Leads That Matter: How to Improve the Quality of Your Internet Leads

Leads That Matter: How to Improve the Quality of Your Internet Leads

Leads That Matter: How to Improve the Quality of Your Internet Leads

When generating internet leads, you need to take measures to make sure they're high quality. Learn how to generate better leads online.

Keyword(s): internet leads

What if you could improve your sales directly from the source?

Solid internet sales come down to quality internet leads. If you want to take your sales to the next level, you need to find ways to improve the quality of those leads.

You don't have to figure everything out on your own. Keep reading to discover our comprehensive guide!

Weed Them Out

Most businesses focus a lot on their ideal customers. In fact, your website probably talks a lot about who will benefit from your services.

However, too much of that can make your company sound like everyone else. Eventually, everything is a hot mess of buzzwords, leaving customers confused and frustrated.

One solution is to "think outside the box" and discuss who your business will NOT be good for. Customers will respond positively to your honesty, and you'll definitely stand out from the competition.

Balance Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing are not simply different departments. Instead, they are two parts of a balanced whole...right up until they aren't.

Generally speaking, the marketing department works on market-qualified leads and sales works on sales-qualified leads. But the more we think of these as separate measures, the more we encourage these departments to focus only on their own efforts.

Ideally, each division should work closely with the other to refine MQLs and SQLs simultaneously. When done right, this means that both teams are constantly improving the sales funnel for your customers.

And as the funnel improves, your lead generation also improves. And you can even explore other avenues such as aged internet leads.

Optimize Your Site

It's easy to dismiss SEO as just another buzzword. But make no mistake: good SEO is the difference between high customer visibility and virtual customer invisibility.

That's why you need to focus on improving SEO as soon as possible. You should revamp every page to improve the SEO and help your site jump up in the Google Search rankings.

Make sure keywords are featured in your title tags, headers, descriptions, and alt-tags. This isn't overkill. Instead, it's "just enough kill" to help interested customers find your site.

Such customers are already highly interested in your products, making them very solid leads.

Be a Problem Solver

In the eyes of customers, every product is a solution. Before they will buy any of your products, customers must know exactly which problems your problems help solve.

It's worth creating a page that focuses on the problems your products and services can solve. That page should also describe exactly how you solve these things using clear and direct language.

Customers will appreciate this transparency about what your company does (and does not) do. Furthermore, such a page makes it easy for customers to visualize how your company can improve their lives.

Buyer Personas

How well do your sales and marketing teams understand your customers? For most people, simple demographic data is very abstract. It's difficult to look at a series of numbers and descriptions and think of them as living, feeling beings.

This is why your business should create in-depth buyer personas. The purpose of such personas is to put a face on the demographic data while helping your employees understand their customers on a truly granular level.

The best personas will incorporate both demographic and psychographic data. This mixture of customer identity and motivation can lead to breakthroughs in terms of online marketing.

And such improved marketing helps to create the kind of qualified leads you are looking for.

Improve Conversion Rates

Want a really simple tip to improve the quality of your leads? Here it is: you should focus on improving your existing conversion rates.

Sometimes, the problem with leads isn't in your marketing approach. Instead, it's the simple fact that not enough prospective leads convert into customers after they interact with your business.

To improve these rates, you should focus on Conversion Rate Optimization. Conduct a series of A/B testing for different revisions of each online page until you discover what is most effective for your customers.

All In On Video

Let's face it — video is more than a passing trend. Right now, video is the primary way that many demographics such as Millennials and Zoomers consume content.

We're not just talking about video as entertainment, either. Prospective customers are increasingly fascinated by video product reviews, unboxing videos, and other streaming content that helps inform their purchases.

You can take advantage of this by creating your own high-quality video content. Such content helps to improve leads on its own and also gives you content that you can share across various social media channels.

Better Positioning

Sometimes, getting better leads just comes down to better marketing. And the best marketing is a matter of improving your company's position in the eyes of your customers.

This means honestly assessing who your primary customers are and which rival companies they are likeliest to turn to. Now, the big question: what separates your business from your rivals?

