Cold calling, telemarketing… whatever you want to call it. In my previous employed life the company I worked for had a whole telemarketing department, people who would spend all day everyday making phone calls and getting leads. I guess having to do this for eight hours a day would make you pretty sanitised about the whole thing. I have to say that this is one part of being self-employed that I have really had to work at. I know that I’m good at what I do, I know that every customer I have had has been no less than 100% satisfied with the work I have done; however, you can’t rely on repeat business when you are still establishing yourself and have a small customer-base. Being successfully requires a steady flow of new customers and work. larger companies will pay people to find new business, if you’re self employed the only person going to do it is you.
Some people can naturally pick up the phone and sound confident and competent, others find the whole thing turns them into a nervous wreck. Anyway, as with anything the more you do it, the better you become at it. I would hate to have to listen back to my first cold calls again, I probably sounded a bit garbled and weird. But forcing myself to make a few every day, means that now I can sound more confident to the potential customer, and not feel so worried if I’m told to foxtrot oscar; I’ll just forget them and try the next possible on my list. Anyway, cold calling is just one of the ways of marketing you need to pursue, but it can give you some success if you keep at it.
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