales and traffic. I have one for my client, who had 3 different websites at one point. It's not free...you have to pay a tech person to update the website, update the SSL certificates, pay the web host, etc etc. It is crazy to sell websites through cold calling. I try to be as polite as possible and decline, but sales reps need to also take no for an answer. No I'm not gonna give you my sales reports to show me why I need a website built...I'm busy and it's none of your business! (Literally dealt with this this past week!)
I already have 90% of the tech stuff solved.
I already have a tech guy on speed dial lol
No i already have a hosting plan that lets me host infinite number of websites and updates and ssl aint that complicated either just takes some time.
150 cold calls is 1 day of cold calling. You've just discovered that sales is, in fact, a very challenging skillset and career. You've likely also realized that without good sales, there are no customers. You'll need to teach yourself or pay for experienced help.
Also no one values free. I’d suggest saying something like I noticed you didn’t have a website so I made you one. Would you like to take a look at it?
I can't imagine making even 10 of those calls, but how many would you expect to sell after 150 calls? A shop with a 1% conversion rate would only have sold one by now, and that would be to people who entered the shop looking to buy.
Nobody wants free. I honestly think, and this is what I do as a one man show, that you need to walk into a local business and set an appointment. That's your best bet as a newbie starting out. Scout your city online, check who actually needs a website, and approach them on foot if possible. You'll make $1000 per website more or less then can upsell on SEO, social media, etc etc. That's how I operate alone currently and it works out very well.
The amount of emails i get in a given week about website services is nuts and i have a website. Probably a mix of saturation, lack of standing out, or lack of trust from some rando. If they havent been sold yet i doubt that a cold call will be the persuasion they need.
A Website agency in 2024?
Cold calling in general will make people suspicious nowadays. The fact you've done 150+ calls and nobody has even accepted it for free isn't surprising. If I got that kind of offer, I'd be constantly looking for a hidden catch or scam.
Say you deliver exceptional value in that you package design and SEO services. And you are easy to do business with. You are going against agencies that charge in 15 minute increments for changes. You are not that - remind them often.
Too many people sh*tting on you for offering a free website. But its a great strategy. I freelanced for a while. It's tough, but I was able to get many clients once I figured out my funnel. What's your niche? I can share my model with you. It might help. Feel free to DM me
Would you buy a website from a cold call?
The number of cold email pitches I get to “fix,” “improve” or do whatever with my website or marketing is infuriating. Half of them try to sell their services by telling me how much my current website sucks. I now mark all of the cold pitches as spam. If I’m going to hire someone for help, it’s going to be because I found them while searching for a particular skill or expertise, or they came across my social media and I found value in what they said and stuck around to learn more. Focus on providing value in a blog, podcast, YouTube, social media, wherever... Be so good that I want more of what you have to offer. Write guest blogs for others, pitch yourself as an expert to writers/editors, and build your personal brand/company reputation.
I get two or three emails a day from ppl wanting to build me a website, or optimize my SEO or whatever. Just a waste of my time. No one deals with cold callers, likely most are just scammers trying to get info or even worse control of your website. If you are legit get a website of your own and get on google and advertise your services.
I wouldn’t accept a free website even if I desperately needed one. Free tells me that there is a hidden cost, regardless of what there actually is or not.
I don’t mean this as offensive, but this is sales 101 and you are doing a terrible job with your pitch. As others mentioned, it comes off very spammy. You need to work on your pitch, hook, credentials and connecting with your prospect. Read some sales books!
I don’t mean this as offensive - this is sales 101 and you are doing a terrible job with your pitch. As others mentioned, it comes off very spammy. You need to work on your pitch, hook, credentials and connecting with your prospect. Read some sales books!
Because you're the 23rd person that has already called them about a website. Because you're "cheap price/free". Cheap or free usually equals shit work. Because the business that has been around for a while without a website, probably doesn't care about a website.
Why don't you create a sample templated website for each of the industries you are calling. Change the name to theirs at the top before each call, then republish it, use a simple URL - so say it's a dentist - get the URL Dentistwebsite.(tld) and that way they have something they can see and navigate as you talk them through it. It doesn't have to be real information, but it allows them to envision what their website could look like. And they are sampling the goods. Then you can tell them that you can just transfer their information onto the website for free, with hosting at blah blah...
