If I had a dollar for every tim a potential customer...

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dnkies
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If I had a dollar for every tim a potential customer...

Post by dnkies »

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to run one of my frustrations with the WSR business by you all and see if this happens to you as well...

I have been hitting the WSR business full time for the past 2.5 weeks now (been in the business for 2.5 years). I have done fairly decent cold calling and door to door. In my first two weeks, I have performed approximately 20 insurance jobs and another 10-15 cash jobs...all but 2 of those jobs were cold calling finds.

I know it takes a while to get the wheels turning in a new business, but I am just having a hell of a time getting my business to where it needs to be for me to make a living to support my family. I know the success of my business lies on my shoulders, but I can honestly say that I am not sitting on my butt waiting for people to call me...I go out every day and beat the streets looking for customers. I WANT this business to work out for me because of the freedom it allows me to have for things like taking my kids to school and being able to coach them in sports etc... My old job sent me out of town all the time and I busted my butt ad broke my back to just scrape by....(Enough of the sob story) What I have learned in my first 2.5 full time weeks is nobody is going to make my business work but me. There is no gravy train of insurance referrals and there is no easy or guaranteed way to get to customers...it takes hard work and you have to get used to A LOT of rejection...

My best method of finding a customer is to find a damaged windshield and then try to locate the owner....As most of you know, that is not always an easy task! Thats why I have found that it is super important to try to get the deal closed once you are lucky (or skilled) enough to find that potential customer.

Anyways, the question for my post is this:

I have handed out about 30-40 cards to people who had chips on their cars and told me they really wanted to have the repair done, but they were "too busy" or "had to leave" at the moment I was with them....they all took my card and told me something similar to "I will definitely call you"....but so far....not a single call back. :( Just wondering if you guys have similar experiences on a regular basis or have you found that the people will eventually call???
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Eco Steam
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Re: If I had a dollar for every tim a potential customer...

Post by Eco Steam »

When you hand them a card and they say they're going to give you a call, don't stop there. Have a writing tablet, iPad, or your phone handy and say something like,"Do you mind if I reach out to you in a day or so and we can schedule your repair for you", something like that, word it however you want to, but I guarantee it will work better than just handing out a card and walking away with the hopes of them calling you.

Hope that helps...


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dnkies
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Re: If I had a dollar for every tim a potential customer...

Post by dnkies »

That does make sense! Salesmanship 101...I'm learning every day...thank you!
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Re: If I had a dollar for every tim a potential customer...

Post by Coitster »

This is so true. People don't mean to not get back to you they are just busy, they forget or they loose your card. I probably get 1 call for every business card I hand out. But if someone is willing to give you their phone number to call them back at a later time you will get 90% of those. You just need to be proactive. I just started using SalesForce.com to keep all my contacts. I love it. Helps me, because I am always loosing phone numbers of people I am going to call back.
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kewiglass
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Re: If I had a dollar for every tim a potential customer...

Post by kewiglass »

I just want to say thanks for posting your progress. It's interesting to see how you've done. I think you have a carwash location now right? I'm hoping to get one eventually also, but first I just need to go out and hit the bricks. Especially since I'm sure the carwash is going to want their rent before you start approaching their customers. I don't have a family to feed so to see you start with 30 jobs in 2 weeks strictly off of sweat alone, it's reassuring. It's certainly not a million dollar jackpot, but it will let me eat and pay rent on my own terms, while I'm saving up for the carwash spot. I did have one carwash say they were interested. I would have to pay $30 per day, and I couldn't approach their customers. Not my favorite terms. Anyway, keep up the good work.
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