Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™ is an author, cold calling pioneer, speaker, sales trainer and sales software inventor who has made over 80,000 cold calls over his sales career--this number continues to grow exponentially. He is one of the most famous names in cold calling and sales prospecting and has received over 1,500,000 hits (this number grows approximately 15% to 20% each year) from both inside and outside sales professionals from every corner of the globe. Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™ has been quoted by numerous national publications such as Selling Power Magazine and Investor's Business Daily and was recently featured by Selling Power Live! in a CD audio program called "Turn Cold Calls Into Gold Calls." Other accomplishments include his more than 80 published articles on cold calling topics from A to Z, his infamous sales ratio calculator that automatically calculates your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly sales ratios, his custom sales script service called "The Script Responder" and finally, has a series of best-selling cold calling ebooks that include unlimited lifetime email support. For more information on Pop Icon please visit his website and subscribe to his FREE weekly e-zine!
Interview with Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™
Local Coupon Marketing™: "What advice do you have for entrepreneurs who have just purchased our money making coupon business program?"
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "First, I'd like to say CONGRATULATIONS! I'm saying this because for those of you who made this decision have taken a very difficult step in both owning and controlling your future. You have set a course of action that most if not a majority of people only think and dream about each day. You have pushed that button in life, a rubicon moment, a once in a lifetime opportunity that is the start of a series of systematic results that will ultimately put money in your pocket. You have taken the first step and you should be very proud."
Local Coupon Marketing™: "What's the first step an entrepreneur should take once they receive their custom coupon template and four bonus items (customizable direct sales letter and advertising contract, the coupon cold calling script and finally, the ad rates and spec sheet?)"
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "One of the very first action steps that you need to take is to think about which prospects you will target for your coupon saver. What's your territory? What specific areas will you target? Will you target business owners in one city or two surrounding cities? Your territory goals need to be very specific because this will yield much more effective results when speaking with prospective advertising buyers who are looking for an immediate return on their investment. Once you've identified your market then you will need to find out the name of the business owner and articulate all contact and communication with them."
Local Coupon Marketing™: "How do you find the names of these business owners?"
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "Check out an article that I wrote called Locate Business Owners in One Minute or Less!"
Local Coupon Marketing™: "Why target business owners rather than the office or store manager?"
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "Successful cold calling starts at the top of the executive chain. Always shoot for the stars - it's 110 times easier to work your way from the top down then from the very bottom to the top. While you may experience some initial resistance when trying to speak with business owners your efforts in time will be rewarded with great success!"
Local Coupon Marketing™: "So once you have zeroed-in on your territory, what now?"'
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "STOMP, STOMP and STOMP on that pavement. Get started by hitting your territory in person. Get a notepad and start writing down the names of businesses in your defined area. While time-consuming, this strategy is the best way to insure you get the most up-to-date list of businesses in your chosen market. And the most amazing part about the whole idea is that it won't cost you a single dime, except for your time."
Local Coupon Marketing™: "What are some of the most popular types of business that you would target for print coupon advertising?"
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "The businesses that I would target are in no particular order, but I would zero in on the following:"
- Italian Restaurants
- Pet Grooming Locations
- Spas and Salons
- Sub and Sandwich Shops
- Auto Maintenance
- Flower Retailers
- Fitness Centers
- Rental Apartments
- Weight Loss Centers
- Specialty Contractors (i.e. roofing and flooring)
- Steak and/or Rib Restaurants
- Local Pubs and Bars
- Internal Medicine
- Dermatologists
- Optometrists
- Air Conditioning and/or Heating Specialists
- Residential Cleaning Services
- Dry Cleaners
- Handyman Repairmen
- Ice Cream Shops
- Vitamin Stores
Local Coupon Marketing™: "What's next after all this?"
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "Here's a bullet point list of actions that you need to take to make this program successful:
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Find a graphic designer. For this program, it is recommended to use a company called ASA Design Studio. Their phone number is 561-207-7805 and they can also be reach via email at info@asadesignstudio.com. Since ASA Design Studio created your customized template they already have access to the template as compared to another graphic designer who may have to recreate the existing template. According to the most frequently asked questions on www.StartaCouponBusiness.com ASA Design Studio is very affordable (with quick turnarounds from three to five business days) as their prices range anywhere from $89 to $249 depending on the size of the advertisement.
- Do an online search and get pricing from an array of printers.
- If you are unsure about any of these ideas or action steps then you need to really take some time and review your local coupon competition. As you review your competitor's product, you will start to learn of strategic ideas as to how you may want to target your local market. While we do not promote that you copy the techniques of your competitors as that approach is not recommended (and not legal), however, we do encourage that you do learn a bit more about what your competition is doing to take market share. Once you have an overall understanding of their marketing strategies then you need to make their ideas your own. This means that you need to massage their ideas into a whole new level of performance so that the look and feel of their strategies are night and day from your own marketing efforts.
- Are you going to have a presence on the internet with a company website? To build your website, check out either Network Solutions or GoDaddy.com for more information. Once you are online, you can now offer your clients an additional bonus of being online. The strength of both online and offline marketing (and its reach potential) is a very powerful sales tool that you can use when selling advertising.
- While your print publication will be promoted through your distribution points and word of mouth it's also important to have a marketing strategy if you should decide to have a company website. To promote yourself online you could use press release services (some are free), social media (i.e. facebbook) and online advertising (i.e. Google Adwords.)."
Local Coupon Marketing™: "What sales strategies do you recommend?"
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "We recommend that you sign up for our free newsletter and visit our website for thousands of useful tips on sales techniques and strategies. We also offer on-demand one-to-one sales training over the telephone. And finally, we offer a series of cold calling ebooks that offer FREE and unlimited lifetime email support. The collection of books are on overcoming sales objections, how to open calls and finally, how to make the process of cold calling fun!"
Local Coupon Marketing™: "How should an entrepreneur set up their business? I know their are various types of business entities such as a sole proprietorship, a corporation, a limited liability company or general partnership, which one is the best?"
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "Your best bet is to do an internet search on how to start a business. Here are a few helpful websites to review:
Local Coupon Marketing™: "What suggestions do you have for naming the coupon booklet?"
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "Once you have selected a city or county then choose a name. When setting up your coupon saver try to find areas that are not currently being served by coupon publications. Areas that are not being served are called niche markets and niche markets are how you will make money. The name should clearly identify the area in which you have selected to target. Of course, this advice is not set in stone there are always exceptions. Also, make sure that your name is unique and double, triple and quadruple check that your name is not being used. Do a search on the internet to see if anyone has this name taken, check with your state's Division of Corporations (use an internet search to find your state's website and usually these sites have a free search feature) and finally, you may even want to do a federal search to make sure that your chosen name is not a trademarked. Once you have verified that your name is available then register your name with your state's Division of Corporations."
Local Coupon Marketing™: "We greatly appreciate your time. Do you have any final words of wisdom for our entrepreneurs?"
Pop Icon Mr. Cold Call™: "Yes, I'd like to leave you with two famous quotes from Walt Disney. The first quote is "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." And the second quote is "If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