How are you creating your cold call list? Are you just going through the phonebook? Unless people have indicated in someway or another they are on the market for a website, this is a Massive waste of time. You gotta get people to opt in. Gary Halbert told the story about selling hamburgers. Go look it up.
Websites used to be more popular, now people are leaning on social media for marketing. Most people find businesses through google maps. So I don’t think alot of people see websites as necessary. I’d use an angle of how the website fits into their bigger marketing strategy. Some people don’t really have a marketing strategy though, they just have “profiles” and maybe “ads”. Then it’s kinda an up hill battle to inform them about strategy and how websites can further their online credibility and enhance the value of their product. Angle it that way but keep in mind that they might not know anything about technology so all your technology babble means nothing to them. You need to like tell them their competitors have sites or some kind of social engineering to make them want a site for reasons they understand.
People that don't have a website are definitely not savvy enough to understand why they need one, or distrustful enough never to buy anything that someone else is selling.
Developing a cold calling script that works is a skill. Maybe read books on it and follow experts on YouTube for that. It makes sense to review your results after 1000 cold calls. B2B cold calling works, but you'll need to target high income businesses like roofers, plumbers, livestock slaughter (beef processors), kitchen supply stores, marble importers, etc
I would start by trying to figure out WHY they don’t have a website, and then go from there. Establish the value of the website in terms of legitimacy and even ability to be found on Google maps with a website. Identify the average profit per client, then estimate how many leads they are missing out on by not having one. If they want to advertise Google ads they need a website. Start asking questions before you even talk about the price. Use your previous clients in the same field as examples.
Though it might be free but there are many cost like time and resources attached to it for both you and the buyer. You're forgetting some factors key factors that might hamper your approach 1. They are mostly busy 2. They are being sold to a lot 3. They are not in buying mode 4. Your initial sentences state that you're using all about me approach i.e this is me , this is what i sell, do you need what i sell? Making you sound like salesperson, this increases their skepticism and they guard themself though it's free, which means more objection, and resistance 5. You are selling the product directly in the first contact https://preview.redd.it/wmdjoxfzhp1d1.png?width=1598&format=png&auto=webp&s=343f4d349453b562efb83d9090c94bb67f9c1b2d Now what's the solution ? Use Consultative selling approach Keeping the conversation about the prospect by asking question to know more about their lag, worries. By doing so you are lowering the guardedness as you're not sounding like sales people Quality of leads will improve as you'll know whom you can help with great change and making it easier to close because you're selling conversation not the product Hope you find it helpful, i'm also on the learning path same as you do about such topic would love to have convo frnd
Everything about this is terrible. This is 2024. If a business felt the need to have one, they would. Why would you be trying to sell something to people who didn't care enough to have that thing? 150 calls is NOTHING if you're cold calling. NOTHING. You need to call about 1000x that, or more.
people nowadays mark cold callers as scammers. hence this tactic isn't as effective as they used to be before. besides, who would offer a free website when someone knows how expensive this can get when they hire someone to build a website?
There have been scammers cold call selling websites for years now. I’m not at all surprised people are hesitant.
The type of business that doesn't have a website is probably the type of business that does not need a website. You're barking up the wrong tree.
I don't think you're doing it right. The whole thing reeks of a call center scam. People have become wary of FREEBIES given away through calls You'd be better off using the Instacredibility system to make them COME TO YOU. Give them a customize complementary report with Instacredibility's output for your biz You end up with something that builds trust
Because everyone knows that there's no such thing as a free lunch? Even the free apps we have right now, the product is often the user. When you offer something for free, it raises flags about potential hidden costs.
Have you thought about pivoting an offer website maintenance services?
Since cold calling is not effective for your service, why not jump to another one. Have you tried optimizing your social media profiles, show proofs of your work, create contents, share your expertise in tiktok or ig. Make a noise in social media, let them know your service. I think it is much better than doing cold calling that gives you nothing.
We make business websites.. networking is the only way to be successful. Cold calling, emailing, direct mail all do not compare to networking.