When you have an angle on your position and value proposition, you can integrate this into dynamic new marketing campaigns. Every new lead gained from this improved positioning will be of a higher quality than what you gained before.

The Power of PPC

Ever wonder why so many businesses rely on Pay-Per-Click advertising? Simple — because it works!

When done right, PPC helps you really stretch your marketing budget while putting your company in front of more eyes than ever before. And platforms such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads have built-in features that help you target your exact demographic rather than advertising to the masses.

With PPC, you can focus on exact phrases to help lure in customers searching via that phrase. If a campaign isn't working, you can instantly retire it; and if you want to bring a classic ad back, you can do so with a single click.

Finally, PPC has the analytics you need to monitor your campaign progress and improve your advertising from month to month.

Better Internet Leads: Achievement Unlocked

Now you know how to access better internet leads. But do you know who can help you improve every lead?

We focus on improving leads for businesses just like yours. To see what we can do for your business, contact us today!


Salesperson Mistakes: 5 Sales Tactics You Need to Avoid

Salesperson Mistakes: 5 Sales Tactics You Need to Avoid

Salesperson Mistakes: 5 Sales Tactics You Need to Avoid

Some sales approaches haven't stood the test of time and need to be done away with. Learn seven sales tactics you should avoid at all costs.

Keyword(s): sales tactics

We all know it: salespeople get a bad rap. We get the reputation for being pushy, dishonest, and self-serving. To be honest, we also have each dealt with a salesperson ourselves who fit that stereotype.

Hope is not lost. Your personality and reputation is a powerful part of your success in sales. You can start earning your customers' trust and repeat business by setting rules for yourself.

In fact, success is as much about learning what not to do as it is about learning what to do. Start by steering clear of these outdated and ineffective sales tactics.

1. Keeping Customers in Front of You

There is an old sales strategy that tells salespeople to keep the conversation going with a customer for as long as possible. The theory is that the more time a customer spends with you, the more likely they are to buy.

That doesn't work anymore. Your customers are busy people and if they feel stuck in a conversation they don't want to be in, all it will do is turn them off.

For cold calls and meetings alike, start off your conversations with a quick summary and elevator pitch. Only give customers as much information as they need and want.

From there, let them set the tone for how long the conversation goes. If they seem engaged, you can ask more questions and go into more detail. If it looks like they're ready to end the conversation, bring it to a close.

No matter how the conversation ends, always set up a "next step." If the customer hasn't made a purchase yet, let them know when you'll be reaching back out.

2. Pursuing Whales Only

Have you ever contacted a salesperson to buy a product or service, only to get a clear message that your business was too small for them to care about?

Most of us have, and it's a terrible feeling. That's the last thing you want to do to your customers. Not only does it burn your bridge to them, but it means that you lose out on a sale even if it's a small one.

At the same time, you don't want to invest too much time pursuing small-time customers.

It's all about finding a middle ground. When you first come into contact with a customer, qualify them. Get a sense of their interest level and their buying power.

While you want to focus most of your energy courting big customers, don't ignore the little guys. Be responsive to them and make them feel heard. You can do this in a surprisingly small amount of time, earning new business without a large investment of your time.

3. Spending Extensive Amounts of Time (Or No Time at All) on Small Talk

Small talk is a necessary part of sales. It's a path to earning your customers' trust. The challenge is finding the right balance.

Some salespeople believe that the more time they spend on small talk, the more their customers will know and trust them. Others cut out the small talk entirely and expect to get in and out with fast deals.

Most salespeople lean toward too much small talk and too much talking in general. In fact, in the average sales meeting, the salesperson is talking 81% of the time.

There is no single magical amount of time to spend chatting before you "get down to business." Instead, learn how to read your customers and notice the difference between them being engaged and impatient.

A helpful way to do this is by focusing more on asking them questions and learning about their needs.

Not only does this help you meet those needs but it helps you read them. Someone giving one-word answers wants out of the conversation. Someone who goes more in-depth is engaged and interested.

4. Saying "Yes" Now and Figuring It Out Later

Another of those outdated sales tactics is to agree to whatever the customer wants and figure out later how to make it happen.

