Call me after the holidays.

In my business, I call on small, local businesses (retail and restaurant). I sell advertising. They are busy (who cares about advertising when you are busy). Last year--with less experience--I let this railroad me right out of the picture most of December. This year, I am not interested in a replay.

So far, the best I am doing, is pressing for an appointment immediately following holiday, so it cannot be a blanket excuse. Anyone got anything better?

This is an improvement, but still leaves me lean in December. One important difference is also that, even knowing in advance that I am going to get this convenient excuse, I am not going to let it deter me from calling. SOME people will still see (just not as many).

I am trying to think of an angle of urgency, but have not come up with anything much. Actually, this has got me thinking...Maybe I need to modify my whole approach for the next couple weeks with a holiday angle...Hmmm. I love how you guys help me before I even finish the thread...:rolleyes: -RainMaker

Is there any way you could focus on an industry other than retail or restaurants right now? Like you said, nobody sees the value in additional advertising when they are getting enough business. Additionally, when they are swamped with business, they don't want to set aside time to speak with you.

I don't know anything about your services, but maybe you could offer servies to companies that are slow right now. Landscaping, construction, or other seasonal industries aren't as busy right now and may be open to planning their advertising strategies for next season. -Derek

"Okay. I'll call you back in the new year. Make it a great December."

Next!

Mike -MitchM

Thanks for the input, Derek. My product is tailored for a specific market and I do not have the luxury of expanding it, right now, but that was a good idea.

Unlike most of the country, there is not a big post-Christmas lull because I am in Florida and the tourist season is in full swing after the holidays. After my original post, it occurred to me that I would be facing this...."I'm too busy, right now..." trend and need to address it on an even bigger window than just December, but through Easter, really.

Coming from this angle, I am altering my focus to show my prospects how they need to participate in my product NOW, so it will carry them through the drought in summer when they have no money to advertise and no customers. -RainMaker

Thanks for the demo, Mitch.:) -RainMaker

RainMaker, "Call back later, I'm too busy, etc." are both common and universal objections not limited to the Holiday Season. My suggestion would be to improve on your approach/initial offering. -SalesGuy

I like SalesGuy's answer best. New perspective + new approach = $ $ $ -Jolly Roger

Thank you Jolly Roger and SalesGuy. I am inclined to agree. -RainMaker

i know the last resort is to discount.....but what if you offered something like, "because of the holiday season, we know how busy you are, were offering a discount to our customers who sign up between now and ........"

Forgive me if that was ****ty, I AM new at this. -mario60185

Not at all, Mario. Thanks for contributing. By posting and contributing, you learn in the process. Trust me--I know. I have learned a great deal from this forum. I had little experience or training when I came here (and look how many stars I have. A few more rows and I might actually make a sale :rolleyes:. Just kidding. ).

In this case, my product is very low priced to begin with. I do not think price will motivate them because price is not much of an issue to begin with. People will not pay any money for something they do not perceive themselves as needing or wanting. I have certain businesses that I am currently offering a FREE ad to and some (believe it or not) have turned me down.

I must create the desire in them to buy it by showing them WHY they should buy it now. That is my real challenge. ;) -RainMaker

or...you might have answered it yourself......tell them WHY they need it.....come up with an idea that they will think about.

WHY do they need YOU? -mario60185

Maybe you could create desire by having them tell you how they would benefit from your service. :eek: -Agent Smith

Because if they participate in my program NOW, it can sustain them through the long barren summer. That's why. If they wait until the NEED it, it will be too late.

This is a great new slant I have begun building my holiday efforts around as a result of this thread. Thanks, everyone. -RainMaker

This won't work because they are clueless :rolleyes: (that was kinda rude toward my prospects, sorry). -RainMaker

maybe we could help more if you gave us an idea on what your selling. -mario60185

You might check into "Need-Payoff Questions" (SPIN Selling). -Agent Smith

Thanks, Agent Smith. I just got that book a few days ago, but haven't had an opportunity to open it yet. -RainMaker

Thanks, Mario, but I don't have the time to elaborate. It is a somewhat unique product and I cannot give you a phrase or sentence or two that would clarify it beyond that it is online advertising (I sorta make websites) for small businesses and my program is especially effective for small restaurants.