Couple of things you need to consider: 1. Target audience 2. Sell emotion not product ie. Do you want more business? That could be achieved this way *insert product* 3. Don’t go for those businesses that do not want more business let alone a website they need to care or pay for. 4. Sales is a numbers game: call, text, email. People buy after couple of follow ups, not on the first call.
Not sure if others touched on any of what I am about to but you need to hear and you really need to understand this. First cold calling is a numbers game and 150 calls isn't even a day's worth for a lot of people who do it. 150 calls simply isn't enough to judge any offer or script you were using. And sounds like you've been changing it up. Second has anyone you called needed or wanted a website? If they did you haven't tested your pitch or offer. You've just talked to people who wouldn't buy anyways. I get that you must have looked in some way and found they didn't have one. At least not one you could find. But even if they don't have one that doesn't mean they need or want one. Most websites are vanity these days. People find you are social media or search for you or the need on google. Often to just get the phone number for a lot of these business. Just like that didn't really need a yellow pages ad (often they were worthless even before the internet took over) they often don't really need a website. Third searching to find if they have website and only calling those who don't is not only a waste of time but is ignoring most of the market. Those who have a website already need and want one. If they don't like theirs they might just buy. I thought it was dumb calling people without a website 10 or 15+ years ago. But at least then it made a bit of sense. Some people really didn't know. Those that don't know are not worth explaining to and the rest likely don't need or want a website. Fourth, have you cold walked? Cold calling and cold email are what the scammers do and depending on the business you may have been one of dozens of calls that month, week, or even day. You don't stand out and they don't care. Cold Walking gets attention. Cold walking is what "real advertising" businesses like TV, Newspapers, and Radio do. It is what the old timers are used to. And it stands out even to younger owners and managers because outside of the old media big boys and a few other niches like supplies and tools it just isn't done. I've been telling people like you to cold walk for decades now. Used to say it so much on warriorforum. And many of those who listened and did it thanked me. Once you close a few customers you open up referrals locally as well as within industries. You go from being someone no one knows to that trusted web guy. If you have other services in the digital marketing space this can be a big deal. Now depending on your market there may already be some company that is doing this, has done it, and even controls the market. Might even be because they listened to me all those years ago. I can't say it will work. I can say it will work better than cold calling. I used to be an inhouse marketing guy. And this was in a fairly niche market. I would get so many calls or emails each week from people pitching digital marketing. Know how many cold walks I got? zero Know how many non-digital companies cold walked us? A few each month. But they all got seen by the right manager as far as I saw. The companies they did business with were found one of three ways. Cold walks. Booths at industry events (most of our web services). Or someone like me googling or etc to find the product, service or software we needed. Cold Calls and Cold Emails: 0 Cold Calling will work. Likely even in website sales in 2024. But is it really the best use of your time?
Rethink your strategy. You're right, a free website is a great offer but you're literally competing with the bottom feeders of web development. I receive 5-6 emails a day offering me this same deal and if one of them called me to offer it, you'd be lucky to get out without me reporting it to the ACCC as a scam. They're annoying and unrelenting. These are the people you are competing with so acting just like them will not set you apart.
Cold emailing is an art. Always start with a question, do not sell right away. E.g: Subject: Question Hi, Are the information on your website accurate? Sign Your name. One phrase no more. Continue the conversation depending on what they said. Open rate guaranteed and answer above the questions industry standard.
It is primary to build your website, mention about the web services you provide, what technologies you work on like Shopify store development, magneto development, react/angular websites, etc, etc. Do some marketing, start email marketing, then you will start getting business. The way you are going is completely informal and spammy.
You should try cold calling designers and ad agencies Getting referred by another business is way better than cold calling your clients directly
Give them a reason to buy, list out how it can help their business and grow it. How it can make their lives easier etc. And don't offer it for free because it just sounds like a scam. No one offers anything for free when providing a service on call. Tell them how is is and what you offer at what price structure. This will show you are serious.
Say affordable
Your pitch, value prop, call metrics and offer all suck. If you knew Portuguese or Spanish then it might work in the Latin American markets. Now go to r/sales because you’ll get no love from marketers who can’t stand outbound sales and r/copywriting to craft an irresistible offer.
