If you’re a web developer or designer, you’ve probably shied away from getting new customers through cold calling. Surprisingly, cold calling can be a very effective way to get new clients in the web design industry, if you have the right strategy, scripts and approach.
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How To Prepare For Cold Calling For Website Design?
So I actually used to run a small web design business on the side, back in the day. I primarily got new clients from cold calling, save for the referrals. (Which I guess you could say stemmed from cold calling, anyway.)
But before you start cold calling, there are a couple of things you need to know first in preparation, and we’ll touch on that before we get into the scripts.
Should You Niche Down?
This really comes down to preference, but from my experience, it’s usually best to niche down your services when cold calling. When you’re talking to a stranger on the phone, they need to be able to understand what it is that you do/offer quickly.
If you try to sell them on the fact that you’re a “full-service” agency that does everything from custom web design to digital marketing, it’s going to be more difficult to reel them in.
But if you focus on one specific service, like responsive web design or eCommerce development, it’ll be much easier for them to understand what you do and how you can help them.
How Far Should You Niche Down Your Web Design Services When Cold Calling?
So let’s say this business of yours is just in the infancy stages – it’s just an idea right now. No problem!
You might want to take it a step further, and niche down by the type of industry or size of business you want to work with.
For example, you could focus on small businesses in the eCommerce space or dentists who need a new website. This will help you segment your target market and make your cold calling efforts that much more effective. When the customer you’re calling KNOWS you specialize in their field, it triggers a psychological response that makes them more likely to use your services.
Speaking of dentists, if you think that market is too small, there are over 200,000 licensed dentists in the United States right now. If you close just 1% of them at $2,000 a pop – that’s $4,000,000 upfront. And that’s not including recurring revenue from monthly maintenance packages, etc. Not too shabby, right?
Benefits Of Niching Down In Web Design Services
Think about it for a second. If you went online and were trying to find information about a specific dog breed, let’s say Cocker Spaniels, and you came across two articles:
- “The 100 Best Small Dog Breeds”
- “Cocker Spaniels: Why They Make The Best Family Pets.”
Which one are you more likely to click on and read? Of course, the latter! It’s focused on exactly what you’re looking for – in this case, information on Cocker Spaniels.
The same goes for web design services. When you niche down and focus on a specific type of customer or industry, it helps you to be seen as an expert in that area, which makes the person on the other end of the phone much more likely to use your services. It helps build trust with potential clients and separates you from the rest of the “me too” agencies out there.
Now, I’m not saying this an absolutely necessary. You don’t have to do this. But as a beginner, I think it makes your job a bit easier to be seen as an expert in one field vs trying to be a “jack of all trades.”
How To Find Leads To Cold Call For Website Design
This is probably the easiest part. There are really only two main ways to get leads to cold call:
- Buy a list of leads from a lead generation company (SalesGenie, Dun & Bradstreet, etc.)
- Generate your own list of leads through research
There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but we’re going to focus on generating your own list of leads because it’s free (or very cheap) and you have more control over the quality of the leads.
How To Generate Your Own List Of Leads For Website Design
To generate your own list of leads, you’ll want to start by coming up with a list of target industries and/or businesses that you want to work with.
For example, if you’re a web designer who specializes in Gyms, you might make a list that looks like this:
- Gyms
- Fitness Centers
- Yoga Studios
- Crossfit
Once you have your list of target industries, you’ll want to find a list of businesses in those industries. The quickest & cheapest way to do this is with a Google search, or even something like Yelp.
Here’s how you would go about it:
- Go to Google or Yelp.
- Type in “gyms in Los Angeles” (or whatever target keyword and city you’re targeting)
- Click “Search”
- That’s it! Pretty easy, right?
How To Narrow Down Your Lead List
Now that you’ve gotten a list of 100-200 business names and numbers, it’s time to start doing a bit of legwork to narrow down your list.
The first step is knowing what services you can actually provide. The last thing you want to do is get on a call with an eager potential customer and then find out you can’t actually do what they need.
So make sure you know your capabilities before moving on to the next step.
The second step is to come up with a list of criteria that will help you determine whether or not a lead is worth pursuing BEFORE you get on a call with them. This will vary depending on your goals, but here are some examples:
- Are they in a location you’re willing to work in? Or does location not matter?
- Do they have an existing website? If so, is it outdated or in need of repair?
- Is their website top-notch and honestly in no need of help? (And even if it is, they could be paying an arm and a leg for it – you might be able to do it cheaper. Just a thought.)
That’s really it for the pre-call criteria. You might have some more, but really, you’ll be getting in-depth on the qualification phone calls that we’ll get into a little later in this article. First, let’s figure out how we can find the people you actually need to speak to.
How To Find The Decision-Makers
The one downside to the do-it-yourself approach to finding leads is that you may have some trouble finding the decision-maker’s contact information, or even names.
There are a few tools that you can use, although they are gonna cost you. I’ll just list a few of them here:
- Zoominfo
- Hunter.io (Note: Hunter.io is more for email addresses. However, many corporate email addresses will use the contact first name or first initial and last name, so you can sort of parse through it to figure out the decision-markers name.)
How to Find the Decision-Maker’s Name on A Cold Call
The second best (and free) thing you can do is just simply ask for it on a phone call. And it honestly is a pretty simple process.
Now that you have your list of businesses and phone numbers it’s time to start calling.
Here’s the script:
“Hi, my name is _____ and I’m with _____. We’re a web design company that specializes in creating websites for gyms and fitness studios. Is the person who handles your website there by any chance?”
If they transfer you to someone else, simply repeat the process. If they say no, that’s okay. Simply ask for the person’s name who handles _X_, or in this case, their website.
