Connections DFW
Turning Cold Calls Into Clients
(972) 963-0792 janet@connections-dFW.com
What We Do
Connections DFW is a lead generation/appointment setting service for small B2B providers who want to reach their potential clients in North Texas.
By using cold calling and emailing, we introduce your business to those who could or should be using you, determine their interest in your products/services and ideally, set them up for an appointment.
“But,” you say, “I have salespeople. Doing all that’s their job.” Chances are you would rather have your salespeople spend their very precious time closing qualified leads, instead of having to chase them down. And if you’re the one doing the selling, your time is even more valuable.
That’s why we do the nitty-gritty, time-consuming work of prospecting and qualifying your potential clients so you or your sales team won’t have to.
Once we identify a likely client who has an immediate or short-term need for your services, we’ll arrange for an appointment – in person, by phone or by Zoom – and you or your salespeople can take it from there, do your demonstration/evaluation and close the sale.
Why Use Us
You’re a provider serving commercial accounts but are having trouble reaching the business owners, administrators, property or facility managers or other key individuals who decide which companies to use.
Chances are you’re using some form of digital marketing – you have a website, hired someone to make sure you’re on page one of Google, and may be paying hefty fees for such services as Google AdWords or Yelp. If you’re franchise owner, you’re also expecting that your parent company will provide you with a steady stream of leads.
And chances are you’ve probably found that despite their cost, these approaches are necessary but are also somewhat inefficient ways to generate leads. That’s because someone who may have a need for what you do has to take the initiative of finding and contacting you, but you’ll never know about them unless they do.
But if they don’t need your services now, at some point they will – be it an emergency, the ending of a contract with another provider, new management taking over, whatever. The problem is that unless they think of you first, they’ll probably call someone else.
That’s why you need to be regularly reaching out to your potential clients using proven, time-tested marketing approaches that establish familiarity and trust so that when they do need you, you’re the only one that comes to mind.
Our Methods
We use cold calling and emailing to reach your potential clients through our cloud-based CRM database that can be readily customized to incorporate the kinds of businesses you want to reach.
To speed the process up, you may provide us with a leads list, as well as a list of your current clients and those in your sales pipeline, so we make sure not to contact the people you’re already doing business with or talking to.
That said, as part of our work, we will develop a list of potential clients that meet your criteria using sources on the web.
Targeted Cold Calling
Many people believe that B2B cold calling is hard, is filled with rejection and is one of the least effective ways to generate business. The reality is that when it’s done right, cold calling is easy and enjoyable for everyone involved, and is the most effective way to start turning a total stranger into a loyal client.
We start out by using your criteria – who you want to reach, where they are located and an understanding of how your business can help them.
On a typical day, we’ll make between 40 – 50 targeted calls to your potential clients and reach the decision maker about a third of the time. If we have to leave a message, we’ll send an introductory email first, and then follow up by phone a few days or a week later.
Once we have them on the phone, we’ll engage them in a conversation to learn about their needs as they relate to your products/services, tell them about your business and ideally, set up an appointment using your schedule as a basis.
Very often, this requires a follow-up call and/or email, since many people won’t commit to an appointment at first. And we’ll continue to follow up on a regular basis as long as it’s appropriate.
Customized Emails and Ezines
There are few things more annoying than getting pitchy emails from strangers who make it clear they know nothing about your business and care even less, who then expect you to schedule a call with them by telling you when they’re available.
Or worse, when they send you a series of unsolicited and unwanted emails, by the third or fourth one, want you to give them a reason why you’re not interested.
Instead of these spam-type emails, we use personalized emails geared to your clients’ particular interests which educate, inform and generate an increasing awareness of how your services can benefit them.
Our approach is very simple – we don’t sell; we share and we don’t pitch; we persuade. Since nobody likes to be sold, but everybody loves to buy, our job is to make the decision to do business with you effortless and enjoyable for all concerned.
This is most effectively done through a regularly-sent ezine or e-newsletter, which shares handy tips, the latest industry trends or updates on local events your potential clients might be interested in.
Over time, these emails can be an extremely effective way to generate awareness and familiarity, so that when they are ready, you’re the first one they think of.
You can also put a signup form on your homepage which can increase both traffic and web inquiries, and there are plenty of email distribution services who can take care of your subscriber list and distribution for a modest cost.
How We Work
Using information provided by you, Connections DFW will write an introductory email that will be sent after speaking to or leaving a message for the decision maker. When needed, follow up calls are made a week later or as appropriate.
When we speak to the decision maker, we’ll tell them about your business, offer to send some information, inquire if they have a current or upcoming need and if they do, set up an appointment with you or one of your salespeople. If their need is long-term, we’ll do all the necessary follow-up so nothing falls through the cracks.
Once an appointment has been agreed to, you’ll get an email with all of the pertinent information, and you or your salespeople can take it from there. Essentially, we open the sale and you close it.
At the end of each week, you’ll get a report detailing:
- How many calls were made
- How many decision makers were spoken to
- How many messages were left
- How many emails were sent
- How many appointments were set and with whom
And at the end of each month, you’ll get an Excel spreadsheet that includes:
- The name, title and phone number of the people we contacted
- Their company name and address
- Their email and website
- The type of business they have
- The date they were contacted
- Recent relevant notes
In addition to using this spreadsheet as a leads list to import into your own database, you can use it as a subscriber list for your ezine.
Who We Are
Janet White spent the first part of her career as a commercial real estate writer and publicist working for some of the biggest companies in the industry, and writing for several of the industry’s national trade magazines, including National Real Estate Investor, World Property, the Journal of Property Management and Stores.
After 18 years in commercial real estate, Janet switched careers and spent more than a decade in the senior care industry selling mobility, patient handling and patient care equipment to hospitals, nursing homes and senior living communities.
After that, Janet started her own speakers agency for small business owners to help them get more clients by speaking to local groups, and generated a nationwide clientele of service professionals.
The pandemic put an end to the speakers agency, so Janet became a remote inside sales representative for an Ohio-based manufacturer who had jumped into the PPE (masks, gloves, wipes, etc.) business when Covid-19 hit.
Using the internet, Janet built a database of thousands of small, rural school districts across the country which were overlooked by the major suppliers, and through cold calling and emails, she sold more than $800,000 of PPE supplies in 18 months.
After life returned to normal, Janet did cold calling/appointment setting for a D/FW-based commercial cleaning company and four local franchises of a junk removal business, and worked briefly for a national appointment setting company.
She then launched Connections DFW to help local businesses grow by securing appointments for them with their potential clients in the most cost-effective way possible.
Janet is the author of “Cold Calls to Closing: What Every Small Business Should Know About Selling” (available on Amazon). https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Calls-Closing-Business-Selling/dp/0692239235