How to offer your services cold
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- Mojo
If someone has a shit site, and could really benefit from a new one, how would you approach them as a potential client?
Bearing in mind it's essentially a cold call, you need to tell them, without offending them, that their site is shit, and that they need you to build them a new one.
For the win.
- detritus0
Pre-empt your pitch call with weeks of frustrated phone calls in different voices from anonymous numbers, complaining about the site's unusability and general need of a fresh lick of paint.
- johnnnnyh0
You could offer yourself as doing a "promotion" - such as a special deal for this industry/local clients/etc. Say you could improve their current site in a number of ways - SEO is always a good one, as is ability to update once the site is finished. Don't focus on the negatives of their site - focus on what you can do for them.
- Corvo0
That, Sir, is spam in an outward direction.
- Spookytim0
Is this about me Mojo?
Please let it be about me.
Please call me in a minute and tell me you can fix my site.* Hovers hand over receiver and unzips.
- I don't think you need a new site, Spooky ;)Mojo
- Still waiting for that call.Spookytim
- Still waiting.Spookytim
- 2.30pm
Still waiting.Spookytim - 11.00pm.
Still Waiting.
Arm Hurts.Spookytim - April 7th.
Still Waiting.Spookytim - May 4th.
Still Waiting.Spookytim - It's 11:43. :SMojo
- 2009.
Still Waiting.
Spookytim - 2525.
Still waiting.Spookytim - RIP
Spookytim
He had so much to offer.Spookytim - You just wrote your own Epitaph.
Awesome.Mojo
- emecks0
Ok Mojo,
I'll try and be serious for a moment. I'm actually trying to find a good way of doing similar at the moment. Not so much from a design perspective but much more from an SEO and CMS point of view.
So far I'm thinking, once you've got your foot in the door it's not a hard sell - it will actually save many clients money within a short space of time.
But how to find the new clients and how to make the initial contact is pretty much exactly what I am trying to figure out too.
Any tips greatly appreciated (comedy ones too)
- So you should develop a plan that harms but doesn't kill their competitioncapsize
- neue75_bold0
I've emailed potentials before and blatently told them what they were doing was wrong and they could do better... Obviously you have to have good examples of what they should be doing and be prepared for them to potentially just take your ideas...
Some cases it's worked, others have told me to fuck off...
Usually it just comes down to money and if you want the work, you need be flexible, especially if the gig is going to be good for your portfolio...
- this is mostly for print/branding/commu... gigs, not web...neue75_bold
- blaw0
I use things like direct mail to warm up a cold call. Send a couple postcards, etc., then call to follow up. If they aren't open to discussing improvements to their site there's a good chance they'd be a pain in the ass to deal with anyway.
- Spookytim0
Mojo, I failry recently called up Bristol Cars, makers of swanky cars to the stars to offer to rework their website for them. I know fuck all about websites at all but Bristol's is so appallingly bad that even I could do it better in Dreamweaver. Anyway, I called up and got put through to the owner of the company. I explained why I was calling for about three seconds and then was interrupted by the most hysterical tyrade of posh old man's unfettered contempt and hatred down the phone for about ten minutes before he hung up on me.
So, my advice is this... use Bristol Cars as a testing ground for any cold calling techniques you're thinking of trying, if they work there, you're on to a winner.
In fact, i throroughly recommend everyone call up Bristol Cars once in a while if bored. Very entertaining indeed.
http://www.bristolcars.co.uk/
That's the website of a company that make £400,000.00 cars.- My Gosh, what awful, awful cars.detritus
- BUT LOOK AT THE WEBSITE!
OH MY GOD!Spookytim - They deserve everything they get for treating our Spooky like that. HEATHENS.detritus
- LOL - Have you ever seen their showroom in Kensington Olympia? They've had the same cars there for months!
olli101 - Can we please have QBN competition to see who can get a foot in the door at bristol re web design?Spookytim
- Cars for tasteless old people!Mojo
- they are a laundry obviouslycapsize
- Court0
FLOM?
- chossy0
Tricky one.
Your call should go like this hey I am a very good web designer and if you were thinking of updating or changing your site bear me in mind I have a couple of nice ideas we could look at.
- jamble0
email them but only use txt speak to prove you're down with the latest trends.
- Bluejam0
phase one: get a selection of friends and family to complain to your intended target. they should pose as potential customers who were dissatisfied with the target's website, they should stress that they will be looking at the target's competitor instead and will not spend their money with the target.
phase two: act as an innocent passer by who, by chance, has a business designing websites that work. this can be either a phone call or mail shot.
- mimeartist0
How can not like this...
- Like a cross between the professionals ford cortina and arthur dalys jaguar.ian
- THAT ONE, I actually quite like - everything from the intervening 20 years is utter shite though. Stuck in early 80sdetritus
- Their contemporary offerings are so graceless and shoddy looking. eg. Look at the back of the seats in that open top..detritus
- In fact, just look at the interiors '.' .. http://www.bristolca…detritus
- inside like a rr or a bentley to me all that wood.Court
- Nonetheless the new Bristol Fighter is 400k on list, and totally sold out already.Spookytim
- What on earth is with the back wheels on that car. Looks wrong.Mojo
- moth0
I think the better approach is by email. Crit their site and make real suggestions. Keep it informal and show a genuine interest in what they're doing.
Personally speaking, if ANYONE cold calls me, they get an earful - especially if they want to keep me on the line after I've declined their offer.
- elektromuzak0
oh jesus that bristolcars site is some trite shit. i just lost 10 seconds of my life that i'll never get back.
- mimeartist0
exactly... who wants to called up to be told they're not very good by some squirt! I had someone come around trying to sell me a content management tools, and one of their sites they'd used it on was a direct rip of something I'd already done... the door is over there...
- elektromuzak0
the best way to offer your services cold is by putting the services in the freezer before presenting it to your prospective client.