All it takes is one experience with this strategy to see why it doesn't work. You make promises to customers, then you can't deliver. You find out later that what you agreed to is either impractical or impossible.

On rare occasions, you might find a way to deliver on your promises. More often, though, you'll wind up with unhappy customers who feel duped. You could even get into legal trouble.

There is no shame in telling a customer, "Let me get an answer on that and I'll get back to you within 24 hours."

This shows the customer that you're genuine. They've dealt with those "yes" salespeople before, and they'll be grateful to know that if you promise something, it's because you can make it happen.

5. Pushing, Pushing, and Pushing Some More

This one shouldn't come as a surprise, but in our own experiences, plenty of salespeople are still using it.

The era of the pushy salesperson "winning over customers with their persistence" is over. Today's customers are wary of being "sold to." The more you push, the less they'll trust you.

In addition to making your customers feel irritated, this strategy also makes you look desperate. Customers will start to think that if you're desperate for customers, your product or service must not be very good.

Instead of using repetition and continuing to push, give customers a deadline. For example, tell them the product will only be available until a certain date or that you only have a select amount of the product in stock.

This helps your product look more in-demand, and their reaction will tell you whether or not they're serious about the product.

Bringing Your Sales Tactics Up to Date

Selling is a complex job, and a large part of it comes down to psychology. As our world changes, so do the thought patterns our customers have. For this reason, it's important to get rid of your old sales tactics based on outdated theories.

Before you can put these tips to work, though, you need great leads. Learn more about our sales data plans to kick off your new, more successful strategy.


7 Effective Insurance Agency Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Client Base

7 Effective Insurance Agency Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Client Base

7 Effective Insurance Agency Marketing Strategies

When open enrollment approaches, your agency needs to be ready to advertise. Learn seven effective insurance agency marketing strategies to grow your business.

Keyword(s): insurance agency marketing

Need help with your insurance agency marketing? In an ever-competitive world, it’s not surprising you do. Insurance is a vast market, and in some cases, like health insurance, it is required by law.

Your insurance agency needs to stand out from the rest, and entice people to choose your company over another. It could also mean offering better deals to sway people from their existing agency to yours.

Why Effective Insurance Agency Marketing is Important

It may seem like a no-brainer, but breaking through the noise of advertising and marketing to reach potential customers is no easy feat. Maintaining and keeping those customers is another difficulty too.

But keeping customers means you’re keeping them happy, and if you keep them satisfied, then they're far more likely to recommend you to friends, family, and acquaintances. Thereby growing your client base.

One of the difficulties nowadays is that people don’t like being sold to. They want to do their own research, comparison shop and come up with their own unpressurized conclusions.

They also are naturally inclined to be skeptical of insurance companies, so building trust is critical.

But how can you effectively market your insurance agency? Here are seven ways to effectively grow your client base. Let’s take a look.

1. Make Your Website Appealing and Accessible

Your agency’s website is often your potential customer’s first experience of the company, so it needs to be a good one.

Studies show that websites have less than 15 seconds to leave an impression, and if the visitor can’t see what they want at that time, they go.

Shopping for insurance is stressful, so if your website isn’t seamless or easy-to-use, then they won’t hang around long enough to get a policy with you.

Customers nowadays, like instant, seamless, and sophisticated shopping. It’s no different from insurance shopping.

2. Brand Consistency

You need to ensure that the company’s information is consistent across each platform and channel- website, review sites, social media, etc.

Make sure this is monitored regularly, so there aren't any cross-information or brand inconsistencies.

Alongside this, make sure the customer’s experience is consistent too. This means each client or prospect is given the same experience and info regardless of where, how, or when they found the agency.

Be sure that you have a team that can respond to questions, messages, emails, and phone calls. If people see that your brand cares and is diligent, they will be more trusting.

3. Blog

Consider creating a blog for your website. Blogs not only generate more traffic for your site, but it also shows customers that you have authority on topics.

This helps build trust and makes prospects feel reassured that the company knows its stuff.

