If you work in the world of sales, whether full time or as part of a wider job role - I can't imagine cold calling is your favourite part of your job.
When you think of cold calling the chances are something like this springs to mind.
In this a day and age of rapidly changing buyer behaviour there isn't much room for cold calling. Just think about how many prospecting calls you reject every day!
My team probably reject between 2 and 5 on my behalf every day. A few get through, but it is very rare that they get much further than the opening niceties.
We all need to drum up new business. So what are we to do?
When I started my business I got on the phone and cold called business after business. It worked and I built up a base of new customers. After a while referrals, website enquiries and client growth fueled the growth of LexisClick. So, I didn't need to keep up the phone calls and prospecting emails.
As it wasn’t my favourite part of the job prospecting for new work fell to the bottom of my to do list.
Recently we wanted to grow more and build a pipeline we could trust. While we can influence referrals, client growth and website enquiries - they have a habit of being like buses in the UK. Nothing for a while and then 3 come along at once. While inbound leads are some of the best leads we get, we needed another source to keep leads flowing in more regularly. Sure enough - direct prospecting rose back up the list of my priorities.
The trouble is my prospecting skills had got a bit like this:
And I’m well aware that buying behaviour has changed massively in the 10 years since I set up LexisClick. Cold calling doesn’t work like it used to.
The main service we sell is Inbound Marketing and it is certainly part of the solution. Great rankings on Google, a good social media presence and stand-out content are all essential to getting in front of the right audiences so that they're aware of you.
The thing is - what about all of those companies that need you're help - but aren't actively looking for it right now?
Maybe they're not aware of their problem.
Perhaps they're searching for a different solution.
Or they're trying to fix it themselves not realising there is a much better solution out there.
I know that to grow my business, with the type of clients we want and in a relatively short timeframe, I need to be proactive.
The trouble is cold calling is dead. People don’t want to be bothered by cold calls that don’t add enough value to their day.
Sales has changed significantly - but there is still a very important place for it.
I have been fortunate enough to gain some incredibly valuable insights into these changes and how to make the most of them. We're a Hubspot Partner and I've recently been on an 8 week Pipeline Generation Bootcamp with Dan Tyre - the Mr Motivator of sales prospecting.
I’m going to share some incredibly valuable insights into what I learnt on how you can build a reliable pipeline in the information age.
Cold calling is dead, but warm calling isn’t
Yes cold calling is dead, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get on the phone. You just need to make sure the lead is warm first.
So how do you do it?
1. Follow-up your inbound leads quickly and persistently
The warmest leads are inbound leads. They’ve typically downloaded or interacted with your website recently. The key is to get to these leads fast, before they cool off and forget about your existence. If you leave it days before you get in touch, the moment will have passed. You’ll struggle to get hold of them. And when you do they probably won’t remember you.
Pro tips: Get your inbound marketing operational, put enough resource behind it and follow-up leads quickly and thoroughly.
2. Identify regular visitors to your website and track them down
Next you can find people who’ve been on your site regularly. They may not have handed over their contact details, but if you can identify where they are visiting from and the pages they are visiting, you can research carefully and have a good shot at tracking them down. You’ll need a marketing system like Hubspot to help out with the identification of the companies visiting your site.
Pro tips: Invest in a system like Hubspot that will track companies visiting your website even if they haven’t handed over their details. Identify regular visitors and get in touch.
3. Follow-up lost opportunities
As sales people and marketers, when an opportunity is lost we’re reluctant to return to it. But there’s gold in lost opportunities. They already know you, sometimes the route they selected didn’t turn out as they expected. They’re unlikely to come back to you with their tail between their legs. But if you reach out to them, they’ll welcome you back with open arms.
Pro tip: Don’t be shy. Follow-up lost opportunities, find out how they are getting on. Congratulate them if everything is going well and be there to fix their problems if it isn’t.
4. Work your friends and contacts
As business and sales people we’ve all got decent sized networks. Make the most of these. Get introductions, work your connections and make sure you have something in common. Be authentic of course, but don’t be afraid to use your existing contacts to create new warm contacts. It’s much better than cold calling and will help you get in front of otherwise hard to reach prospects.
Pro tips: Work through your contacts, identify opportunities, ask for introductions and identify common ground to create new warm opportunities.
5. Research is king
For all of the opportunities above you need to put in the groundwork and research your prospect thoroughly. Even if you don’t have a direct way in, doing extensive research will turn a cold call into a warm call. If you can identify the problems and provide value by giving intelligent solutions you're ten steps closer to your goal.
Pro tip: Create a research checklist for all of your opportunities. Identify problems you can solve and be prepared to give away value at each stage of your sales process.
6. Look for signals
“The harder I practice, the luckier I get” – is a famous quote by the golfing legend Gary Player. It can apply to most things we do. In sales there are plenty of signals that a prospect might need our help. Understanding these for your market will help your sales efforts immensely.
Research is an important part of it. Regular practice is critical to spotting the signals and knowing what to say. Using tools and alerts will help you keep on top of the opportunities.
Pro tip: Understand the triggers and signals that indicate a prospect might need your help. Things like hiring new staff, mergers, new contract wins, contract losses, staff changes, exhibiting at events and new product launches – are all signals to look for to help turn a cold prospect into a warm prospect. Set up alerts in Google and LinkedIn to help you with this.
