by Marta Malyk | Dec 8, 2020 | Cold Calling, Cold Calling Success, Cold Calling Tips, Lead Generation, Sales, Sales Prospecting
Are YOU ready for 2021? As we look forward to the start of a new year, here are some stats to think about and suggestions to help you ROCK the coming year!
Good odds
The RAIN Group, an award-winning sales training company, found that ‘82% of buyers say they have accepted meetings with salespeople after a series of contacts beginning with sales cold calls’. I know it can feel like you hear a lot of no’s when making cold calls but this stat underscores that there ARE a lot of ‘yeses’ out there. Make sure you are doing everything you can to get them!
What should you be doing?
Here are some posts with tips on what you should be doing to up YOUR odds of getting a ‘yes’:
- Envision Your Success
- Make sure you are working from CLEAN, up to date, Data
- Don’t give up
- Reach for the Truth
- Focus on QUALITY over QUANTITY
- Build an “A” Team
- Plus more on how to build an effective team
- And as always, LISTEN CAREFULLY!
Don’t Dread it, just DO it!
A recent survey of sales agents found that 63% of sales representatives say that cold calls are the worst part of their job. I think that a LOT of this has to do with people not having a clue as to what they are doing! Too often, salespeople are given a phone and a list of numbers and sent on their way.
That is a recipe for disaster – I can pretty much assure you of poor-quality results with that approach. And it is demoralizing for your salespeople as well.
Salespeople need a SYSTEM, TRAINING, MONITORING and MANAGEMENT to effectively set qualified appointments and close sales.
At One of a Kind Sales, we have seen how successful sales teams can be when they have a comprehensive approach to sales. Our unique sales program, called ‘Conversational Selling’, is a time proven system, coupled with ongoing training, monitoring and management that prepares salespeople to successfully and consistently, deliver qualified leads and appointments.
Click here to learn about how we can train YOUR Inside Sales Team to use this successful technique.
Or here to see how OUR TEAM can make Cold Calls and set qualified appointments for YOU!
Persistence Pays!
According to a Marketing Wisdom stat, almost half (44%) of sales reps said they stopped with sales follow up after receiving a negative response to a first call. REALLY?!? If you are going to give up that quickly, clearly sales is NOT the job for you!
That same group found that ‘after reaching a prospect, salespersons need to make an average of five successful follow-up calls to close a deal.’ This is not a ‘one and done’ kind of business and is why you need a system and training to support you.
Sales is a game of endurance – play the long game or don’t play at all.
Are you LISTENING?
TOPO, a sales research and advisory firm, found that 87% of prospects said that salespeople didn’t understand their needs. Well, if you are asking pointed questions and really listening to their replies, this should NOT be the case!
We provide our teams with scripts specifically designed to elicit the responses we need to fully understand the prospects’ needs. As you can see from the stat, this alone sets us head and shoulders above the competition!
If you your team isn’t getting the info they need to make real connections, give us a call – we can help!
OK – so are YOU ready for 2021?
Do your preparation and give us a call if you need help – we want to see you ROCK the coming year!
Notes: Marketing Wizdom RAIN Group TOPO
by Marta Malyk | Nov 24, 2020 | Cold Calling Tips, Guide to Sales Prospecting Success, Lead Generation, Sales, Sales Prospecting
“Always Be Closing” is a popular sales phrase that you have probably heard. It is often touted as the “ABC’s of Sales”. But this phrase is often misunderstood as being all about the spurring on and encouraging the salesperson to go in for the kill – the close – and then move on to the next one.
If you have learned anything from this series, I hope it is that sales is NOT about you, the salesperson, but it is all about THEM, the prospect.
That said, I do believe that you always need to be working towards the close. Let me explain what I mean.
Be clear about the process
Closing becomes easier if you have done your work all along the way. Signing the contract should be the culmination and confirmation of all the discussions you have had. The contract should hold no surprises and is just a formality. They should be ‘buying-in’ all along. The Close is just the logical next step in the Sales process.
