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Cost Management Strategies For Business Decisions

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It is now crunch time. You did all your research, developed a viable business plan and opened the front door for business. If no one is clamoring to get in, you might start to get the picture that there is more to opening a business than unlocking the front door. The idea that if you build it they will come was a great line for a movie, but that is all it was, a great line in a fictional story. In real life it just does not work.

If this is a real scenario for you obviously someone missed an important omission from your business plan. One of the first questions you should have asked yourself was who or what will be your first customer, followed by the obvious second and third customer and so on. If that was not in your business plan, fire the person who helped you write it, close the front door and go back to work on the plan. Especially the part about where the customers are going to found.

You have three basic choices in advertising, print, internet and broadcast. Any one of the three can help drive customers to your business but the message has to convince them it is worth the trip. Just opening the door is not going to be a good enough reason for people to make a visit to your store. Whether the business is in a brick and mortar building or based on the internet, your potential customers have to have a reason to want to make the first trip and then decide they might want to come back later.

You have to consider what you are offering and develop a message aimed at the demographic that will have the most use for your product or service. If your business is strictly business to business, advertising in general circulation media is going to be a waste of money. Yes, advertising in business journal will be considerably more expensive, but the return on the advertising investment will be much higher as well. In broadcast media, consider the time of day as well as the programs on which your message will be played.

For instance, there are some national media groups that offer some inviting prices on their advertising package, but you have to figure out how many people that might use your product is going to be watching television at three in the morning. Maybe if you are pushing sleep aids it will help, but very few things are going to arouse the interest of people who simply can not sleep. The program itself should also invite viewers with the same interests as the product. If you sell products or services for the older generation, money spent to advertise on Saturday morning cartoons is going to be lost.

Once you have determined the best way to get your message out to the right people, and set the plan in motion, it may be time to reopen the door and wait for your customers. If done correctly, they will be jostling to get in and give you their money.

Cost Management Strategies For Business Decisions

So how can we make cold calling easier? Here are some tips that might help:

1. Who are you going to ask for?

Try and find out the name of the person you want to speak to before you pick up the phone. There is nothing worse than saying "Can I speak to the manager?" Immediately the secretary knows that this might be sales call.

How do you do this? There are many websites and publications that actually tell you the size of the company and who the boss is. Your local chamber of commerce might be able to help with this regard. Attending networking meetings is another way to find out who the decision makers are.

2. Learn more about your target.

Get to know a little bit about the business before you call them. This way when you speak for the first time with somebody new you have some common ground.

3. Talk to your existing customer base

Talk to your customers and any business people you are friends and ask for help. Many will be happy to give you referrals and a few might even make the initial call for you!

4. Make friends with other sales people

Make friends with sales people and share information and contacts. This will work great as long you are not selling identical products and competing with each other! You can make the initial introduction call for your friend and they can do the same for you.

5. Make friends with other business owners

Especially with businesses that have a lot of sales people. This works on the basis "I scratch your back, you scratch mine." You can share referrals and help each other.

6. Practise makes perfect?

The more calls you do the better you will become. Reward yourself with a point every time someone says "no" to you. Once you hit ten points it is time to stop for a break.

7. I do not care how good you are...

Nobody can cold call for a full 8 hours without getting absolutely shattered. It is far better to spend say three hours every day cold calling than to dedicate one day a week to this task. Choose the time of the day you are at your best. Some people are great in the mornings whilst others perform better in the afternoons.

8. Buy a decent headset.

This will enable you to make notes whilst you are the phone, stop your neck getting sore and even allow you to carry on a little longer when you are on a roll. Work like a pro and get professional results.

9. Send a thank you note.

Building relationships with existing customers and people who did give you the time of day is what it is all about.

10. Change anxiety into something positive.

Learn to turn your feelings of dread into something more powerful. Actors can turn stage fright into something positive that makes them perform better on a live stage and so can you.

11. If all else fails?

Then employ someone else to do it for you. If your time is better spent converting people who have already agreed to meet you then pay a telemarketing company to make your cold calls.

If you can start enjoying talking to new people and stop taking "no" as a personal insult then you are on your way. Tell little jokes and one liners and have a laugh at the same time as trying to make that appointment. You are allowed to have fun when you are cold calling!

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About Author

Both Obinna Heche & Naz Daud are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Obinna Heche has sinced written about articles on various topics from Sales and Negotiation, Work From Home and Vitamin and Mineral Supplement. Obinna Heche. Los Angeles - CaliforniaDelivering the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home successfully..

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