You can even make it simpler:
“Hey, I’m trying to get in touch with the person who handles (blank). Do you happen to know who that would be?”
Like I said, to get a decision-maker on the phone, it’s relatively easy, and using those scripts, you’ll get the right person’s name 9 out of 10 times.
Do Leaving Voicemails Work?
They can work if you make them work. Generally, I’ve had much more success with voicemails AFTER a prospect already knows who I am. However, if you’re just starting out, that might not be possible. So I’ll leave you with something that works, and let you decide if it’s something worth pursuing.
The key to a great voicemail is leaving enough information to peak the interest of the decision-maker, but not so much information that they don’t need to call you back to find out more.
Here’s an example of a great voicemail:
“Hi, my name is _____ and I’m with _____. We’re a web design company that specializes in creating websites for gyms and fitness studios. We recently did a project for XYZ Gym and they were extremely happy with the results.
Anyway, I was calling to see if you would be interested in a free consultation to see how we’d be able to help.
My number is ___________. Again, you can get back to me at ___________. Thanks!”
There are a lot more intricacies that go into leaving effective sales voicemails, you can learn more here.
The Best Cold Calling Script For Website Design
Now that we’ve covered the basics of how to find and actually get in touch with these leads, let’s talk about what you should say to them once you’re on the phone to start qualifying your leads and setting up some appointments.
Let’s get right into it:
Part 1: Introduction
The introduction is focused on a few things. First, you let them know who you are and the company you are with (if you have one.) Secondly, in one to two sentences, you let them know what you do, and how you help businesses. Lastly, you explain why you’re calling.
Here’s an example:
Hi, _____? My name is _____ and I’m a web designer/developer. Reason for my call, I work with businesses in the __________ industry to help them modernize and turn their websites into passive lead-generating machines, so they can focus on running their business.
I took a quick peek at your website, and I think there are definite improvements we can help with. But before we get into any of that – I just had a few questions to see if you’d be a good fit, and I’ll be under 30 seconds. Sound fair enough?
Part 2: Qualification Stage
The next part of the script is designed to help you qualify your leads and see if they’re actually a good fit for your services. This is where you start going a little more in-depth from your pre-call criteria.
And generally, the questions revolve around the budget, timeline, need, and whether or not they are happy with their current situation.
Here are some examples:
1) How long have you been in business?
2) Do you have a budget set aside for projects like this?
4) Are you happy with your current website design or traffic/conversions?
5) Are you getting any sales from your website, or does it just kinda sit there?
5) Have you worked with a web designer/developer before?
6) What was your goal for creating a website? To get more sales or just to have an online presence?
8) Have you spoken with anyone else regarding your website needs?
Part 3: Transitioning to The Appointment Setting
Once you’ve established that they are a good fit for your services – it’s time to transition into closing them on an appointment.
The goal here is to get them to agree to meet with you so you can now close the deal.
At this point in the conversation you’ve already established that they need help, what kind of budget they have, and when they would be looking to get started on a project – so use that information to your advantage.
Here are some examples:
1) “Based on what you’ve told me, it sounds like we could definitely help you out. I want to be 100% upfront with you, _____. My time is very limited, and I can’t work with everyone that calls me.
So what I’d like to do is have a quick meeting with you, so we can go over your specific goals and see if it makes sense to move forward. If it does, great! We’ll get started right away. If not, that’s OK too – at least you’ll know what needs to be done and have a plan to get there.
I have this Thursday and Friday afternoon free. What’s your availability like then so we can nail down a time?”
2) “If I were in your shoes, I’d want to get started on this right away. The longer you wait, the more money you’re losing out on.
Would next week work to come by and sit down/zoom meeting/hop on another phone call with me? I promise it will be worth your time.”
3) “So here’s what I’d like to do. I can shoot you out a preliminary email with my proposal and some ideas for your website. Next week, I’ll give you a call back to go over the email and everything we spoke about today. Does that work for you? Okay great! What time next week works best?”
The Closing Stage
The last part of securing a web design client is probably the trickiest for those who haven’t done it before. But I’ll be honest with you. After all the legwork you’ve done to find new leads, qualify your leads, and then set appointments with them – it’s actually a lot easier than you may be thinking.
At this stage with your prospect – they’ve already told you that they need help, what kind of budget they have, when they want to get started, and you’ve even set up an appointment to discuss and close the deal.
So really, all you need to do is come prepared with a proposal, be confident, and ask for the sale.
Here are some tips for being successful in this stage:
1) Proposal: This should be a no-brainer by now. But make sure your proposal outlines what they’ve told you they need, what your deliverables will be, and how much it will cost.
2) Confidence: I know this can be hard for some people (myself included, at times), but you have to remember that you are the expert here. They agreed with meeting you because they need help, not the other way around. So exude confidence in your abilities, and be straightforward in your approach.
3) Ask for the sale: This is probably the most important part of this stage. You need to actually ask for the sale, or else you’re likely not going to get it. Remember, people like to do business with those who take charge and make things happen. So close the deal and get started on helping your new client achieve their goals.
4) Be prepared for objections: It’s always a good idea to be prepared for objections, even if you don’t think you’ll get any. But the best way to overcome objections is to address them head-on. Don’t try to skirt around the issue – that will only make things worse. Be confident in your proposal and your abilities, and you’ll be just fine.
There is a lot more to this stage – but I won’t give it all away here. I’m a big believer that if you want to take something seriously, you need to invest your time, money, and resources into it.
If you want to take your web design business to the next level, check out our Learn To Cold Call Like A Pro Masterclass. We get a lot more in-depth with specific closing scripts, rebuttals, and tips that you can utilize immediately in your business.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below and I’ll be happy to answer them. Good luck!