Is it a fit?
Early on, you need to pre-qualify the prospect. Spending time and money with a prospect who cannot afford your product or services is time and money wasted. Discuss and get buy-in on the budget before investing time and resources.
Tie-downs
Periodically use phrases like, ‘wouldn’t you agree?’ and ‘did I get that right?‘ to make sure you are on the same page and to anchor all of you in your new, advanced location as you move along in the sales process.
Are all the Decision Makers present?
Spending your time selling to someone who is not in a position to actually close the deal is a huge mistake. Make sure you understand, up front, who will be the one to authorize the sale and be sure that they are in on the discussions. Don’t waste your time with gatekeepers or anyone less than the decision maker(s).
Check for conflicts
Periodically ask to see what problems or obstacles your prospects may see with the proposed plan. It is important to identify and address these before moving forward.
Whenever a new decision maker enters the mix, check with them as well. Request and respect their point of view.
Knowledge = Power
You need to glean as much knowledge as you can from your prospect and the company. You need knowledge of their needs, their pain points, their past experience and most importantly, their expectations. Then you need to use that knowledge to craft your pitch and sell your solution.
Trial closes
We train our salespeople to incorporate ‘trial closes’ into their sales process. All along the way, they are making small ‘closes’ which make the final close much easier. Think of it as a way to ‘take the temperature’ of the room and confirm that you are on the right track.
‘What would you like to see happen next?’ OR ‘What should next steps look like?’
I like to use one of these phrases when I wrap up my presentations. It allows THEM to bring up and request that I send a contract. This way, rather than my pushing it on them, they have requested it. This is a subtle but important difference.
Contracts
I send contracts the afternoon before our next meeting. This allows them enough time to review it, but it isn’t available for extensive examination. Then we go over it together, at the meeting, and get it signed.
Since you are aware of their needs and pain points, it makes it easy to show how your solution will address them. And your contract should be in alignment with their expectations since you will have clarified these previously. There really should not be any surprises at this point.
Legal review
Yes, legal reviews can take time and slow down your close but if you have a well-designed solution that underscores and addresses their pain points, your prospect should be able to successfully shepherd the contract through the process.
This is just the beginning!
Try to identify and address any ‘buyer’s remorse’ before it has time to take root. The close is not the end but the beginning, of the relationship!
Pro tip
A real pro will mention, at the close, ‘Oh, and by the way – to prepare you – I will come to you in about 3 months to ask you for references. We are really looking forward to working with you and would love to work with more clients like you!’.
They may not remember you saying this, but it sets you up for a successful conversation when you make that request for references.
Do you and your team need help to successfully close more business? Give us a call at 908-879-2911 Or click here to use my Calendly link to arrange a time to speak.
Missed any previous posts in this Step by Step Guide to Sales Prospecting Success series?
Step 1 – The Cold Call
Step 2 – The First Meeting
Step 3 – Objections – Part 1
Step 3 – Objections – Part 2
by Nancy Calabrese | Jun 9, 2020 | Cold Calling, Lead Generation, Pandemic, Sales Prospecting
A colleague recently shared some interesting stats related to phone usage by Fortune 1000 and S&P 500 companies during the Covid-19 pandemic:
- 93% kept their corporate phone number on their website.
- 94.1% have increased calling in to check voicemail from three times per day to nine.
- Of the approximately 10 million employees, 83.2% have added a cell phone to their email signature.
- Of the approximately 10 million employees, 41% have reached out to clients and vendors with an update about using cell numbers.
- Of the 8.2 million employees that had company cell phones, 38% are using them exclusively.
- Of the 10 million employees, 89.1% have their corporate phone calls forwarded.
These stats confirm that workers are still using the phone as a business tool and checking their phone messages. Do not let the pandemic related shift to remote working keep you from making prospecting calls!
