50. How To Make A Killer Cold Call For Your Cleaning Business
Plus an EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!
Big news!
My business partner James and I are launching The Cleaning + Property Maintenance Community!
We’re going to be running a FREE 90 minute Zoom call for the first 100 sign ups.
The call will include guest speakers answering questions on Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finances and Recruitment.
Spaces are limited to 100 and we already have 40+ people interested.
If you run a cleaning or property maintenance business and want to be one of the 100 on the call, join the waiting list.
Cold Calls.
When I ran my cleaning business, I hated making them.
Countless rejections and false promises.
But, every now and then they did lead to opportunity. That’s why I kept making them.
And why you should be making them too.
However, instead of taking the sledgehammer approach to making cold calls - just smiling and dialling with no clear plan - take a measured approach to maximise the results of your calls.
Agenda
The purpose of a cold call
How to structure your cold call
Cold call tips
Dealing with gatekeepers
1. The purpose of a cold call
Your main objective with a cold call should be securing the next step, either:
another call at a designated time; or
an in-person meeting.
That means capturing your prospect’s attention quickly and getting them to see there’s enough value in your call for a second call/book a meeting.
If you can’t progress the call to a follow up, you should have a back up plan. This can be:
Getting a name. When you’re calling businesses of a certain size, there’s a good chance that the first person you speak to is not the key decision maker. They’re normally a “gatekeeper”. If your call results in nothing more than learning the name (and position) of the key decision maker, that’s still a successful cold call.
With a name, you can research LinkedIn, connect with the key decision maker and follow up with a second call knowing how to ask for.
You might even luck out and get a direct line number off the company website or in their LinkedIn profile.
Growing your knowledge. Unless you’ve done research before the call (difficult if you’re calling at volume), you will likely know very little about the business. At the very least, you will have qualified the business - industry and location - to determine if it’s worth a call.
While on the call, if it sounds like you’re not able to progress to the next step, find out information about their current situation and needs.
Do they have a cleaning company?
Are they managing their cleaning needs in-house?
Are they facing any cleaning-related problems?
Document this information in your CRM ready for your next call.
2. How to structure your cold call
Once you’ve got past the gatekeeper (see tips in the next section), there are 5 elements to a cold call:
The Introduction: Introduce yourself (”Hey Bob, I’m Matt Harris with The Growth Lab.”) and ask “Did I catch you at a bad time?” Whether the answer is yes or no, your answer will be, “Okay, I’ll be brief.”
Keep it short and simple.
The Why: Tell them why you are calling. Use you value proposition.
If you’ve connected with them on LinkedIn or sent an email, say that you’re following up and then give them your value proposition.
The Ask: Ask for a meeting after you’ve delivered your value proposition.
“The reason I’m reaching out is to set up a short introductory call. What’s your availability?”
Pause and wait for a response.At this stage you’ll find out the hurdle that’s stopping the prospect from taking a meeting with you.
The Objection: Prepare to handle objections at this stage. They will include “Not interested”, “I’m not the right person” or “We’re happy with our cleaners.”
Prepare a list of common objections and have your answers ready.
Ask for the meeting again immediately after handling objections.The Meeting: On a successful cold call, you will schedule a meeting.
Once set, ask some qualifying questions to make sure the meeting is productive.
This call should take no more than 2-5 minutes.
3. Cold call tips
Use a casual, comfortable tone and try to sound normal and genuine when phoning prospects.
Be slightly informal.
Make sure your call is logically structured using the framework suggested. Key talking points should be scripted.
First impressions count and the first few seconds are the most important. The opening of the call is your opportunity to get straight to the point.
4. Handling Gatekeepers
There’s a good chance that you’ll speak with a bunch of gatekeepers as you make your calls.
Here are some simple tips to bear in mind:
Appeal to their human side. A great phrase to use is “Maybe you could help me?” or “Can you point me in the right direction?” These type of phrases are more likely to be well received than just demanding to speak with the manager or owner.
Use their name. If the gatekeeper answers the phone with their name, use that back to them and make the conversation more personal.
The rebuttal. Similar to objection handling, when a gatekeeper tells you why they won’t transfer you, acknowledge the reason, handle it and ask to be connected.
For example:“I understand you already have a cleaning service. We just want to see if we could be more competitive price or provide a more viable quality service. Who would be responsible for that?”
Remember, the purpose of a cold call is not to sell your cleaning service, it’s securing an opportunity to sell your cleaning service.
Your call should be short, concise and generate some interest in your prospect allocating time to find out what you have to offer.
Try this approach and let me know how you get on with your next batch of cold calls.
Content to check out
To find out more about James, check out his interview on The Growth Lab podcast. We discuss how he took his business from a standing start to being voted the best cleaning business in the UK. Listen here.
Prefer watching over listening? Check out The Growth Lab podcast on YouTube.
Need More Help?
Email me with the growth strategy for your cleaning business. The more details you provide, the more personal I can make my response.
Want to 3x the growth of your cleaning business over the next 12 months? Book a call.
Thanks for reading!
Matt @ The Growth Lab
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