Zero Cold Calls: Creating an Internet Presence So Prospects Call You

Published on this site: May 4th, 2007 - See more articles from this month

If you're in sales, I bet we have at least one thing in common:
we probably both hate cold calling. As I was building my investment management business the prescribed approach was to call prospects until they "buy or die."

Good news: That's old 20th century stuff! In the era of voice mails and caller IDs, you need a fresh approach. I have developed a method that will first give you a superb reputation and, at the same time, establish you as the ultimate professional in your line of business. That combination results in new
clients/customers contacting you-as opposed to you having to chase them.

How do you accomplish this?

I can tell you because I've done it. And while my methods have worked well in the financial services industry, they can be applied to any sales or service business.

The key is to establish a "platform," a following of prospects who are interested in your product or service. While they may only be prospects now, they can be turned into enthusiastic customers if you do the following two things:

1. Produce a regular newsletter that covers topics of interest to the clients you want to reach. Be very specific and be helpful by providing information of value.
   
   Here's how I have used this approach successfully over several years:
   
   I write and produce a weekly financial market update and 30-page StatSheet featuring momentum data on hundreds of no load mutual funds and ETFs. (I have to do the research anyway to support my managed accounts.) It's free to anyone interested in the subject. Over time, I have built up a list of over 17,000 opt-in readers, people who are eager to receive my materials. From that platform, there is always a certain percentage of investors who like my approach and prefer having me implement my investment strategy for them instead of having to do their own investing. They become managed account clients, and I charge them a fee for the service.
   
   Part of what makes this work is changing your philosophy in dealing with prospective clients from "how can I manipulate people to get what I want" to "what benefit can I give them so they will want to work with me." The more value you offer, the more you will be perceived as someone of value to work with.
   
   
2. Set up a user-friendly website that offers something of value, like an archive of the newsletters described above.
   
   Most websites I have seen are a disaster. Their message is surrounded by Google ads and feature links to other products that have nothing to do with the theme of the site. Theirs is a shotgun approach: sell anything to anybody who happens to "drive by."
   
   I have found great success-and suggest that you will too-by using the following as a guideline: When a visitor arrives at my site, I have only one goal in mind: To have him sign up for my newsletter. This allows me to create a relationship with him, contact him again, and eventually convert him to a client.
   
   Here's how I have used this approach:
   
   If readers click on any of my ads or articles, they end up on my web site
   www.successul-investment.com. However, since my goal is to have them sign up for my newsletter, not sell them on my service, they land on the sign up page and not the home page. They receive a brief explanation of my newsletter, a link to a sample issue, and my offer for them to sign up. That's it! They aren't bombarded with pop-up windows asking them to do this or that. My message is simple and clear: Check out a sample newsletter. If you think this will help you make more money, get one every week for free. After they've considered this and taken action or not, upon leaving, they can download my free e-book on tax-free income investing.
   
   To this point, I have given nothing but benefits and asked for nothing in return. If my newsletter delivers the promised value, it is just a matter of time before a certain percentage of these subscribers decide to do business with me. To do that, they initiate contact with me. They ask me to take their business. The website has gotten them to the newsletter and the newsletter has sold my philosophy and service. I'm not selling them when they call, I am doing them a favor because they're already sold!

Since developing and implementing Platform Marketing, I have increased from a good practice to a thriving practice. It takes less of my time than my old style approach and allows me the freedom to travel and still do business from my laptop. It works for me-it can work for you.

Ulli Niemann - is a Registered Investment Advisor and has just published his first e-book "More Clients, Less Work, Zero Cold Calls." He has developed the Platform Marketing concept, which utilizes the selling power of the internet to build a financial advisor practice without cold calling. Find out more at http://www.ZeroColdCall.com