Whether you have a company phone number with an extension, a direct dial or a cell number, keep dialing. The phone is still an effective way to reach decision makers, whether they are in their offices or working remotely.
by Nancy Calabrese | Nov 20, 2019 | Cold Calling Tips, Lead Generation, Sales Prospecting
Back in 2015, there was a lot of noise, much of it negative, around a comment made online that “You have the same number of hours in each day as Beyoncé”. The implication was, Beyoncé seems to be able to run the world with HER 24 hours and so should you! The gist of the negative narrative was, “Well, yes, but I don’t have a personal trainer, or household staff or a ton of money”.
I mention this because, as we plan for 2020 – and Yes, you SHOULD be planning for 2020! – we all DO have only 24 hours in a day and we need to be sure that we are making the most of each one of them. Here are some tips on how to make the most of YOUR Sales Prospecting hours in 2020.
First, let’s do the math:
At 6 – 7 hrs of Sales Prospecting a day (most of us work longer days, you can increase it as needed) X 5 days a week (again, in an ideal world we aren’t all cranking on weekends) = 30 – 35 hrs a week X 50 weeks (hopefully you are taking SOME time off!) which leaves you with 1500 – 1750 hours a year of Sales Prospecting time.
Here are some tips for making the most of YOUR Sales Prospecting hours:
- Commit to making calls EVERY DAY. Block out that time on your calendar and USE it – every day! Do NOT use this time to complete unrelated tasks.
- If your job entails more than calls, get THOSE activities on the calendar as well. Block out the live networking events, allocate time for digital networking on LinkedIn and other relevant platforms, plan the days when you will be knocking on doors and making presentations. By consciously ‘chunking’ out your days there will be less down time spent figuring out what you will do and when, making your Sales Prospecting hours more productive.
- Use a CRM specifically DESIGNED for outbound calling and lead generation, make sure you know how to use it properly and remember to USE it for ALL your Sales Prospecting.
- Be sure that you are working from a QUALIFIED LEAD list.
- Develop, memorize and internalize a script with a compelling message. Practice it until you are comfortable and confident in your delivery.
- Have your ‘toolbox’ filled with documents and cheat sheets so you are prepared to address and overcome objections.
- Have a plan. Work the plan. Commit to success!
Here are tasks that WASTE Prospector’s time – AVOID these:
- Using an OUTDATED or OLD Call list is a HUGE WASTE of time!
- Answering email and/or engaging on Social Media during your dedicated Sales Prospecting Hours is a WASTE of valuable time.
- Extensive research is a waste of time. We have a ‘1 x 1 rule’ – spend a maximum of one-minute researching LinkedIn and the Prospect’s website before making the call. You need to know who you are speaking with and the industry they are in – nothing more.
- Don’t be distracted by colleagues during your Sales Prospecting time UNLESS it is related to making a sale!
- Spending time on the phone with influencers is unnecessary – focus directly on the decision makers!
All of us will have the same number of Sales Prospecting hours in 2020. Many will waste their time on pointless or misdirected tasks. Some will work longer days and weeks to try to accomplish more. And some will work SMARTER, focusing on what matters most. How will YOU use YOUR Sales Prospecting time in 2020?
If you need help getting YOUR Sales Prospecting team up to speed, give us a call – we train, manage and monitor YOUR inside sales team to ensure real results! Click HERE to learn more.
by Nancy Calabrese | Sep 24, 2019 | Advice, Cold Calling Tips, Lead Generation, Sales Prospecting
Would you like to improve your cold calling results? As anyone who has ever shot an arrow will tell you, one of the KEYS to hitting the bullseye is knowing WHERE the target is located. Otherwise, it is like shooting while wearing a blindfold! Salespeople who are calling without being totally clear on THEIR targets, are frequently DIALING BLINDLY.
The ‘target’ in this context, is NOT the salesperson’s ‘target audience’. You can be dialing blindly even if you know your ideal prospects’ name, age and serial number. The targets that I am talking about here are the salespersons’ productivity targets. Without a clear understanding of YOUR productivity targets, also known as KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) you may as well be dialing in the dark!
Here are some tips to improve your Cold Calling results:
How many tries does it take?