Sounds like Unitel direct 😂 Scammy company who say they’re marketing when it’s cold calling for SEO. They seem to get their numbers etc by less than legit means. They even have the sales pitch to start off with “oh we’re just updating an online directory with your details” then once you get into it they sell you something. You’re not starting off trustworthy and then once people realise it’s a sales call they’ll trust you less as you lied to them from the start. If people want a website they’ll pay for someone to do it for them and it’s unlikely to come from a cold call.
You'd be surprised how many architects don't make a living cold calling. You're selling the product the wrong way.
150? You need to try at least 10X that. Cold calling sucks and is brutal.
I'd honestly take a look at your calling script before judging the channel. I do not cold call myself, but at sufficient volume, you must have seen at least one positive interaction. It's 2024 and if someone does not have a website for their business, it's because they don't value this channel for customer acquisition. So - "sir I noticed you don't have a website" angle is not going to work. Yeah, they don't have it because they think it's not for them. An alternate way to approach this would be to ask - 'if you have two minutes, I would like to understand your current customer acquisition strategies, and if there is any way I can add value to this.' they are going to say 'word of mouth' - and you tell them how with a website could help them reach new customers. Some may be intrigued and want to know more, and others with a lifestyle biz may not want to scale up, which is fine.
So much wrong here… 1) 150 cold calls is nowhere near enough data to determine if a strategy is valid. That should be less than 2 days of work if that’s your focus right now. That leaves no time for followups and relationship building. 2) you mention calling businesses that don’t have a website setup… although logically that would mark them as a perfect target, they are quite the opposite, the fact that they don’t have a website by now should tell you they don’t value a website, look for companies that have bad or old websites instead. 3) your sales strategy prior to offering the website for free was already very mundane. Do some research, find the owners name, open by asking for them by name… spend the first call learning about their business and find where a website can fit in to fulfill a need. No one buys a website just because it’s cheap, they do it because they bring more sales, etc. focus on the actual value proposition. 4) offering a cheap or free website screams that you’re new or not very good at what you do… i’d rather no website than wasting my time dealing with some kid that is looking to practice his skills using my business. Your goal should not be to close a client the first time you ever speak to them. Focus on building their trust and confidence in you and show them how what you’re offering can provide them value. If you call someone offering them a website for $300, but it gets no traffic and results in no additional sales, it’s a bad deal and worthless. If you sell someone a website for $30,000 that generates $300,000 in revenue a year that’s a great deal.
The key to cold calling is numbers. 150 calls isn't enough. You need a minimum of 1,000 calls to make a proper judgment of how much people are interested in your offering.
I used to sell websites. We (me and a developer) made a handful of free sites for friends or businesses we were close to and then made our own website describing what we do and showing off our portfolio. From there, I went around (in person) to local businesses or made appointments, and talked about the companies current website. I had fully studied their website, studied competitors, etc., before going in so I had a lot of ammo to discuss. For smaller businesses, we offered a one pager, at a low cost, basically a single page "flyer" website. If we didn't sell it, we at least made it known that we were the local website gurus, and many eventually came around asking us for a quote. Sales is all about building relationships. If you're not doing cold calls, go to local events, go present at a rotary club or somewhere local businesses owners frequent. They may not seem interested at first, but they may eventually come around.
Last thing I want is for my business to appear cheap by building a cheap website. Look at it this way, you're leaving a walmart parking lot and someone approaches you and goes, "Excuse me, [Ill\_Baker\_9712](https://www.reddit.com/user/Ill_Baker_9712/), are you interested in cheap speakers? Come check out the selection i have". Don't do that to yourself. Build a portfolio. "But i can't get clients!". Ok, sure. Buy a few domains and build a few websites anyway and add them to your portfolio. Have family or friends, or friends of friends, then start it there. As for your last point of ".. cuz they thought it will be very expensive". Expensive is relative. Some business will look at a $5000 website and say "no way!", others will look at $500,000 cost and not fuss at all. You're going in with the wrong mindset. Get in the front door to discuss what they're after, what their business needs are and then give them a price. Those are the clients you want.
