Nothing has changed on the boards since last week

[Peter Loew]

Apart from all the new NHS PM roles out there of course...

Oh well... might just twiddle my thumbs for the rest of the day, but here is a question to you all:

Do you now, or have you ever contacted companies directly trying to sell yourselves in (i.e. bypassing agents altogether)? If so, how did you go about finding companies that were looking for your skillset (PM or otherwise)?

P

[original PM]

hey Pete,

If you do run your own Ltd co you really do need to get yourself some webspace and some basic marketing flyers.

Nowadays the buttons to push on potential clients will be all around cost saving (as always) and also look at business process re-engineering (sounds good but what is it!)

Follow your flyer with a call - even if nothing is available at that time your name will be fresh if and when projects come up and also you need to pitch your prices cheaper than an agency (which you should be able to do as you do not have the agencies margin)

HTH

[Durbs]

When i first started my Ltd, i paid to have a load of glossy flyers produced advertising the Co (which were really nice actually, used VistaPrint). Paid Thompson for a marketing list of contacts at target company types. Went to post office and bought a great big feck off book of 2nd class stamps.

Not a single response back! Sent around 500 flyers out. BUT (and this still makes me wince, yet is unfortunately true!) i'd ordered a new seperate business line in my house prior to sending out the mailshot and put the No supplied on the flyers.

After a week/10 days of not a single call i was moaning to the missus about how the whole think had been a waste of time, what a grim one etc. And she suggested maybe checking that the new business line was ok......well you can guess. That whole thing was so soul destroying that i didnt try it again so who knows what may have happened if i'd not c0cked it up?

[jmo21]

When i first started my Ltd, i paid to have a load of glossy flyers produced advertising the Co (which were really nice actually, used VistaPrint). Paid Thompson for a marketing list of contacts at target company types. Went to post office and bought a great big flip off book of 2nd class stamps.

Not a single response back! Sent around 500 flyers out. BUT (and this still makes me wince, yet is unfortunately true!) i'd ordered a new seperate business line in my house prior to sending out the mailshot and put the No supplied on the flyers.

After a week/10 days of not a single call i was moaning to the missus about how the whole think had been a waste of time, what a grim one etc. And she suggested maybe checking that the new business line was ok......well you can guess. That whole thing was so soul destroying that i didnt try it again so who knows what may have happened if i'd not noddyed it up?

genius! everything is a lesson my friend!

[Charles Foster Kane]

When i first started my Ltd, i paid to have a load of glossy flyers produced advertising the Co (which were really nice actually, used VistaPrint). Paid Thompson for a marketing list of contacts at target company types. Went to post office and bought a great big flip off book of 2nd class stamps.

Not a single response back! Sent around 500 flyers out. BUT (and this still makes me wince, yet is unfortunately true!) i'd ordered a new seperate business line in my house prior to sending out the mailshot and put the No supplied on the flyers.

After a week/10 days of not a single call i was moaning to the missus about how the whole think had been a waste of time, what a grim one etc. And she suggested maybe checking that the new business line was ok......well you can guess. That whole thing was so soul destroying that i didnt try it again so who knows what may have happened if i'd not noddyed it up?

You are special. Not different, just special.

[Durbs]

I still wake up sobbing occasionally, you ever tried sticking 500 stamps on?

[MPwannadecentincome]

hey Pete,

If you do run your own Ltd co you really do need to get yourself some webspace and some basic marketing flyers.

Nowadays the buttons to push on potential clients will be all around cost saving (as always) and also look at business process re-engineering (sounds good but what is it!)

Follow your flyer with a call - even if nothing is available at that time your name will be fresh if and when projects come up and also you need to pitch your prices cheaper than an agency (which you should be able to do as you do not have the agencies margin)

HTH

Interesting, can you elaborate more - have you done this, who did you send the flyer to - the IT director? What response did you get (% call backs, % conversion to contract)?

[Peter Loew]

hey Pete,

If you do run your own Ltd co you really do need to get yourself some webspace and some basic marketing flyers.

Nowadays the buttons to push on potential clients will be all around cost saving (as always) and also look at business process re-engineering (sounds good but what is it!)

Follow your flyer with a call - even if nothing is available at that time your name will be fresh if and when projects come up and also you need to pitch your prices cheaper than an agency (which you should be able to do as you do not have the agencies margin)

HTH

Hi OPM,

Yes please can you elaborate a bit more?

When you say 'flyer' do you mean an E-Flyer or a hardcopy ad? Can you also point to some online example of what you are talking about by any chance?

In all practical experience do you think it is really worth the effort of designing and setting up a website?

Also how did / do you handle online advertising, which services do you use etc?

P

[Durbs]

After my flyer debacle i used the contact lists i'd purchased to try cold calling instead. This did have some limited success in the end - but is an awful way to spend a day, i'd get an earful of abuse from certain contactees sick with marketing calls.

One thing i learnt was these contact lists from Thompson etc arent too good, they sold it to me by saying it was bang up to date and had the right names and roles on it. Turned out to be pretty out of date and once you've started the conversation with 'Hi, is Fred Smith there?' and they respond, 'no-one here of that name' then thats basically the call lost.

Also, calls to a main phone No asking for generic 'IT Manager' or similar immediately result in a suspicious 'why?'. I just got lucky with a few names that did seem up to date and once i'd reached the right person they seemed happy to chat and i landed a few small jobs that way.

Another drawback of buying one of these lists is you get pestered regularly by them forever onwards.

[original PM]

In response to all those asking how I did - firstly I have not - not currently on the bench nor likely to be in the near future (fingers crossed, kiss of death etc)

However if you run a business you need to market it.

I have been in a position where I was generating leads and making calls and so what follows is some general advice.

The cheapest and most effective method by far is to pick up the phone and make some calls.

I am not a great cold caller (in fact at times the mere thought of it brings me out in cold sweats) however one of the best ways to ensure you at least get listened too is to have sent a targetted flyer and then ask whether the contact has recieved it and take the discussion from there.

Do not get put off by ignorant muppets being rude - what do they think their sales team do all day?

One of the best ways to get contacts is to go to your nearest buisness parks and knock on the doors - get a comps slip with some of the directors names on it. (Note you may need to turn on the charm and 'work' on the receiptionist to get this info)

Try to avoid HR names - you do not want a job you are looking to start a business relationship.

For most small companies the best person to speak to is the MD - they may pass you off to one of the departmental managers but if you drop the MD's name into the conversation you will find they do listen.

the thing is sales and selling is a skill which is often underated - you should never know when you are being 'sold' too if the salesman is good enough.

Also do not get disheartened - every succesful business started off as a small company struggling to survive.

And remember if you run your own business and you do not currently have a revenue generating contract then you should be out there trying to get business - being on the bench is not a holiday when you have no work to do it is the hard bit where you have to try and get the work.