I hate the follow up calls! I just called one business following up on the mailing I sent out and she asks me where I'm calling from. When I tell her she says oh I think I through that out and hung up on me! How rude! I was never that rude when I was receptionist!

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Janice Correa-Elite Business Services
"My Business is Your Business!"
www.elitebusinessonline.com

I probably shouldn't admit this in public, but I would probably be rude to you too, as I HATE cold calls. I especially hate being interrupted by them during my work day. I'm nicer than I use to be, but I'm not as busy as when I worked in property management, although I still get them and it still irritates me. Especially when the same person keeps calling me back after I told them I'm not interested... in this case they deserve whatever wrath I happen to dish out (hopefully they don't catch me on a bad day).

Don't take it personally! If you are going to cold call people it comes with the territory.

*I just got my 12th call from Sprint/Nextel trying to sell me service, even though I've already told them we already have Sprint/Nextel and YES we have a local agent and to QUIT CALLING ME!!

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

I have to agree with Rebecka here. I know my skin's not thick enough to deal with the response callers get from me which is one reason I don't do cold mailers/calls.

Good luck, though. Hopefully you get some better responses.

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Lanel Taylor, CVA ~ Virtual Bookkeeper
Taylored Office Solutions
Custom fit solutions for all your office needs.

I sent out mailers last November (to remind folks about tax season and how I could help) but didn't do follow up calls. I used to be a telemarketer myself and HATE those calls.

I will send another (identical) postcard out next November to the same list - except, of course, for the one that hired me!

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

I guess I don't consider it cold calling since I sent something out. I figure what's the point of the direct mailing if I'm not going to follow up? Maybe I'm not going to pursue that any further. I did mean "threw" not "through". I hope Tammi doesn't kill me.

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Janice Correa-Elite Business Services
"My Business is Your Business!"
www.elitebusinessonline.com

Just a thought Janice. You said you spoke to a receptionist, right? Well maybe she was rude because she felt you and the services you offered were a potential threat to her and other administrative staff in the office.

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Mattie Stokes

I hate cold-calling and don't do it. I do mailings and have gotten clients through it. You will find that they will keep your card and if they need you, they will call you. I've had 2 clients who got my mailing, kept my card or bookmark and when they were ready, called.

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Julia

Depending on what the call is about, I usually try to humor them as much as possible, even though it does irritate me, because I know that they're just trying to do their job. The ones that really irritate me are those who are EXTREMELY pushy and refuse to take "no" for an answer.

I can still remember someone calling me many, many, many years ago asking for a donation for something or other. Even though I feel guilty at times, I very rarely ever donate to people that call me asking for it. She started out at about $50 and was trying to negotiate with me even after I politely refused. This girl kept hounding me and I finally explained to her that it wasn't in my budget at the moment (it really wasn't). She actually got really snotty and made a comment that was something to the effect of, "You mean to tell me that you make so little money that you can't even afford to donate $10!?!?" I don't think I've donated a red cent since unless it was something very local and I knew the person asking for a donation (well, except for that really cute cop that showed up selling sauces for the Policeman's Ball...lol).

I do plan on doing some direct mailing at least when I first start out, but I don't think that I'll do follow-up calls unless I get a response back. For one, even though I sent out a mailing, it is still a cold call in my eyes. A warm lead is one where someone shows an interest even if it's very minimal (sending a postcard back with interest, a mutual acquaintance telling me I should call so-and-so because they've expressed a need, etc.), not just following up on something I sent unsolicited. One reason is that there is a HUGE chance you probably will end up reaching a receptionist or assistant, so you're definitely not going to get past them unless you lie which isn't very professional and, also, I just don't feel comfortable doing cold calls.

As an assistant, I open all incoming mail including what is specifically addressed to my boss. If anything seems like junk mail, I just throw it out. So she probably wasn't lying. Not that it's junk mail, but if I came across something that was basically offering the services I was hired to do, you can be darned sure that it won't hit my boss's desk...lol

Just my 2 cents worth

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

Successive mailings every couple of weeks over a 1 to 2 month period tend to have a higher probability of yielding positive results, especially if it's a very small office. It keeps your name in front of them. However, I would end the campaign after a month or two. Each mailing of course would be different.

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Mattie Stokes

I'm struggling with this whole thing because I too HATE sales calls. I am on the receiving end of them, and so I just know how I feel getting them. I really do try to be courteous because I know they're doing a job, or better yet, I just don't answer the call if I'm reasonably confident it's a sales call.....then they leave a voice mail and I don't even listen to it!!!

I have a new mailing I'm going to be sending out re: a new niche that I came up with and so I'm waiting for the letters to come back from the printer. What I'm going to try is a response card and postage-paid envelope. I give them a sentence at the end of the letter prompting them to act - call me, email, or send back the enclosed response card.

I know postage will be more, but I'm ok with that. I guess what I feel is that if I were the one getting something in the mail, I would hang onto it until the need arose. I would poke around the website, and either email the person or send in a card. If someone who sent me a letter in the mail were to just call me a couple weeks later, it would totally put me off.

I'm just starting out and still have a lot to learn, so we'll see how that theory pays off for me!!!

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Kari Thevenot, Virtual Assistant
www.yourlefthand.net