Having a blog also allows space for clients or potential clients to have their say and open up a discussion. By actively engaging with people, you can build trust and a positive reputation.

4. Everyone’s on Their Phone

Everyone is on their phone, so utilize that. To have the best chance of growing your client base, you need a mobile-friendly website.

If potential clients try to access your company website on their mobile phone and find it a hassle to use, or incompatible, then chances are they will give up and look elsewhere.

Don’t miss out on potential customers- improve their mobile experience. In fact, according to research, searching the internet with mobile phones has now overtaken using a desktop.

Facebook is the most-used social media platform, with 1,149 billion users only using their mobile phones.

5. Social Media for the Win

As mentioned above, Facebook is the most-used social media platform. This means a lot of potential customers if you advertise on there!

To broaden your reach, your insurance agency should advertise on several search engines and social media platforms.

Of course, Google is the most popular search engine, but this doesn’t mean other platforms should be neglected.

You want your insurance to appeal to a wide demographic. By using different search engines and social media platforms, you are more willing to reach people of all ages and lifestyles. Test out different ads and styles to see how they perform.

6. Don’t Be Boring

A big mistake many insurance agencies make is that they only post boring posts or information about insurance. Create content that is engaging, valuable, and can prompt interaction with potential clients or existing customers.

You could post prompting or interesting questions and request people to leave their comments. Showing interest in people’s opinions shows that you care about people, which instantly boosts trust.

As noted above, having a blog where customers can read up on specific topics, comment, and discuss these subjects is a great way to engage with people. Having employees to respond to their comments is also invaluable- be sure to respond!

Being creative, sharing content, and engaging with people is invaluable, regardless of whether they are looking for a policy now or not.

Creating a good reputation is a must, and word spreads fast if a company is diligent and friendly with their interactions.

7. Reviews Matter

Reviews matter, a lot. In fact, they have the power to make or break your company. How so? Here are some quick statistics, according to research:

  • Consumers read roughly ten online reviews before trusting a company
  • 57% of people will only choose a company that has four stars or more
  • 89% of people look at a company’s response to reviews
  • 91% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

This clearly shows that getting good reviews is essential to growing your client base. How to get good reviews? The simple answer is- provide excellent service, be diligent, and make your customers happy.

Also, let your customers know that their reviews are valuable to you. Reach out and ask them to take the time to leave a review. Be proactive in addressing any negativity and monitor these review sites regularly.

Are You Ready to Up Your Marketing Game?

Insurance agency marketing doesn’t have to be super tricky. If you want to grow your client base, remember that website appearance is vital, mobile-friendly access is crucial, and interaction with people is invaluable.

Show people that your company is professional, trustworthy, and friendly. Want more information? Click here to contact us.


What Are Aged Internet Leads and How Can They Benefit Me? - Sales Data Pro

What Are Aged Internet Leads and How Can They Benefit Me? - Sales Data Pro

 

Have you heard of aged internet leads?

If so, you might be wondering what they are and how they can benefit your business.

While they're not perfect for every industry, in finance and health insurance they can be a valuable addition to your usual methods.

Read on and we'll explain what aged internet leads are so that you can decide whether they're right for your company.

So, What Are Aged Internet Leads?

The majority of sales leads sold online are "real-time" leads. The essence of the business is this: a company gathers leads through whichever method they use and sell them within 24-48 hours of gathering them.

When there aren't enough buyers within that relatively small window of time the leads become "aged" as the individual behind the lead may have already made their decision.

It can be a loss for the marketing company involved, but they're an excellent opportunity for those who are in the right business.

Aged leads are usually anywhere from 3-90 days old. Fresher leads are generally considered better, but you shouldn't discount older leads in slow-selling fields like life insurance or mortgages.

The Advantages of Aged Leads

The biggest advantage of aged leads is that they're cheaper than those sold in real-time. Often by a wide margin.

The cost of aged leads is often so low that even a 0% conversion rate isn't a big deal but most companies will do much better than that.

Being able to snap up a lead which was warm only a few days before for pennies on the dollar is a great prospect for anyone.

For businesses that don't revolve around snap-consumer decisions, they can be a great addition to collecting newer leads.

