THE #1 PROBLEM WITH COLD CALLS

Reports of the death of the cold call are greatly exaggerated.

I received two of them lately.   But neither were very good.

After decades of books and seminars and in-house training, why are salespeople still so bad at making cold calls?

The key problem:  the salesperson doesn’t explain why they are calling.

Most cold calls I get begin under the ruse of a survey, such as, “I’m just wondering what CRM tool you are using,” as if I might leap at the chance to disclose this to a total stranger.

The call I received today also began with a question, something about whether I managed a certain type of team.

Please:  just start by telling me your name, your company, and what you do.  

Feel free to complete your first sentence with a question.  But don’t hide the fact that this is a sales call.  

“Hi I’m Dave calling from Appcelotron, we help companies share large files, I apologize for barging in on your day but I wondered if you might be interested in a better way to share large files?”

That pitch takes all of 12 seconds to deliver in a moderately-paced voice.

Feel free to take out the apology, or add some spice to the value proposition, but don’t leave out the most important part:  who you are and why you are calling.

IS THE SALE LOST, OR ARE THEY JUST BUSY?

Many times you’ve done a great job during your first call with a prospect.  You’ve identified a real need, and they’ve agreed on a date and time for a second call.  

Then the prospect fails to show up.

So an email goes out, and a follow up phone call, in hopes of rescheduling.  This was a buyer, not a tire kicker in need of brochures.  Sending them a whitepaper at this point is, well, pointless.

What do you do?

a) Persistent patience.  

   There are all kinds of reasons for a no-show.  Illness.  Vacation.  Week-long trainings.  Sudden change in priorities (your prospect is in a large company and has finally found a window to solve a nagging problem, but now his boss comes in and closes that window, reassigning him to a different task).

   Try reaching out at different times, using different methods.  Check with his colleagues, at the same level on the org chart; below that level; or if necessary, above.  And if that feels uncomfortable, enlist your manager as a wingman for this task.

    

   After several failed attempts, I’ve sometimes sent an email with this subject line:  Are We Done?  It regularly gets some kind of a reply.  

  The goal here is not to keep up appearances by sending this person relevant content every week.   You need to find out why the agreed next step is not happening, and whether this opportunity really exists, and what the real timeline is.  

b) Re-check your qualification

   Even though the prospect agreed to call #2, it could be that their actual timeline is far different than you thought.  Their disappearing act could be a version of “the check’s in the mail.”   Rather than rejecting you directly, they found it easier to talk at length and schedule a meeting they viewed as optional.  

  In some cultures, this is a way of “saving face.”   For example, in Japan, you may never hear “no”; you will simply hear a lot of “yes” that does not materialize.   

 When people don’t show up, you may have identified a serious need, but no real timeline, i.e,. the buyer has no commitment to do something about the need near-term.

Sometimes buyers will tell you this in the first call.  Just be sure you are listening!  Don’t let a screaming need cloud your other senses.

GET MEETING TWO DURING MEETING ONE

You’ve had a great first call with a prospect.  You asked about Need, Timeline and probably Budget and Buying Process.

   How should you end this call?

   a) Thank them profusely and promise to call them next week

   b) Send them the whitepaper they wanted, right after you hang up

   c) Invite them to join your LinkedIn network

   d) Schedule the next step

I hope you picked d).      

If you’ve determined they are a qualified buyer, the best next step is to get an agreement on the time and date for the next meeting.  Always leave sufficient time to do this at the end of your call.  

The best time to get someone to calendar something with you is right now, when you have them on the line.  Even if they need to invite colleagues whose calendars are unknown, pick a date and time as a placeholder.  

If they refuse to provide a date and time you are no worse off for asking, and you may have just gained some additional insight into their true needs and timeline.

5 WAYS TO GET PEOPLE ON THE PHONE

A big part of sales is making contact with prospective buyers, or with others needed to push the ball forward.  In most opportunities, there’s going to be at least one phone conversation before the PO arrives or the credit card is swiped.

So how do you figure out when someone is available to talk?   So much of a salesperson’s time is spent just trying to gauge availability.  

Here are five ways to increase the odds that you’ll actually reach your prospect by phone:   

1) Find out their schedule.  You can ask in your first email exchange:  “what is the best time to reach you?”  Or try something like this:  “is the best time to reach you early morning, or late in your day?

2) Use your CRM tool.  When you (timely) log your call attempts in a tool like Salesforce, it will record the time of your call.  Maybe your prospect is never there because you keep calling them at the same (bad) time.     

3) Try odd hours.  If you read enough Dilbert, you know that most corporate employees are in meetings most of the day, particularly between 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm.    

4) Mobile phones.  Many people use their office phone as a voicemail box, and won’t ever pick it up.  But when their mobile rings, they’ll at least give it a glance.  You can also send a text message asking about their availability for a conversation.  

5) Travel.  One of my reseller partners regularly told me when he’d be on the road, because it was easier for him to talk then (hands-free, of course).   An IT Director at a large cosmetics company asked me to call after 5pm, when he’d be commuting home. People will also have downtime while at airports.