Home-Based Businesses

Even with the Internet, the telephone remains one of a home business owner’s most powerful and flexible marketing tools. As powerful as e-mail, instant messaging and Twitter are, only a phone call places you in a one-on-one, real-time communication with the people you need to reach most. Here are seven ways to use your phone to build your home-based business.

• Make sales pitches. A call really is the next best thing to being there. It gives you the opportunity to present your case, offer persuasive evidence, gauge enthusiasm and counter any objections — all while building a relationship. More often than not it’s the sale call that actually closes the deal.
• Stay in touch. Prospects who aren’t quite ready to make a purchase might often be persuaded into taking action with a quick and friendly call. Calling past customers to wish them a happy birthday or to tell them about a new product or price cut is a proven technique to generate repeat sales. A voicemail is also a great way to “warm up” a prospect for an introductory e-mail, which otherwise might get deleted as unwanted spam. And if you mail flyers, a follow-up call can boost your response rate significantly.
• Learn from others in your industry. You’re probably aware of several people in your field who always seem to be a step or two ahead of the competition. Make it a habit to talk to these people regularly, but don’t waste their time. Those friendly chats will undoubtedly clue you in to some useful information.
• Offer advice. Keep an eye out for people who have problems that you can solve, based on the expertise you’ve developed. Then, follow up with a phone call and some friendly advice — you could very well find yourself making a sale.
• Expand your network. Use your phone to call the referrals you get from friends, family and business colleagues. While e-mails are often consigned to spam filter invisibility, a call will almost always get you through to the person you’re seeking or, at worse, his or her voicemail.
• Reach out to partners. Home-based businesses often build additional revenue by building alliances with companies with complementary products or services. For example, a meetings consultant may partner with a hotel chain to provide hospitality services to her clients. A call is usually the fastest and most effective way to propose a joint venture.
• Conduct research. Google and other search engines are great for uncovering specific facts, but for a deep, rich understanding of a particular topic, nothing beats speaking one-on-one with an industry expert. Savvy business owners routinely use the Web to find experts and then pick up the phone to talk with them. Not only can a phone chat provide you with a wealth of information, but it can also open doors to new business concepts that you may have never even considered investigating.