End User Cold Calling

[mindless]

OK, let me first say, I am a sales guy in my "day job" but in reality all of my domain deals except for one have really been to other domainers, and my one end user deal they contacted me and I negotiated the price up from where they started. To add to this I should also say that I am not afraid of cold calling end users, actually its kinda fun and the challenge is a bit of rush.

But heres the problem, lets say you search google and find several businesses that are key candidates for cold calling to sell your prime generic domain. You do the due diligence to find which ones have money and which do not.

Now its time to make your call, what is your elevator pitch?

This is not what I would say but the basic concept is what I would expect to happen in most cases.

Domainer: I am the owner of DOMAINNAME.com, looking at the business you are in I thought you may be interested in acquiring the name DOMAINNAME.com as a nice marketing and branding tool for your niche.

Them: We already have a website

Domainer: The name could be used to increase qualified users to your website looking for XXXX.

Them: Why would we build another website.


I would not approach the call in this manner but I expect that is want many people do when trying to sell to end users.

What I am trying to do is figure out what elevator pitch people have used to get the attention/closure on an end user sale.

So, anyone want to give some tips on this, something that has worked more than one time to would be most valuable, sometimes we all get lucky so a sample of one may not be the best answer

Thanks, this could help all of us, especially as domainer to domainer sales go down with the market.

 

[JoshuaPz]

I shouldn't really be the one to talk here because I'm personally terrified of pitching domains over the phone (though I've done it successfully before). This isn't so much due to lack of self-esteem as the fact that I lack charisma when selling products I feel very little passion for myself.

That being said, I'd say a successful phone pitch would lie roughly 30% in what's said and 70% in how you say it. If you sound upbeat, enthusiastic, and genuinely interested in helping your end-user succeed in their business niche, you won't need to knock their socks off with Google statistics to win them over. Repeating to yourself "I'm a likeable guy, and the CEO of [end user's company] is my best friend" 50 times over before calling is one possible tactic.

As for your talking points, try bringing up some of these advantages:

* Enhanced credibility of brand or concept => more sales.
* Improved Google rankings, plus an extra bout of incoming traffic as a result of owning your generic keyword (.com) due to # of type-in/search traffic on that term. More traffic => more sales.
* Save money by not having to perform PPC advertising on that term.
* You're offering them an excellent deal and can cite similar domains being offered on BuyDomains.com for far more to prove this.
* Other misc. statistics: archive.org history, # of other TLDs registered in, Overture stats, PPC bids, natural traffic, backlinks, etc.
* And, of course, the classic "this is your only chance to purchase this domain name" and "The number of Internet users / websites registered is increasing exponentially."

Personally though I think most of these talking points are weak and would myself love to hear more creative proposals.

My best domain sale came about because I had a prior relationship with the company I was pitching to and was familiar with its niche. I sold JewMagazine(.)com to Heeb Magazine easily because I knew Heeb Mag. chose its name based on the fact "Heeb" is a traditionally derogatory term for a Jewish person, and Heeb's goal, in part, was to endow that denigrating appellation with a positive spin. "Jew", similarly, is nearly always used condescendingly, and purchasing JewMagazine(.) lay perfectly in line with Heeb's mission of highlighting the fun, cultural side of collective Jewish memory. This is why many domain investors buy and pitch names corresponding only to their areas of expertise. It's a great strategy which allows them to transcend the traditional Google-esque talking points.

 

[mindless]

Thanks JoshuaPz. Upbeat not a problem here

I do like most of the things you bring up, the only issue is many of the businesses may not understand the value of some of these stats, as domainers we naturally will fallback to what we know when trying to move a domain but I am not sure that most end users will understand.

I do think though that when possible, stating that , lets say for instance 20 visitors focused on your topic a day may convert at a 10 percent rate (high estimate in many cases) which could mean X amount of revenue. Or if it is a high dollar keyword and they are an adwords advertiser then you can do the math that way. And use that specific point in the elevator pitch.

Good start JoshuaPz, appreciated.

 

[JoshuaPz]

Agreed -- end-users often don't give a fig about stats. Just added another paragraph to my previous post which may help.

 

[End User King]

I've sold dozens (maybe 80+) of domains over the phone. I always hit em first via email. I phone parties who're unsure why they should buy, or companies who're unfamiliar with transfers. However most of my cold calling goes to companies who have private whois or my emails that get bounced back.

I usually dont toot my own horn here (*I used to*), but this month I've sold exactly 26 domains. I sold 8 in November, and 11 in October. That may not be saying much however my minimum price has been $500 obo as a rule of thumb - do the math! I'd also like to announce that my schedule has lightened a little so those who pm'ed me in the past should expect to get email replies soon.

Merry Christmas to All,
Cal

 

[mindless]

Cal,

Thanks, very nice, i think your member name says it all

 

[Pred]

take some pressure off yourself and say you're brokering the name. instantly you prevent some animosity or feeling that you may be a squatter. also adds some professional. add a few my client this and my client that
add whois privacy also for $1, just to save any instant legal action should it turn sour or they get some ideas to get for free. anything outside a pure generic one worder and it can happen. to be honest its fly by the seat of your pants stuff as you can draft what you like but like any conversation, you cant script it

send an initial email, although a letter is better in first instance, but again it can lead to trouble, however you word

its a tough area to work in. frankly this time of year everyone on wind down and skint. i really think many people without websites or those that already have will be looking more and more to net and new opportunities. lets face it, everthing else is f*cked

:sold: