Tactics
Working Your Territory
1) Before you go out, do some research to see if there are any places that are a mile or two off the main road - a kennel, a daycare farm, a grooming store, a shelter, etc
2) Start on the right side and go from place to place (don’t turn left just because a vet is across the street)
3) Keep track of any business that you can’t get into, isn’t open today, etc so that you can circle back to them. You’ll never know who might be your best lead source until you meet them and see how they respond to our offers.
4) It’s ok to go to a business that is on the edge of the company’s service area, but there is no need to go into the outskirts since they will most likely be serving clients in those same areas that are out of bounds.
5) When you think you are done with an area, look up the kinds of target companies we are going after - vets, pet photography, groomers, invisible fencing, etc - and see which ones you’ve missed, then make yourself a list with different headers for each part of town so that the next time you are over that way, you can go after them!
Approaching the Business
1st Move - Make the Impression that You Are Harmless
by smiling and waving just as soon as they think they might be able to see you.
2nd Move - Win Over the Gate-Keeper As You Get Intel
Again, smile, wave, eye contact, “sorry to interrupt," give biz card instead of shaking hands, tell them who you are/who you’re with and what you are doing here, then ask who to speak with, if they are not there, then ask for a business card (even if it’s right there in front of you) and start writing all info on that card - name, titles, roles, details, and whatever they tell you about them personally or the business (yes, ask about them too - how long they have been on the team, are they from here, etc).
Note: Make sure that you are angled to the side of them and not squaring off shoulder to shoulder with them to make a more relaxed environment.
Use This Well-Designed Script (Exactly Like This)
Intro Self, Company and Ask If They Know Us: “Hi! I’m Corey with WDT&G here in town. Are you familiar with us at all?”
Spell Out Our Credentials & Beliefs: It’s no big deal. We’re the #1 in-home dog trainers in the mid-south. The reason we’re so popular is because we train the dog and the family at the same time, which we believe is the safest, cheapest and most effective way to make a better life for these dogs, instead of shipping them off to be trained behind closed doors.
Establish The Need: I’m curious, does anyone ever ask you about about dog training?
Establish Their Role to Play: I wonder if you might be willing to help us protect these dogs by ensuring that they get trained in the safety of their own homes but maybe letting us set out some fliers. Is that something you feel like you’d be open to?
3rd Move - Get Out of the Lobby & Build Rapport with the Decision-Maker
If the decision-maker comes out, ask if they have a minute and point back to the office so that you can get out of lobby. If they agree, start asking personal questions (how long with the team, congrats on their success, and anything that you might have in common.
Note: Once you start the conversation with them, be sure to establish credibility by mentioning how well we are doing and then establish that we are working with other Dog Experts in their space by using association.
Note: As you talk about us, use as many “We believe” statements as you can to help them follow along with our core values. For instance, we believe that training a dog in its home environment right in front of the family is the safest and cheapest way to train a dog AND the best way to train the family in how to re-enforce the new behaviors, does that make sense?
Note: If they ask about our training methods, then they are probably positive-only leaning or they wouldn’t ask. So just tell them the truth and try to make it no big deal. If they go with it, great. If not, then DO NOT ARGUE with them or try to justify our reasoning. If the company is big enough, you might just try again with another person, especially someone more senior in position or someone who is more likely to refer people to us.
4th Move - Call the DM If You Haven't Seen Them Yet
Using the receptionist’s name, call the decision-maker and say exactly this, “Hi Britney, this is ________ from Wonder Dog Training & Games. Jess up at your front desk suggested I give you a call. Do you have a minute? Is this good time?” Then start all over again, introduce why you were calling and try to set a time to swing by to meet and get the grand tour.
Breaks
We use breaks to give us more time with the gate-keeper so that as he/she is wanting to get out of this conversation, we get another minute or so to ask some more questions. That is, you want to get as much info from the lower-level employees than…
Ask for a biz card
Someone walks in
The phone rings
They go back to ask the DM to come up front
Adding Your Intel to the Database
Here is the format for your notes:
Most Recent Notes:
Biz Model:
Players:
Details:
So this is a sample of what they would look like:
Most Recent Notes: 4/13/19 Brad TT Sarah about a LL (lunch and learn) for next Tuesday. Said they love donuts and coffee.
1/15/19 Brad TT Sarah the OM about putting out some brochures in the lobby and she loved the idea.
Biz Model: They are a vet hospital with grooming and daycare as well.
Players:
Dr Jones - owner, 20 years, didn’t meet him
Sarah - OM for 4 years, she’ll likely be my contact for everything as the doc is a bit checked out.
Carol - receptionist, nice lady, love lady bugs
Details:
They have 11 employees and do coupons in all of the local coupon books. They are open to LLs, but maybe do them in the morning to avoid the other reps coming in? They recommend another trainer, but are open to rec WD too.