I have found everyone to be very helpful, still. I feel much better about what I will be doing this month. -RainMaker

RM, you're in the direct sales business selling a low cost, very affordable item---and that is a very, very good place to be.

The acid test is always are you the right person selling the right product for the right reason. I know from your posts that the answer is yes to all of the questions.

The "don't have time" response doesn't hold water. It is another way of saying no. Low cost or not--affordable or not, it is a money issue. But it has nothing to do with discounts. For relatively low cost incidents of spending, whether they be business or personal, people have mental accounts. A good friend of mine calls them slots. Same thing. People slot things into their minds to either justify spending or justify not spending. The costs of your services is not going to break any business. But your prospect has to locate the account in their mind to assign it to.

You have to present the money--the cost--the expenditure in a manner that enables your prospect to slot it so he/she can say yes to you.

Do that, contact enough people--and you will get results. Excuses like "not enough time" are red herrings that you cannot afford to try and find an answer to.

If you want to pursue that line of thought I've just presented, I'll furnish you some real life examples drawn from the same business you're in and how costs were presented. But think about it first.

IMHO. -Gary Boye

Ok. Done thinking. Give me what ya got, Gary. -RainMaker

I'll PM you some information that unfortunately I can't share publically because it would not be fair to others who have been involved. I'll also give you background information as to where the successful campaigns had their roots. -Gary Boye

Gary, why do you believe this instance is a money issue? -Agent Smith

Largely because I'm able to differentiate between spending behavior and buying behavior. I didn't just call it a money issue--I described the money issue. -Gary Boye

How did you determine that it wasn't about the product or the timing or any of the many other possible reasons? -Agent Smith

Unless RainMaker or her clients have provided insider information there is no way for Gary to state with any accuracy that this is a money issue. When in doubt... ask the prospect for clarification. -bridger480

You're probably right. Better safe than sorry. :) -Agent Smith

That sounds more like a rhetorical question than a sincere desire to understand. If you have some problem with my offering advice to RainMaker on a thread where she has asked for advice, I'm afraid you'll have to handle your own feelings on the subject. -Gary Boye

Gary, that wasn't a rhetorical question. :confused: Also, I don't have a problem with you offering RainMaker advice. :confused: Where are you coming from on that? :confused: -Agent Smith

Then please accept my apology. If you say it wasn't a rhetorical question, your word is good enough for me to admit I interpreted it wrong.

Are you familiar with the term "chunk"? In a post above SalesGuy immediately recognized the familiar pattern of "have to wait until". He didn't use the word chunk but I think he's familiar with it because its a term that is sometimes used in NLP.

As you become experienced in any endeavour, you recognize chunks and respond accordingly. Perfect science? No.

I am familiar with the makeup of RM's potential market. They must spend to exist. RMs task is to alter the existing spending pattern. Not to get them to "buy". They are resigned to spending. They don't want to buy. Most of them already spend on advertising. They are already spending on coupons. RM has to insert herself into that spending pattern by using an offer that alters the spending favorably in the mind of the prospect. -Gary Boye

It's cool. I apologize if my post came across as rhetorical. :cool:

That sounds like "Click, Whirr" and I understand. ;)

I'm going to give that some thought. Thank you for the information. :) -Agent Smith

Can someone expand on this? -AZBroker

[quote=Gary Boye]RM has to insert herself into that spending pattern by using an offer that alters the spending favorably in the mind of the prospect. Imagine that you've decided to buy one of those fancy new plasma televisions and you've given yourself a budget of up to $3k.

In this scenario the decision to "buy" has already been made along with how much money you can spend towards this purpose.