7. You have a lot of value to add
We’re all experts in what we do. We have a lot of value to add. If you are committed to providing value in every interaction you have with a potential prospect, you can hold your head high. You’re disturbing them for a reason. To help them.
Pro tip: Be confident in the value you provide, it'll come across in your call.
8. Attitude is critical
Going into every call and interaction being confident in the value we provide is essential to success. Your voice changes, the confidence comes through. It isn’t arrogance, you’re just confident that you’re going to help the prospect. If they’re not in a mindspace to concentrate, you’ll agree a good time when they will be. You want to make sure that they’ll take on board your advice and not waste the value you’re going to share with them.
If you aren’t feeling confident about picking up the phone or sending the email, work on getting into the right frame of mind.
Pro tips
- Smile when you’re speaking.
- Stand-up when you’re calling, it helps increase your energy
- Research your prospects thoroughly.
- Always remember the value you’re providing.
9. Silence is your friend
We’re all prone to it. We get a prospect on the phone, that we’ve been trying to contact for weeks. We’re so excited that we need to get everything off our chests as quickly as possible. We end up sounding like an excited school kid and risk fluffing the opportunity.
Slow down, breath and pause.
When you’re speaking, especially on the phone, pauses show confidence. They also allow the person at the other end to think. Do I know this person? Should I know this person? This silence is a bit uncomfortable, I’d better fill it in…
All of this helps you. It gives you time to think. I makes you sound confident. It gives you more control. It reinforces the value you’re providing.
Pro tip: Remember – silence is your friend.
10. Experts challenge
To provide real value we need to be prepared to challenge. The chances are that your prospect has some big challenges they are facing. You’re hear to help them. Often they’re facing these challenges, because they haven’t made the decisions they need to make.
Perhaps they’re too busy. Maybe they don’t think they have the money. Or they’ve been burned in the past. For the vast majority of prospects you contact, you’ll be given reasons why they don’t want your help. If you’ve done your research and you’re confident you can help, be prepared to challenge all the excuses that they don’t want you’re help.
Understand you need to build trust. Challenging their thinking and teaching them where you can help are all essential to achieving this.
Pro tip: Don't be afraid to challenge their thinking and go deeper with your questions
11. Persistence pays off
It’s unlikely that you’re going to build trust and make a big sale after just one phone call or email. You’ll be lucky to even get through and have a conversation.
The chances are that you’re trying to get through to busy people. The solutions you’re providing probably aren’t at the top of their shopping list and you’re unlikely to get through to them on your first call. You want to build a relationship. Working to get hold of them a number of times, allows you to build this relationship.
- Research their company to find new insights and value you can provide.
- Contact them through different channels, to build up your relationship and get different views.
- Build your relationship with other members of their team.
- Leave valuable voice mails. Provide value by email.
- Work out the number of interactions you need, before you become a nuisance and be prepared to break up.
On average it takes 7 contact attempts to get through. If you’re trying more than this, the chances are that they really don’t want to be contacted by you at the moment. So send a break-up email. Give them a chance to respond and let them know they won’t hear from you again (at least for a while) if you don’t hear back from them. If they are actually interested, but had other priorities, this can give them the incentive they need to get back to you.
If you don’t hear from them they’re probably really not interested in your help – and its time to move onto someone who is.
Pro tip: On average it takes 7 contact attempts to get through. Don't give up early.
12. Have a system to work your opportunities
Sales is a bit like juggling. It’s common to prioritise your best opportunities and let the others slip. The chances are you’ll let some good ones drop off.
That’s why its really important to have a system to work your opportunities. More that just a CRM system with tasks and contact history, sequences of activities to move sales opportunities along will really help keep more opportunities alive.
We have just discussed the important of persistence. Developing a system to follow will encourage persistence, by saving you from having to reinvent the wheel each time. Your system should include:
- A set of email templates to suit various scenarios.
- Voicemail scripts that you tested and refined over time.
- Alternative contact points to build relationships through different channels.
- Responses to trigger events that help open doors.
Investing in refining a method for your sales contact will reap rewards, and will build your confidence in what you are doing.
Pro tip: Use a system that encourage sales sequences, so that you can put your brain to work on higher value activities. Hubspot CRM is a great starting point.
13. Always be helping
If you’ve worked in sales you might be familiar with the ABC (Always Be Closing) terminology of sales from the film Glenary Glenross. In the new age of sales we need a much more appropriate approach – Always Be Helping.
Keep this in mind. If you can’t find a way to help say so. Don’t go for the close if you’re not confident of the value you’ll provide. Take a few steps back. Develop a deeper understanding of the situation. Identify where you can help and provide value. Educate your prospect and build trust.
Thank you to Dan Tyre and Hubspot for this enlightening prospecting course. I hope that I have passed on some of the pearl of sales wisdom that I picked up on the 8 week course.
If you’re interested in this approach, I recommend checking out Hubspot Sales CRM. You can read a detailed review of it here, where I’ve compared it with other leading CRM systems.
Hubspot also offer an Inbound Sales course and certification free – via their Hubspot Academy – that is well worth viewing.
Happy prospecting and selling.