They're also a great way to increase your list size, and some salespeople specialize in what they call "resuscitation marketing."

Are There Any Disadvantages?

The biggest disadvantage of aged leads is that the person may have already made a decision or gotten cold-feet about the sale in the first place.

Most people will end up using an auto-dialer and getting a much lower conversion rate than they would with newer leads. That can lead to a lot of disappointment for the seller if they don't know what they're getting into.

You'll have to expect a much lower conversion rate when trying to re-engage aged leads. 1-3% is actually doing pretty well depending on how old the leads are.

They're not perfect and aged leads aren't something to build your whole sales strategy around. Instead, they should be used as a complement to what you're already doing to bring in leads.

They're also not really viable for business models where a customer is likely to make a purchase immediately.

Converting Aged Leads

There are some tricks to bringing back old leads and the process differs quite a bit from hitting leads while the iron is hot.

For the most part, you'll want to separate your sales attempts from those which are for newer leads.

Don't drag out the sales process either, especially if you're using e-mail as your primary method of communication with possible customers. Taking weeks to get to the sales attempt will just lose their interest.

In general, things need to be done differently during the approach if you're looking to actually get a decent conversion rate out of old prospects.

Forming Your Content and Pitch

Hopefully, you've done research on your target demographic.

If so, you should already know what problems you're trying to solve for your customers and what may have turned them off of the service in the past.

Your goal should be to reassure them that you're "not like the rest of them" from the outset. Offering simple things like a free insurance quote or a slight discount can get things going when you're after customers that didn't purchase the service in the past.

If your industry lends itself to it a free e-book offering information is a great idea. Grab a decent ghostwriter for the process and you'll be headed in the right direction. The book should have valuable information, not just be an extended sales pitch.

Remember: an aged lead which has conversion potential hasn't made their purchase yet but they were interested in the past. Key in on their problems and you're on your way.

Don't Get Pushy

There's nothing that will turn a potential customer off faster than a pushy sales pitch.

Oftentimes that's why they haven't made the purchase in the first place. Keep things lighter than you would with a newer lead but not quite casual.

When you demonstrate your willingness to help rather than sell you stand a very good chance of winning the customer over.

Know the Market

One thing which people often forget about aged internet leads is that the potential customer is likely to be more informed than those who are looking for the first time.

In some cases, they may have talked to a half dozen or more other companies in your niche before you contact them. The average consumer may not know much about health insurance, for instance, but someone who's been shopping around likely has a good idea of average costs and practices.

Treat the customer like they're well-informed from the outset and you'll get better results.

Ready to Give Aged Sales Leads a Shot?

Aged internet leads are an excellent complement to more expensive real-time leads. In the right industries, they can be a big moneymaker but you'll want to make sure that you're treating these potential customers the right way.

Does another revenue stream sound appealing?

Our costs are low and the data can be a huge benefit for your firm in the end.

Why not see if one of our low cost, month-to-month plans is the right choice for your business?


How Agents Can Generate High Quality Health Insurance Leads with Sales Data Pro

Healthcare Insurance Leads

High quality healthcare insurance sales lead generation with Sales Data Pro helps health insurance agents bridge that gap between clients and insurance companies. Thus, they need to work hard to entice their prospective clients from generating high quality healthcare leads.

Medical emergencies come without warning. But a health insurance cover will covers people during such times. Health insurance covers consultation fees, ambulance charges, and medical test costs.

In the competitive arena of insurance, generating high quality health insurance leads that convert to sales is vital. Here is a guide for agents.

Telemarketing

Telemarketing means the promotion of goods and services to potential customers through calls. This method helps an agent pass valuable information to the right consumers.

As a health insurance agent, consider working with consumer data experts for the best lead generation techniques.

Sales data professionals will only collect the relevant information about your target group. For instance, they will collect contact information, ask for callback consent, record the calls, and then send you the leads. Of course, these services come at a small cost, but there is a guarantee for an improved customer base.

Individual Interaction

Individual interaction is still an effective leads generation method. Unlike other techniques, you'll engage in one-on-one conversations with the consumer.