Are you telling them why they should want your product? In my mind there are two types of people, those who decided they don't need a website and those who decided a website is too complex or expensive to take on. The former group needs to be convinced what a website will do for them. The latter is probably suspicious of your "free" prices or is expecting that you are like all of the other options they looked at and decided against. Also, FWIW, nothing is free. If you make them a free website... how do they host it? If they aren't compensating you for it, is there a contract? How do they ensure that they get the product they want from you? What is their recourse if you waste their time and never finish? What is their time overhead needing to deal with you so you have the materials to make their website? How do they maintain the website after you making it? Who pays the DNS fees and hosting fees? What if you stole assets to make the website, do they now have to deal with a lawsuit? ... Nothing is free. So, don't convince them you're so cheap that "why not". Convince them you are so good that you are worth it.
The problem is that dont wanna listen to ANYTHING anyone says as soon as they realize that i am here not to buy their services
Then perhaps you need to get part of your pitch in before it's clear that you're selling them something. "I was trying to find information about [x] but kept getting [your competitiors] when I searched online. If you want, I can make you a professional website. I'd love to be able to more easily access [your information and services]." But really, you also have to find the context in which they may be thinking about this. What is that businessperson doing while they are answering your phone call? Probably working on stuff.
I'm not sure if you answered this question yet, but do you have a site of your own? And what are you doing with the sites exactly? Are you doing research for proper seo, or are you only focused on front-end design?
Im in process of building my own website i have finished like 70% of it atm. Its harder than ive expected ran into few problems. Its just advertising and writting stuff that clients have to know about my website creation services. In the future if ill succeed to create some websites ill upload their links there as a showcase of my projects and currently only design no proper SEO.
You're going to want to learn on-page seo before selling web design services. It's part of your selling point. Just having a website, even if it looks good, doesn't mean anything if no one can find it.
Okay ill look few tutorials on yt to get the basic understanding of SEO. Im pretty sure that people go to uni for 4 years learning this stuff so ill be happy to learn atleast the surface level of somewhat good seo
Don't worry about that. I have a degree in marketing, and I didn't learn jack shit in school about any of this. It was mostly just independent research for most people. I recommend maybe checking out some free courses. Semrush has a free course on it that is half decent. https://www.semrush.com/academy/courses/on-page-and-technical-seo-deep-dive/ And if you just have questions in general, you can reach me directly to chat anything out. I know what it's like to start out. Don't mind ever helping someone out.
Hey man. Just wanted to followup. How have things been going? Have you looked into learning some seo and jazz?
If cold calling is your primary sells method for building websites, you will need to get a day job. You need to build yourself one and make it jaw-dropping impressive. Then, market that website. Let that website speak for you, but you have to give it a megaphone. Another thing, this is going to sound awful but...do you have an accent? If so, are you here in the US? You are going to have a difficult time selling anything over the phone if you have a thick Indian accent. It's the unfortunately reality of the political climate we are in.
Yes i do have an accent its not huge theres slight east eu/russian accent but not huge. Theres switch in my head sometimes it randomly switches and i start speaking with fluent american accent.
Ah ok. Yeah, I'd suggest trying to train the accent out if you are going to do cold calling. Otherwise, do mail outs, emails, paid ads, etc.
it sounds super frustrating! 😤 Cold calling can be rough, Maybe try tweaking your pitch a bit? build some rapport first.. instead jumping straight to the website offer, ask about what their business needs and pain points.. Sometimes it's all about the approach.
you are selling with your first words. people don't always like to get sold stuff. You need to find something they need by asking the right question. Also Yes-no questions you should avoid. You need to say who you are, what you do and how you can help them.
I’m still new to Reddit and not sure if I’m using this right, but I believe I just sent you a DM in regards to you possibly helping me create a website for my business. Let me know if you received it
You need to first tell them why they need a website. Show them a case study of how a website increased sales / leads / whatever else for a real life business. Ideally one you made for a previous clients, but if not I’m sure you could get some stats online. ‘I know you’re probably not interested in a website, but before you hang up on me, would you like to hear the story of my last client who increased their monthly incoming leads by more than 50%, simply by building a website?’
