Cold calling businesses is an essential strategy for sales representatives. You can’t make sales if you don’t generate leads and consistently follow up, right? And the old school techniques of prospecting still work; some sales reps get on the phone and dial for dollars, some pound the pavement, others do both.
But you can make your prospecting much more effective if you send a cold call sales letter to your prospects first, and then follow up with a phone call, or if you are brave and confident you can just show up.
When I was working in a hospital as a medical supplies technician sales reps would come by in their nice suits and giant smiles every day. Sometimes we would get five or six visits. Some of them we knew well because we already had a relationship, others were trying to get their foot in the door because we were in charge of ordering supplies for the entire hospital.
None of them sent letters to our department or my boss. They all just showed up day after day.
But most sales reps don’t have the luxury of just showing up because there’s the issue of the ‘gatekeeper’ on the phone or when you walk in the door. So there is instantly a defensive posture on their side because they have to deal with sales reps day after day and they have work to do.
Cold Call Sales Letters Can Break The Ice!
In my opinion you can make your job of prospecting businesses much easier and much more fun if you send at least one letter and then follow up. I am a big believer in sequencing three or four letters and then following up because this way, if you do it correctly, you can build up curiosity and get a higher appointment ratio.
Here is a very simple, professional, and ‘safe’ letter for sales representatives.
Dear (Name),
My name is (Name). I am an experienced sales representative with (X) years of experience in selling retail products, goods and services to customers. I am writing to express my interest in working on your behalf to connect you with new sales leads so that you can expand your line of business to a broader market.
I have studied your product line and believe that I can be highly effective in this effort. To put things in perspective, I have developed a solid contact base in (location) and am confident that I can leverage these relationships to your advantage.
I have a proven experience in meeting sales goals, closing deals, managing territories, strengthening customer relations, and delivering convincing presentations.
I am known for my ability to engage with customers and potential customers in a receptive way, listen attentively to their needs and effectively communicate options for them. Please also understand that I am flexible and am willing to work long hours, including nights and weekends.
If you are interested in my services, please don’t hesitate to call me at (phone #) or email me at (email address). I’m happy to provide references. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! I look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Your Name
Company Name
Contact Information
If you have a compliance department or you are afraid of pushing the envelope and writing more aggressive ad copy and using ‘grabbers’ to enhance response rates, then the letter above may just do the trick.
However, I encourage you to send at least two, three, or four letters rather than one. But one is better than nothing.
Consider dropping in a grabber like my old friend who used to sell franchise opportunities.
Quick story: I urged my friend to use use a more aggressive approach and include a grabber like a million dollar bill on the top of the letter, and write ad copy explaining why he attached it to the letter as explained here.
But he was really stubborn and didn’t want to appear ‘unprofessional’ so he stuck with basic ‘professional’ correspondence like the letter above. Except, he decided to drop a million dollar bill into the envelope, even though he didn’t refer to it in the letter.
He Became A The Golden Boy!
Well, when he followed up on the letters and referred to it as well as the million dollar bill many of his prospects on his cold calling list were much warmer and as a result he closed a few deals. He became known around the office as something of a ‘golden boy’ because of his success.
You don’t have to use a million dollar bill. You can use other types of grabbers. There are thousands of them. I’ve used bandaids, string, a dollar bill, pennies, wooden nickels, a jewelers loupe, and many more.
Here Is An Example Of A More Aggressive Cold Call Sales Letter Using A Grabber To Enhance Response Rates!
Dear Name,
As you can see I’ve enclosed a Jewelers Loupe with this letter.
Why have I done this? Two reasons:
1. I have something very important to tell you and I needed to make sure this letter would grab your attention.
2. Since I can help you build wealth by deeply analyzing and arranging your finances using a unique, tailored approach, I thought it was especially appropriate to use a Jewelers Loupe as an attention getting eye catcher. Let me explain…
A Jewelers Loupe is used to identify and help assess the valued of a stone. The exceptional magnification of a Jewelers Loupe can reveal internal flaws and surface blemishes on exotic stones that are not apparent to the naked, untrained eye.
That is exactly what I do when it comes to helping business owners such as yourself, Name. With years of experience managing portfolios of successful entrepreneurs and small business owners, and digging through year’s worth of insurance portfolios and financial statements, I am the best person to help you achieve a quality lifestyle, free of money worries.
And then keep explaining how you can help them and include references and/or testimonials and a call to action. Follow up if you can.
This letter needs a little work, but it’s a good start, and it uses a broker or financial advisor as the profession. But if you sit down and hammer out some ad copy using it as a model you can use it for your needs. Don’t copy it!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017