Making personal contacts gives you an edge over your competitors due to the emotional trigger. Showing individual interest in prospective customers may be more convincing.

You can interact with potential health insurance consumers in different ways. Examples include free consultations, random conversations, and direct mailing.

A consumer may not need health insurance cover immediately, but they will contact you when they see the need. Individual interaction, thus, is one of the best health insurance leads.

Keeping Healthy Relationships

Health insurance agents should maintain regular communication with consumers on their contact list.

Reaching out to people only when you need their help could be a turn-off. Instead, you should always say hi, congratulate them on recent achievements, offer a free consultation when they need help, etc.

Competition is a game of emotional triggers, and only the smartest in the market survive. Agents who maintain active and meaningful relationships are likely to get more referrals.

Free Seminars

Organizing seminars enables you to reach a large audience at the same time. Also, it builds relationships that can lead to professional networks and business opportunities.

The presentation should focus on beneficial topics, i.e., health insurance. This will keep the addressees attentive throughout the session. In turn, they may develop the desire to purchase insurance cover from you.

Make the sessions as engaging as possible. You can even include a Q&A session to get your audience's view and assess their understanding of the topic. Avoid direct sales pitch that risks diverting the attention of your audience.

Online Advertising

For sure you know about emails, Google ads, social media, SEO, etc. . These are some of the most useful online platforms to promote the sales of health insurance covers.

65% of people see online searches as the most trusted source of information about people and businesses. Almost two-thirds of these users will call to inquire about a product or service when they find it online.

A wise health insurance agent should invest in an effective and affordable business data program. Such a data plan will aid in reaching targeted consumers and in large numbers. These data programs also help generate aged health insurance leads since the information is bred for a period of about 30 days.

Join Networking Group

Find groups related to your industry, your job, or even your hobbies. Engaging with local businesspersons provides a platform for the exchange of business ideas.

Don't be the silent kind! Ensure you contribute thoughtful comments and topics in these groups. Your engagement will help in gaining the trust and confidence of the others. This will install you as an industry expert.

When you are considered an expert in your field, you're more likely to get exclusive prospects.

Advertisements for Health Insurance Leads

The internet has not interfered completely with the old-style means of disseminating information. Advertising methods such as radio, newspaper, and TV still has a significant market share.

According to Nielsen's survey, more than 90% of US citizens above the age of 18 years listen to radio every week. Radio is among the effective mediums of pass information. Those using TV are even more fortunate.

Promotion of health insurance through these mediums will reach a large audience and may increase sales.

Create an Appealing Profile

A good salesperson understands that the first impression is important in business. Whether you're using email, Facebook, or LinkedIn profile, make it professional to attract your audience.

The picture in your profile should characterize your profession—do not upload selfies. Additionally, your summary should be as thoughtful and appealing as your profile photo. You need to introduce yourself to the visitors by telling them who you are, your experience, and why you chose the insurance career path.

As a salesperson, if you don’t learn how to create an appealing profile, many visitors will be scrolling past your page. This is because they can find better people on the platform, who are more organized and have attractive profiles.

Get High-Quality Data at Low Cost with Sales Data Pro

The health insurance leads generation methods above are examples of the options available. As for which of these methods is the best, it depends on different factors. They include individual agent's sales style, the target customers, the local market, and the level of competition.

You may try a few methods before settling on the one that fully grows your career as a health insurance agent. If you wish to boost your business with Sales Data Pro, feel free to contact us. One of our agents will give you the necessary information.


Compelling Cold Calling Tips and Techniques - Sales Data Pro

Compelling Cold Calling Tips and Techniques - Sales Data Pro

Are you looking to polish up on your cold calling skills?

In today's day and age, cold calling is used by many businesses and individuals to grow their business. As compared to other sales tactics, cold calling is relatively inexpensive and it can easily be incorporated into nearly any daily routine.

If you want to ensure that your cold calling abilities are the best possible, you're going to want to read this. We're uncovering ten simple yet effective cold calling tips.

After reading this, you can look forward to having better, more productive conversations with potential clients.