Now the decision is "which" television will you be "spending" your money on [versus the decision to buy or not]. If RainMaker was selling fancy new plasma televisions here task would be to position her product in your mind as the best choice.

Does that help? -SalesGuy

Yes, that part makes sense. What would let on that this related to that though? -AZBroker

I think what you're asking is, "How can one tell that the prospect's objection relates to the issue Gary brought up?" Is that correct?

If that is your question then my response would be, "Without more information I couldn't tell." In all fairness, I don't believe Gary was divining that relation either but instead pointing out to RainMaker an avenue of approach. ;) -SalesGuy

Yes. I thought I was missing something obvious. Thank you for the clarification. -AZBroker

No problem. ;) -SalesGuy

RainMaker, do the objections come prior to the presentation? -Liberty

Liberty...love your avatar.

Yes. When calling for the appointment. -RainMaker

I wasn't there but that sounds like REJECTION. When this happens to me I figure it means that either they weren't paying attention or my offer didn't hit a hot button. -Thomas

Yes. Correct on both counts. However, I have been setting appointments for AFTER the holidays, so it's not completely off the mark, but it's not hitting any "hot" buttons. -RainMaker

I get this a lot, but not just with the holidays, it could be the end of their quarter, etc... When I receive the response I am too busy or we are swamped right now, I usually respond with "that is exactly why we should meet" maybe you could say that is exactly why we should meet because I have several customers that were too busy to meet, but after hearing my presentation they were able to understand how my "widget" can help them stay busy during non peak times..

I don't know just giving some ideas. -jmitchel

Thank you very much. :)

How is your new approach working? -Liberty

I'm still refining it and haven't put it into play yet. I should begin calling again by tomorrow or Monday. I'll let you know. -RainMaker

[quote=SalesGuy] Where do the "slots" come in? -Thomas

Imagine that as a business owner you have already decided that there are certain "costs of doing business" and "advertising" is one of them. Advertising is a "Slot". So, like the television scenario, the decision to "buy" advertising has already been made. Now the decision is "which" advertising to spend the budget on.

Gary, if I've misinterpreted your post don't hesitate to jump right in. :cool: -SalesGuy

No need. You're right on the money with your examples. -Gary Boye

hey guys.... came across this thread and wanted to offer my input.



stick with the competitive advantage prospective. your competitors are not marketing themselves due to the "holiday season".....mr. customer... consider this like a mini-recession.... now is the time to gain market share..... consumers are still and more than ever looking for your product or service because it is the holidays and they have alot of time off.... I can help you gain market share....


does this make any sense or should I have read the entire thread??? -ilovesuperpages.com

Thanks for the input--a day late and a dollar short---(just kidding). Thanks. It is not an issue, now, but I got through it. Better than last year. Still not as good as next year will be. -RainMaker

This was a very good response and I don't believe I thanked you....so....Thank you. -RainMaker

RainMaker, what was your new approach and were the responses you received what you had hoped for? -Liberty

A lot of people bump into this kind of thing during the Holidays. Can you share your techniques and results RainMaker? -Houston

To be honest, I began to modify my product "slant" for the holidays...which was the catalyst to a new marketing idea which evolved during December. It took me a little time to put it together and rewrite my sales materials to suit it; consequently, I didn't do as much calling as I had originally planned. When I did make calls, if people gave me the ol' "call me after the holidays" line, I told them that they were not the first to tell me that and "since my calendar is filling up, can we set a specific appointment?" So it was not a complete victory, but I made them get specific and didn't settle for a full-fledged blowoff.

I survived it, anyway. Thanks for asking. Next year I am going to plan ahead better and have a specific special with incentives to act DURING the holiday, but I was too slow on the draw this year. -RainMaker

Maybe by next year more of us will be better prepared. :) -Houston

How about an approach showing the increase in sales due to your product and a dumb look with the comment "you don't need more business' I appreciate you saying that but is it really possible to be too thin or too rich?" -Rothgar the Pacifist