Cold canvassing is the practice of contacting people and gauging their interest in later purchasing the service or merchandise. There is no sales pitch or even specifics on what you are selling in this conversation. The primary purpose of the encounter is to survey the person and gather information that will aid in the identification of leads.
1. You will do this in person by going door to door in a neighbourhood.
2. On the phone: If you have a small team, you can arrange a phonathon to communicate with a huge number of individuals, or you can go through lists separately.
Let's look at an example of cold canvassing and see how this works. Assume there is a soap manufacturing business. A direct sales pitch would include discussing the product's USP and why someone should buy it.
If the organization was cold canvassing, though, the dialog would most certainly involve issues like:
Is the person a fan of lather-producing soaps or not?
Does the individual prefer a soap that kills germs or moisturizes the skin?
Will the customer purchase a different brand of soap if it had the same benefits as the current soap but at a lower cost?
And many more questions like these.
The first and second questions disclose the prospect's interests, enabling the company to determine whether or not the prospect is interested in their soap.
The third question shows a person's brand loyalty, and if the answer is no, the organization will know that this possibility isn't a high priority.
You should send this detail to the sales staff so they can follow up with people who are involved in the product and pitch it to them.
If you're on the fence about whether or not cold canvassing is ideal for you, consider the following three advantages.
1. Reduces cold calling anxiety
Since there is a chance of confrontation if the individual is not involved, salespeople sometimes feel some apprehension before cold calling. Keep in mindthat we're talking about cold calling, which is the move after cold canvassing where you contact cold prospects.
When you know the person is involved in the product or service you're selling, cold canvassing will make you relax. In such situations, the contact is a little lesssevere and callers are conscious that they will not be exposed to any lashes.
2. Higher conversion rates
It's self-evident. Since you're just engaging with people who are involved in the product, your conversion rate would be very high.
Cold calling (calling someone on the prospect list) is only effective 2 percent of the time, when eligible leads convert 20% of the time.
3. Provides valuable insights into the consumer
Cold canvassing will provide you with a lot of data on your target client in addition to improving your sales rates by screening out uninterested prospects.
This insight will be used to enhance your product or service to make it more attractive to your target market. Take, for example, the soap maker we listed earlier. If they find that a majority of people like their soaps to lather more when canvassing, they may adjust their soap or their marketing campaign to emphasize this point, making it more attractive to a wider market.
These advantages add up to an increase in net revenue by making the distribution process more effective.
Are you convinced that cold canvassing is an essential component of your sales strategy? You need to be. So, let's go over the precautions you'll need to take to conduct canvassing.
1. Decide your target prospects.
The first question you must answer before you begin canvassing is who you will target. This would depend on the product you're offering. Consider the following scenario:
A local company might choose to concentrate on a particular region
Other companies that use software could be the target opportunities for a software firm
For its product range, an online retailer may choose to reach a particular demographic around the world.
This can also be viewed as a form of prospect prequalification. You'll have a clearer sense of what information you need from them if you know who to target.
2. Reduces cold calling anxiety
The next step is to figure out what sort of information you want to get out of the conversation. Are you attempting to:
Determine whether or not your target demographic is interested in your product/service.
Gain business knowledge to help you develop your product or service.
You can do both if you like, but you'll have to expand your engagement, which will offend your crowd.
Choosing the interaction's goal will help you frame your survey questions.
For eg, if you're trying to gauge their interest, you could ask about their allegiance to a new brand, where their current providers are falling short, and so on.
You would want to concentrate on their pressure points, challenges, and other industry insights and get more market insights.
3. Prepare your team and send them out.
It's time to dispatch the squad after you've finalized your concerns (or get them to start calling). Make sure the staff is well-prepared to solve popular obstacles, regardless of the outreach approach you chose.
Usually, you'll need to train them in the following areas:
Check online for relevant rules relating to cold canvassing (and canvassing in general) to make sure the staff is familiar with them. You can't dial prospects after 8 p.m., for example.
If you're using call center tech to make calls or a polling platform for face-to-face communications, make sure the staff understands how to use it to troubleshoot typical problems.
Opening the conversation: This is vital so the individuals the team will be surveying will be shocked. Your staff wants to know exactly how to start the dialogue in order to guarantee that people want to answer their questions.
Overcoming traditional goals: After beginning a discussion, some people may fail to disclose any detail, citing reasons such as "it's not the right time." However, you must ensure that the team does not necessarily let them go, and you must be able to ask them to answer their questions. A reasonable solution to the aforementioned reason, for example, will be to arrange a follow-up call.
4. Use the information gathered during canvassing for sales.
This is the end of the canvassing phase and the start of the sales process. When you've finished canvassing, you'll have a lot of knowledge about your target demographic. Use this knowledge to:
Separate the leads from the users who aren't involved.
Make a method for pitching the high-interest leads.