1. Research Your Callers

First things first, it's time to research the people and businesses in which you plan to call.

Unless you know a thing or two about the person you're calling, they're unlikely to take yourself or your preposition seriously. In researching a business or person, you'll get an idea as to how and why you can help them.

This is going to make for better conversation and more personal experience for each call. With a little information, your cold call suddenly is going to feel a lot more warm and personal.

2. Create a Goal

Next, it's time to create a goal for yourself.

Consider the amount of time that you're going to spend cold calling as well as what you'd like to get out of it. For example, you might plan to spend three hours cold calling in the afternoon and hope to get two follow-up calls and one in-person meeting.

Knowing your goals ahead of time is going to motivate you to match these numbers by the end of your calling session.

3. Create a Basic Outline

When you begin a cold call, it's always helpful to have a basic outline of your conversation.

In terms of your questions, it's best to plan these questions well in advance. In doing so, you can have fast and effective rebuttals to the most anticipated questions.

Remember, you don't want to overwhelm your prospect on your first call. Keep this in mind when creating an outline that provides enough information and food for thought without causing your prospect to feel uncomfortable.

4. Begin with a Strong Introduction

When it comes to a cold call, your introduction is everything.

Research has found that you only have 27 seconds to make a good first impression. This means the first half-minute of your phone conversation is the most important aspect of your call altogether.

Focus your energy on creating an opening pitch that is strong and informative.

5. Appear Confident

There's no denying that cold calling can be downright uncomfortable.

Whatever you do, it's crucial to present yourself as a confident business man or woman. If the person on the other end picks up on your discomfort, they're naturally going to feel that same discomfort.

On the other hand, when you appear confident and comfortable, they're going to feel more comfortable remaining on the line with you.

6. Don't Attempt to Sell on the First Call

Remember, the goal of your first call isn't necessary to close the sale.

In fact, you should avoid the prospect of selling altogether during your first phone call. This can also come across as too pushy and too desperate from the perspective of your prospect.

Simply put, try focusing your energy on scheduling that next phone call or your first meeting instead.

7. Provide Your Contact Information

In the event that nothing promising comes from your phone call, always try to leave your contact information with the caller.

Let's consider the example of a real estate agent calling a certain neighborhood in search of sellers. Even if the person on the other line isn't interested in selling at that very moment, you can leave them your contact information for future use.

From the perspective of that person, they're all the more likely to take your contact information rather than provide you with alternative ways to contact them.

8. Don't Take It Personally

This next tip is incredibly important and incredibly difficult at the same time.

Whatever you do, resist the urge to take negative feedback or poor interactions personally. When you take these negative interactions to heart, your cold calling efforts are going to be short-lived.

Remember, people on the other line often feel powerful due to the lack of face-to-face contact. As a result, these people will likely utter hurtful remarks they otherwise wouldn't say in person.

9. Practice Makes Perfect

At the end of the day, it's all about practice.

Take time by yourself to practice your script until you have developed as much confidence as possible. Try rehearsing your script in the shower, on your way to work or even with friends and family.

You can also practice and perfect common rebuttals to better prepare yourself. The more confidence that you have in your script, the more positively you're going to present yourself to others.

10. Keep Going!

Most importantly, don't give up!

There's no denying that cold calling can be an intimidating experience. After all, research finds that it takes 18 calls on average to connect with a buyer. It's easy to see how this can get old pretty quickly.

But, it's important to remind yourself that one call could result in huge potential. Remember, cold calling is also an incredibly effective means of gaining new clients and a great way to develop enhanced people skills.

If you can develop solid cold calling experience, you're going to be highly equipped for nearly any sales job in the future!

Cold Calling Tips and Tricks

There's no denying that cold calling isn't a walk in the park.

Unless you're properly prepared, cold calling can feel incredibly daunting to some. After all, you're putting yourself out there all with the likelihood of being rejected.

However, cold calling is also an inexpensive means of gaining new clients. In a matter of minutes, you just might have the potential of new clients. In a world where competition is so fierce amongst businesses, gaining new clients on a routine basis is critical.

