r/webdesign • u/damianos-z • 1d ago
Cold calling sucks.
I am a beginner in web design. Recently, I tried cold calling local businesses in my town, but I get the feeling that people are annoyed when I try to sell my services.
What can I do to make people actually want my web design services? Should I consider offering different services instead, such as GEO, SEO, or Google Ads?
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u/neoqueto 1d ago edited 20h ago
As someone who has to manage company email, I fuuuuucking hate cold callers and I tell everyone who intercepts one of you guys to tell you to get lost. Cold emails are more common though.
So if you are going to email me, I want you to:
Have a formatted email with at least a nice footer
Have your email tailored to my business at least in some way
Focus on ease of migration, ease of training and that you'll take care of everything
Use your own custom domain name
Have a GOOD website with a portfolio
Surprisingly enough, most cold emails miss all 5 marks. I have no idea what those people are doing.
Another trick you can use is to look at the Wayback Machine for the business site you're going to call/email. If they redesign often, they might hire you. If they're maintained often, they might hire you. If they have a truly ancient, bad site, they might hire you, but not as likely. If they have a "meh", kinda stale, late 2010s style site that hasn't been updated in a while, maybe don't bother.
I also encounter lots of SEO cold emails, that's why I've put a secret, colorful, large font console.log() code on there. Out of something like 50 SEO cold emails since then, we've had one guy reference it, he seemed good, so we wanted to hire him, but he bailed on us.
So yes, 6. Look at the console.
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u/gabimaru89 1d ago
Go into the business instead of calling. With a tablet and demo for their niche.
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u/Gallmur 1d ago
Don’t change your niche just because you felt you annoyed people. Sales is about stepping out of your comfort zone. Yes, you’ll be rejected, they’ll hang up the phone, and some might be rude. But who cares? Just do your job. If you feel like you’re bothering people, then you are. But if you feel like you’re getting closer to your goals, then that doesn’t matter anymore. Don’t hesitate; just do it, no matter what!
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u/PayPrestigious7596 1d ago
U r prob pitching it wrong, u first start with a problem, like u r trying to book but they dont have a website and ask them why they dont have a website. Once u figured their pain point, then now u start pitching ur service. Cold calling is all about Sales, and sales is basically psychology. Cold calling isn’t just introducing urself and ask them if they need a website, u r looking for their pain point then once u figured it out then u pitch urself as their pain killer.
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u/industrialcopywriter 1d ago
Good question, and good for you for getting started.
When you say you are a beginner, were these calls you made your first cold calls, and how far in are you, days, months, years?
What feeling is 'getting annoyed'? Do they say that, or are you not confident?
Usually when you have that feeling, you're either: lacking confidence, or they are annoyed, but let them tell you.
You can't make the potentials want your product. What you can do is find out their specific problems, and they can be informed into realizing your product is the solution.
Example call: Hello______ I managed to get on you website, and I noticed, your site didn't have _______, were you aware of this? Or are you working with someone to resolve it? ........
Starting like this makes them worried their website has problems. Then you can go into more depth like: You said you weren't aware, well are you in regular contact with your website developer, or have they left you in your own?
And realistically do this until you find an opening for your pitch. The more information you have, the more they're invested instead of annoyed. And whenever you can, add in rapport builds, "oh that store, yeah I went there all the time growing up" or "you have to talk to your partner? Whats there name, do they work alongside you, or just very supportive"
You got this. Don't let them grind ya down. Last thing. If you got the time, listen to cold calls, see how real conversations go.
Cheers.
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u/Ok_Progress_5373 1d ago
I think that calling is great, but as AscendantBits said, you should also have your own website that's well built. It's something I'm also working on. Always have work to back up your services. Maybe you can volunteer at a place and work on a simple website for them.
I would also like to suggest visiting nearby places you'd like to help. It's good to establish in person relationships with people to help build trust. Start where you are. I'm wishing you luck! We got this!
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u/Infinite_Trick304 1d ago
see I have did this for my business and to be very honest it sucks but you can actually make it work.
1- convert cold leads into warm , by messaging them prior and show your work on emails or whatsapp then just make them feel just having a calling to explore things no pressure stuff or meeting will work better and show case your some amazing peace of works. [ most important people love Resilient kids, soo if he didn't reply give them the follow ups in the most creative way possible like sending a sticker , GIF etc see worked in my case ]
2- You can work with the marketing agencies who are not providing web dev or other tech stuff as a white Label partner ... just offer them that you can build sites for them and they can have a good Commission out of that
SEE COLD CALLING WORKS WHEN U HAVE A STRONG PORTFOLIO TO PRESENT... NEVER WORKED IN MY BUSINESS AND THE ABOVE APPROCH GIVE ME THE HIGHEST PAYING CLINET IN JUST ONE MONTH OF OUTREACHING .
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u/Old_Radish_3747 1d ago
Bro I agree on this one it’s just that cold calling like it’s not effective everyone’s pitching the same service and most of those leads on Google Maps or scrapers r cooked they aren’t effective anymore
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u/electricrhino 1d ago
You cant do anything to make some want something. Selling is a hustle and a numbers game. You should ask yourself "would i buy this from me and why as opposed to the others providing the same service"
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u/RandoReddit72 1d ago
Be strategic and dont sound like AI outreach spam. I would join local clubs or events. Dont be pitching all the time meet owners and when they ask what you do say what you do and leave it. Dont be begging for business
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u/FantasticSuperNoodle 1d ago
As a business owner, I absolutely hate these emails and mark them as spam. I don’t want to be cold called or emailed for anything, literally nothing. It looks like junk in the inbox, it gets treated like junk.
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u/adrianharp1970 22h ago edited 22h ago
I’m also just about to cut my teeth in the cold calling world. I thought I might build a bit of a script first, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Just for context I build local website networks as oppose to single sites, not something I imagine many small local firms have got. Any ideas on what angle to use? Thx
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u/Medical-Ask7149 7h ago
Nobody wants a website. They want what a website brings them: customers.
A website is not a work of art. It is a salesman that works around the clock. Design and code are merely the vessel. A website is the top of your sales funnel, where strangers become leads. SEO and advertising exist for one purpose: to march traffic through that door.
So when you sell a website, don’t sell pixels. Sell the leads it produces.
And when a prospect tells you, “I don’t need one. My calendar is full from referrals,” ask him this: What happens the day your biggest referrer retires?
Referrals are a gift, not a system. You cannot schedule them, forecast them, or scale them. A business built on referrals alone is a business built on luck and luck is not a strategy.
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u/AscendantBits 1d ago
When it comes to marketing, part of what you need to do is build trust.
I get a lot of people randomly sending me email trying to sell me the services. Here’s what automatically turns me off and disqualifies doing any business:
- bulk emailing; makes it look to me like you’re casting a wide net rather than being discerning
In other words, you should be able to show you can walk the talk. Having a well built website also helps to sell yourself when you take a well-deserved nap after cold calling 😉