Finding new clients…it’s something we all need to do if we are serious about our business. It’s so very easy and tempting to sit happily with the clients that you have, but in order to grow your business and allow for attrition, it’s vital that you spend some time each month reaching out for more work.
There are many different avenues you can follow: LinkedIn advertising, word of mouth, Facebook advertising, industry magazines, or cold-calling. We will be focusing on cold-calling in this month’s blog.
Cold-calling, how to make it warmer…
The advantage to cold-calling is that you don’t have to have a budget. However, it’s probably the hardest thing to do. People are busy. If they are happy with their current transcription service they are unlikely to want the hassle of changing providers, this is called buyer inertia. This basically means if someone is happy with a product or provider, why would they change? And there’s a lot of good sense to this: change takes time; you may not like the new product/transcriber, and so there will be potential resistance. However, the upside is if the potential client is not happy with their current provider they may well be very receptive to listening to you and hearing your terms.
It is well worth taking some time to create a script of what you want to say prior to making any calls. Think about the questions you are likely to be asked, so that you have the answers ready. Work out who you want to be talking to, which industry, what work do you enjoy the most? Set up a reply email with your terms and charges ready to go.
Cold-calling is hard, you will be nervous to begin with, but if you have a “cheat sheet” in front of you with notes, you will feel more confident and less likely to be left stammering or tongue-tied.
Remember you are talking about your business, this is what you know best! To be honest, as your family members probably already know, you can talk about your business for hours, so just try and channel some of that passion and drive into your call.
You will need to develop a bit of a thick skin and assume that it’s nothing personal if people are not interested in talking to you; they are just busy. Hopefully, with enough calls and practice, you will find that magical, “Yes, I am interested in hearing more. Can you send me your terms and charges?”
Next steps...
So now you have a potential “in” with company X, and you have your introductory email prepared and ready to go. Personalise it as much as you can and send it off with your terms and charges. It is worth giving the person at least a week before a follow-up call, or email.
If they have decided they are not interested in your services, ask for feedback as to why. This is valuable information for your future marketing calls. If you are lucky enough to gain a new client, make the transition as smooth and easy as possible. Make sure that your work is impeccable, show them they made the right decision in choosing you, or moving to you, and you will retain this new work.
Good luck and happy transcribing!
