[ascjim]

Morning,
Just wondering how you lot get your commercial work i.e: office blocks, public buildings, car show rooms and contract work.


Do you think i should send proposal letters to the company's? - What would this proposal contain?

Or maybe email them? Or phone them?

If i know the job, would it be a good idea to send a proposal letter with a quote sheet?


Any of your experiences would really come in handy at the moment.

Would be nice to know what has worked for you.

James

[darren clarke]

the few commercial jobs i have got as come from them phoneing me either throught web site or yell

[ascjim]

Anyone else?

[Nigel Lee]

Just walk in.  Be smart.  Quality stationary will help.  You must be able to deliver a confident pitch, and don't let receptionists turn you away.  Ensure you speak to the right person, even if you have to wait a while.

[kate1]

Hi

Phone initially, make an appointment.

Make sure you get the decision maker, and like the above poster says, dont get fobbed off.  Its not upto the receptionist to make the decision for the company.  Be friendly, if you can get past the "gatekeeper"  Most of the time its straightforward, as its not a complicated sell.

Least on the phone you can get through lists quicker than visiting.

Make sure your data is TSP/TSCP checked though before you call.

At least that way you can build you data list, collect renewal dates etc.

Kind regards

[Nigel Lee]

I have always struggled on the phone.  Its easier for them to be rude and dismiss you.  Maybe its just me.  In person I have always got better results.  See what works for you I guess.

[kate1]

Thats exactly right Nigel

Some people are better off face to face.

But personally its better to have a set time and a name.

If you walk in off the street, their not expecting you, sometimes yes you will be lucky for them to take the time out to see you, or you can leave details

Just think you have a higher chance of conversion if they are expecting you and what you will be going through with them - half way there as they have already agreed to see you.

But your right, some people do cope better face to face - but its getting that face to face initially

[Archer]

ascjim,

Just be as confident as you can be, thats my experience.

Take all the advice offered to you, think about it, throw in afew of your own ideas and go for it.

As for walking into buildings that fine, but depending where in the country you are be aware of certain pitfalls.

Im in the North West area, and i know of 2 window cleaning companys that have had visits, and seriously threatened because of their no-nonsense approach to walking into buildings.

They look at it, like double glazing persons knocking on your door is the normal approach etc

But treading on other window cleaners toes can upset certain people.

Like i said, if i was you i would use all the information and take it from there, if you need anymore advice leave me your number and i will give you a quick call pal

Chris

[ascjim]

Thank you lot. This helps alot. I do agree with ARCHER about just walking into building, it can seem to be rude and alot of trouble could evolve from it. But like kate1 said everyone is different.

It good to know other ppls experiences. Really does help

James

[mci services]

I was given a tip that I have not put to use : go into the bulding and ask the reception for the name of the person in charge of w/c contracts as you would like to write to him as you appreciate the fact he/she are busy people, this is normally a relief to the reception as they can be under strict orders not bother the gaffer with sales. So they scribble down a name and you now have the person that you need to write to.

[kate1]

Stu thats why you are better picking up the phone.

Lot of people have confidence issues talking to strangers.

You dont need to "hard sell"

Best way is to be a bit stooopid,

"Hi, yes, just calling from X  (keep it casual) just calling to see how you currently look after you maintenance with regards to the building (No direct selling there)  Just doing courtesy calls - dont sound desperate.

For example

Nikki might be on reception

this is purely an example


"Hi there, (god this is difficult as I do it for a job)

The receptionist is always on the defensive.  But you explain, "yea hi, im ringing from X, just trying to establish who deals with the maintenance of the building, their normally quite nice.

Be honest about what your ringing about.

Get the receptionist on your side, however you do it.

Be calm, dont hard sell.

I end up having blooming conversations about how long the owner has gone on holiday for    blimey

If you show interest they become you friend.

In 20 years of doing this, I end up saying "really" without any conviction at all.  The receptionist wants to moan at you, and if you just take an approach where you are on their side  -- but very subtly

[mci services]

thanks kate nice input,

[kate1]

Stu you just end up having weird conversations, but ultimately you have to do that to get where you want to be. 

I get fobbed off all the time with receptionists, but I have my own way off getting around it.  I ask in a very polite voice " so is it yourself that makes the decision" they completely back down, but I do it in a nice way, come across as a bit confused.

I put it across like Im a bit knaive, they dont like to be challenged.

Had a call today, oh no the owner wont like that - I just said, I will call back if hes not about, no worries, i just need to speak to him.. If I get asked by the receptionist to send a mail in, I then say, well I really need to establish if oiur business can be of any use, before I send an email,  Lots of ways around things.

[mci services]

yeah kate my wife takes these calls all the time as she is my receptionist and when they eventually get me I just fob them off, as I will not deal with sales calls I tell them to put it writing and I will look at the proposal, so thats why I do not do sales calls, All I want is a name so I can write and then maybe follow up, I do read my mail but I wont ever do business that is costing me money from a call.

but back to the subject I know a guy that uses the recommendation route to get commercial, he offers his residential customers the equivalent of a months value for a recommendation to their employers work place, so for example a ten pound clean on a house could lead to a 4 weekly clean on an office worth £200 so he gains £200 a month and loses £10 a month for 20 months but that makes sense to me as opposed to doing the other offers I keep reading about

[kate1]

Stu

Its not direct contact.

Do you mean if you clean this guys house, that he will put you in contact with his offices?

[mci services]

what I mean kate is folk do the recommend a friend thing, whereas this guy offers a recommend your work place, every body works somewhere so stands to reason they will know who is in charge of the cleaning, so you pick up a commercial contract and they get a free clean or many free cleans depending on the size of the contract, it could also work out the contract isn't worth more than a few quid but that doesn't matter as you just discount their bill by that amount

don't know if I am making sense but I hope so, it is just another route into commercial work

[kate1]

Does it work Stu?

[mci services]

It does for the guy that does it, I am just to lazy to implement it but I will do as I know it works for him, I think you chatted to him on another forum a while back waviedavie from edinburgh

[kate1]

Yep Stu, know Wavie Davie, thats an interesting way of doing things.