Do you know how many calls you need to make before you set a qualified appointment? This is NOT a trick question! This is a number YOU need to know and keep track of, based on YOUR lists, YOUR calls and YOUR experience. I cannot supply this answer, but I can assure you that if you identify and keep track of this number, you WILL be able to improve upon and reduce it!
Peter Drucker, the man who is often credited with having ‘invented’ the management practices of the corporate business world, famously said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it”. I agree!
Knowing the number of dials it takes to get to the point where you engage in a conversation with a decision maker is the first step to getting a handle on your target. The next step is knowing how many conversations, with decision makers, need to take place to set qualified appointments. You also need to know how may qualified appointments you need to set before you close a sale. Again, there is no one correct answer – this is a compilation of data based on YOUR experience.
Gather and use this information to set YOUR productivity targets
Identifying these stats will help you monitor your cold calling progress, keep you on track and close more sales. Once you have these numbers, you can challenge yourself to hit or beat them. You will be able to measure AND to improve them!
The first step to hitting ANY target is to be very clear on what it is. What are YOUR current stats and what will YOUR target be? Improve YOUR Cold Calling Results – don’t dial blindly!
If your sales team is dialing blindly and/or not hitting YOUR sales targets, give us a call at 908.879.2911 – our Call Center In A Box service includes the training, management and monitoring YOUR team needs to SUCCEED!
by Nancy Calabrese | Jun 18, 2019 | Case Studies, Lead Generation, Sales Prospecting
This is the first in a series of Case Studies that outline the ways in which we have helped our clients. This post is a Call Center in a Box case study.
About a year ago, I met a Senior Vice President of Sales from a premier insurance, risk management and financial services firm, at an industry event.
The Problems:
He had three Sales Producers who weren’t ‘producing’ enough first-time appointments. They were still growing their books of business, had been trained and were responsible for cold call prospecting but it was not getting done. While they claimed to be making the calls, there were very few qualified, first-time appointments in their schedules. Management had no tools to monitor their activity. He knew they needed to be managed in prospecting but didn’t have the time or bandwidth to do it himself.
He also had a full-time appointment setter with over 8 years of experience who set appointments but at least 50% were cancelled or no-shows.
The rest of his team was comprised of senior sales Producers who had established books of business but didn’t do cold calling.
The Plan:
They retained us to implement our Call Center in a Box Services where we:
- Assessed the team’s skill levels
- Provided their Sales Producers and Appointment Setter with new scripting
- Set the company up on our recommended CRM
- Monitored their progress
- Met with them weekly to train, role play and discuss challenges and successes.
The Experience:
We started working with them at the end of the Summer of 2018 and it was immediately apparent, based on the new monitoring system, that the salespeople were NOT calling when they were supposed to. As part of the training, we established schedules to follow and through our ongoing monitoring, we were able to ensure that the calls were made during the desired timeframes.
One-on-one coaching allowed us to work with them individually, giving each the attention and skill training THEY needed to improve.
At the weekly meetings we listened to actual calls and provided role modeling to show them what to say and HOW to say it to achieve better results.
The Results:
Immediately, the quality of call conversations went up markedly and each team member we had worked with was consistently setting QUALIFIED appointments every week!
The number of appointment cancellations was significantly reduced. Feedback from producers who took the appointments became more and more positive and has led to more sales.
By January 2019, the company chose to move ALL their sales team members onto the CRM tool.
The CRM has allowed the SVP of Sales to know and track what is being done, enabling him to better manage the team. And having more competent salespeople setting qualified appointments has freed him up to go out on more of those appointments with producers leading to better closing rates and an opportunity to model successful closing techniques.
Are YOU having a hard time monitoring or managing YOUR sales team? Know they need training but just don’t have the time, energy or patience to train them yourself? Are your producers delivering poor quality leads that just won’t close?
Click here and GIVE US A CALL AT 908.879.2911 to see how our Call Center in a Box services can help YOU!
And click here to check out another Call Center in a Box Case Study