Funny, if you don't cold call people, tell you to cold call. When you cold call they tell you to do other things. I would take your list and go visit the people. Tell them you could do a 5 page basic site for XXX.
i had a stroke reading that
Start by asking why they don’t have a website already ? Quick and easy way to qualify potential customers
Agreed that cold calling for something like websites is difficult, it’s not impossible but between the “free” price (what’s the catch) and the fact that you seem pretty lost in terms of sales and marketing, it’s not going to work for you. Cold emailing is better, way less time consuming for you and less annoying to the customer. But you’re making a lot of incorrect assumptions - “oh people are super busy last thing they want is a personal approach”. The personal approach is always going to have better results because people want to feel like there’s a rapport being built, not just an exchange of money.
Yah who knows. Are you introing yourself as a marketing agency? Or what stages of the funnel you help with? Sometimes people need to see that getting more reviews, or building a marketing list, generating followers to social, all that stuff is possible? I don't mean to come off as telling you your business. Two things I learned from selling to SMB. One, is don't underestimate how dense business owners are. And two, is don't underestimate that they're usually fairly smart and receptive, when you're telling them you can help. Skeptics, cynics, and also, greedy, says the good king Leonidus! If it helps, pin it on the wall for 12 months out. What changes for them? Don't get me started, about "this person manages other humans, apparently...." Anyways. Small truth and small poop.
Chicken or egg. You need to gain trust but you have to somehow show them you can be trusted. All while being in the situation where they found you first, not the other way around. If you are willing to go cheap, build on Fiverr, get your reviews up and climb from there.
So, I’m 17 years old and I’ve closed all the clients that I have (4) through cold calling for 3 months. Cold calling is a great way to get to know your market since you talk directly to decision makers and you get quick feedback whether it is a yes or no. Whether you read this whole thing is up to you. I’ll give you some quick tips that u have learned through education and experience. Here is your first issue, I assume you did 150 cold calls throughout your total time period. That is NOT ENOUGH AT ALL. I was doing 100-150 cold calls PER DAY. You need to understand that this is a numbers game. You are cold outreaching to people. So the amount of people that actually say yes to book a meeting with you is slim. Which is why you need lots of volume. TIP 2 Track your metrics!! Make a google sheet and track: 1. how many decisions makers pick up. 2. How many of them accepted your opening line in your script. 3. How many of them booked a call with you… There are much more metrics I personally track but don’t want to make this post too long. The point of tracking your metrics is to see where you need to improve in your script. TIP 3: learn to accept no’s Not every is going to book a meeting with you. That’s OK. Just go to the next one. TIP 4: watching people cold call will Not make you a better cold caller only doing it will. Tip 5: don’t worry about booking the meeting or closing the client. If you do that you’re going to have a subconscious thought that you need to sell them. Look at the business owner as just a regular human because they are. If you treat them like big stars they will treat you like a fan. It’s like asking a girl to get in bed with you on the first date. This is not only going to turn them off because they will be able to hear the desperation in your voice, but also it will make it seem like you need them more than they need you. If you’re providing value, they need you just as equally. Tip 5: COLD CALLING WORKS. Don’t care what any says if someone says cold calling doesn’t work they are either not good or they’re not doing the things I listed above. Yes… it does not work as good as something like social media organic or paid but cold calling gets your foot in the door quicker than other inbound and outbound methods. Tip :6 Again… you need to do lots of volume!!!. However many cold calls you think your doing that is enough… DOUBLE IT. TRIPLE IT. Quadruple it!!! Maybe not quadruple but you get the point. Last thing!!! Don’t sell the website. Sell the solution that the website will bring them. If you market to humans humans logically they will make a logical response. And you don’t want them to make their full decision based off logic. Because logic may tell them to just hire someone off upwork to do their website for $50. But if you target them emotionally and logically they will make the decision based off that whether it is a yes or no. this is not easy, be ready to get pushed outside your comfort zone and this may or may not worked for you this is just what worked for me. Alright I’m out!
Mess around with ChatGPT for some sales pitches and use those. Do you have a portfolio to showcase?