Does the thought of making cold calls to prospective customers make your blood run cold, your heart race & your palms sweat? Do you avoid it all together because you can’t stand the thought of rejection? Well, you’re far from being alone. One of the most common mistakes I see is avoiding telemarketing all together, either through fear or misconception.
Contacting new potential customers by phone remains an extremely important element of a blended lead generation strategy & one of the few that offers you direct control over the results, by scaling up or down, or by changing your approach. Done well, it remains one of the most productive & cost effective channels for your sales & marketing effort. My aim is to remove some of the fear & provide some tools to make it more effective for your business.
1. Getting your mind-set right
Don’t mix up B2C (Business to Consumer) with B2B (Business to Business) telemarketing. The call you get from a double-glazing company as you’re sitting down to dinner or unwinding at the end of the day, is B2C telemarketing. B2B telemarketing is different. Two business people are communicating, one offering products/services to the other in order to help do whatever they do better, cheaper, quicker, etc. it’s part of their job to consider such proposals. Frankly, it’s in their interests to do so. The problem is that they’re often swamped with demands on their time. We’ll see later how you can convince them that they should pay attention to you.
2. Reduce fear of rejection
Because they are so busy, you’ll have a very limited time to speak before your prospect needs to qualify you in, or out. So, if they say they’re not interested in what you have to say – it’s not personal. You have either not quite got your messaging right yet, or there is genuinely not a match between your firm and theirs. That will happen and that’s just fine. We find that the (quite high) percentage of times that happens is fairly consistent. So, if you know that, you’re one call nearer a successful contact! When you do make a successful contact, reward yourself!
3. Start with good data
The most important thing is to make sure you’re calling the right people at the right firms. If you buy data for your cold calling, ensure it comes from a reputable broker and one that enables you to profile the data by contact job title, size of firm, industry sector, geography, etc., etc. Clearly, you will need to already have a very clear idea what your ideal customer looks like in order to get this profiling right.
4. Have a clear objective
Most B2B firms require at least one face to face meeting to gain a new customer. So unless you have the kind of product you can sell on the phone, your objective is to only sell the first meeting – and nothing else! Don’t get drawn into trying to sell your product/service over the phone. It won’t work. If your objective is different for your product, then focus on that instead. That means you need to have an idea of what to say when you do reach your prospect.
5. Know what to say
Don’t use a script, because it sounds wooden & it turns people off. Have an idea of how you will open the conversation. After introducing yourself & the name of your firm, grab their attention with a striking statement that also offers an answer, from the prospect’s point of view, to the question “why should I listen to this person?” If you can, give examples of how you have helped other similar firms with your product/service, preferably with numbers to back it up (e.g. percentage cost savings, more business won, etc.). Then move book the meeting by saying something like “…I’d like to have a chat with you & find out if we can help your firm in the same way. When are you available for a brief meeting?” Then say nothing until after the prospect responds.
6. Overcome objections
You will get objections. People will say “no, thanks” many more times than they will open their diaries – but that’s just fine. We don’t need everyone to say “yes”. It’s useful to note your most frequent objections. Explain that you always look to make improvements in your approach & politely ask the prospect why they aren’t interested. Regularly review these objections & develop responses to them. An objection can often be due to a misunderstanding and can be turned around. You should also continually review your messaging to make sure it is as effective as possible.
7. Use telemarketing & emails
Telephone calls and emails together are “force multipliers”- one re-enforces the other. I would suggest you use email automation for volume emails and back them up with follow up phone calls. But I would also ensure that you send specific emails with your calling. So, if you leave a voice mail, mention that you’ll email some further information – and send something. Say you’ll follow up with another call – and do so. Obviously, some people will ask for further information anyway – so email it. Confirm meetings via email, too. I would suggest that you have standard emails already set up, so that all you need to do is cut & paste and then simply personalise.
8. Take Breaks
Once you get in to your calling, you develop a kind of rhythm and it may become more enjoyable than you think. However, don’t call for any more than about an hour without taking a 5 minute break (maybe make yourself a coffee) and then get back to it. Certainly, don’t call more than a few hours straight without taking a more substantial break. That way, you’ll remain sharp and fresh and won’t sound fatigued.
9. Outsource if you have to
No-one will sell your product/service better than you will. They don’t have the knowledge, passion, or commitment to it that you do. So they won’t be as effective. But if, having tried everything I have suggested, you really HATE cold-calling & it’s not working for you, then you should consider finding a third party to do it for you. If you do, then you really should get in touch with me and I’ll make sure it’s set up properly, you have the right data & you find a partner to deliver results for you. I am also happy to help you do your own cold calling if you’d like to perfect it. I can even undertake “special” projects to get you in front of difficult to reach decision makers.
10. Make telemarketing part of your routine
If you can set aside a couple of hours per week to regularly call potential customers, then it’ll be less “painful” for you and you will get pretty good at it. Most importantly, it will start to get you in front of the people you need to persuade to give you more business and that’ll increase sales. Don’t have a list of thousands of contacts – targeted & manageable is better. Call back people when you say you will (so think about having a CRM or at least a well organised spread sheet). Every business has a “conversion ratio” (i.e. the ration to the number of calls to the number of meetings to new business generated), so work out yours and you’ll have an idea of what’s required to grow your business at a sustainable rate.