All in all, cold calling is an important skill for any sales position. In conducting routine cold calls, it's safe to say that you're going to develop strong sales tactics. These tactics are going to be incredibly rewarding as you move forward in your career.

Could you use some help in the cold calling department? If so, don't hesitate to contact us today.


7 Tips on How to Grow Your Email Marketing Database - Sales Data Pro

Email marketing is hugely beneficial for your business because it helps build relationships with current and future customers, attracts more leads, and gives you a platform to speak directly to them.

Potential customers like email marketing because it lets you interact with them on their own time. Your email marketing is right in their inbox waiting for them when they want to view it.

You also have so many different options when it comes to creating email campaigns to send to your email list. But how can you build and grow your email marketing database?

Keep reading for our seven tips on how to grow your email list to reach even more people!

1. Facebook Ads

A good way to get more emails for your database is to spend a little money and post an ad on Facebook. This isn't as simple as asking for emails through an ad so you're going to have to put in a little bit of thought on how to persuade people to give you their email address.

The best way to do this is to offer people something useful in exchange for them giving you their email address. Facebook also has many different ways for you to optimize your ads so your target audience will see it.

Give your ad about 48 hours to run before you study the results. The results will show you how many people clicked and gave you their email address. This way you can see what works for Facebook ads and what doesn't work.

2. Offer a Discount Code

Most people will give you their email address if you offer them some sort of discount code for your products. This discount could be anywhere between 10% and 20% off; the sweeter the deal the more likely someone will submit their email address.

The best way to go about this is to have a popup when new customers look at your website. Make sure you let them know that they will be getting a discount as long as they enter their email address. This is an awesome way to add more emails to your database and make a sale because it gives potential customers an incentive.

3. Gated Content

Gated content is content that is on your website but cannot be accessed until the visitor provides their email address. This method is simple and will easily get you more emails to add to your list.

To pull this off successfully you need to generate good content on your website and then promote it with an ad or on other forms of social media. That way potential customers will click and be directed to a page where they must enter their email address before they can see the content.

Promoting your gated content will look organic and natural on social media accounts such as Facebook or Twitter. By promoting it through social media it won't seem like an ad. More people may be willing to view your content since it is as easy as entering an email address.

4. Host a Giveaway

Hosting a giveaway is a great way to get people to do exactly what you want. Make sure that you are giving away something relevant to your brand that people will actually want to win. If you're a company that sells products or services, then giving one of those away is a super cost-effective prize.

When hosting a giveaway you need to set up rules such as submitting an email address to enter. You don't want there to be too many things for a potential client to do because then they may not enter at all. Asking for an email address and a follow to be entered into a giveaway is an awesome way to get more followers and build your email list.

5. Invest in Internet Leads

Another great way to get more email addresses for your niche audience is to look for ways that you can invest in them. Sales data pro is an awesome company that can get you thousands of leads as long as you can pay for them.

Investing in leads is a great way to get more people on your email list as well as generate more clients buying your products. There are tons of different plans so you can start small and work your way up. You'll be purchasing more leads as time goes on because you will see how effective it is.

6. Use a Call to Action on Each Post

Having a blogging component to your company's website is a great way to generate more traffic organically and you need to use it to your advantage. A call to action is a sentence usually at the end or in the middle of the post that gets your reader to do something.

Your call to action needs to be something that potential clients can get in exchange for their email address. Your call to action could be about subscribing to your blog so posts regularly go to their inbox. Or you could give them some form of media that they can download in exchange for their email address.

7. Ask People

A great way to grow your email database is to just ask people to sign up. Let people know that you regularly send out news and deals through emails. If they always want to know what's going on with your company, then they should provide their email address.

Asking people to join your email list is the most organic way to build your database. Make sure to be straight forward with potential clients. Let them know if you send weekly or daily emails so they know what they're signing up for.

Grow Your Email Marketing Database

When it comes to figuring out the best way to grow your email marketing database you will need to research and see what influences your target audience. You can try a few of these methods and see what works best.

If you're interested in getting more leads quickly or have questions about what we can do for you, then contact us today and a team member will reach out to you.