We have always said we aren’t pushy or salesly but sometimes we wonder if this means that we are just a best kept secret! Most of our business growth is organic, people buy from people and we like to hand hold those relationships to the max, meaning that that we rarely go in cold, but there are times where needs must.
But…
We hate cold calling at Focus for several reasons:
We aren’t selling anything
The definition of “Sell”: to give something to someone else in return for money
What we offer is of no cost to our vendor partners but helps them sell more – can you afford not to take the call?
We are old fashioned
Our MD is of an age, where door knocking was the norm, phone calls were answered and emails an exciting rarity. People’s willingness to communicate made the world go round, saving time and frustration. Has the world gone too far?
Gatekeepers
Now this isn’t a personal dig, but gone are the days where direct lines and mobile numbers are readily available and now gatekeepers hold the key to the kingdom. This is a classic case where few ruin it for the many, as the sheer volume of sales calls some of which are dishonest, make the gatekeeper jaded.
Generic email addresses/no name policies
This is effectively the equivalent of throwing a letter in the bin before you open it, but more importantly the best thing we can send to a generic email address is something generic. We build relationships on providing information that is pertinent to our prospective vendor partners, helping them make an informed decision as to whether what we offer would be beneficial to them and their clients (we promise it will be!).
Don’t get me wrong, we understand that decision makers, in fact anyone’s time, is precious which is why we always research in depth, before making any call to determine:
- That the business’ main trade is equipment supply
- Their main clients are commercial
- Who we feel may be the right person to speak to
This saves wasting both our time and yours, as we are all too familiar with being on the receiving end of a poorly delivered, clearly scripted or even worse, dishonest sales call.
As a small family business, we genuinely just want to educate vendors as to the types of clients that utilise finance (most of our clients are strong, profitable and growing businesses) and that by offering this as a solution:
- Sales increase
- Customer confidence increases
- Decisions timescales are shortened
- Stand out from the competition
If you’ve never had a single cost objection or been paid a day late, then firstly what’s your secret, but secondly you probably don’t have a need for what we offer. Otherwise, 5 minutes of your time for a free sales tool, with a finance expert in your back pocket – sounds like a no brainer to me!