Regular cold callers always end up leaving lots and lots of voice mail messages. Decision makers tend to be busy people. If you're in B2B sales,
you're trying to reach executives and purchasing officers who probably
field dozens to hundreds of phone calls a day. If you're selling to
consumers, you're calling people who are juggling work and home
responsibilities. As a result, it's common to require multiple phone
calls just to reach a decision maker.
The question is, how many calls is too many? For that matter, what's a reasonable time frame for leaving those calls? Studies show that the average sales cycle takes multiple contact attempts to get rolling, so salespeople who give up after one or two contact attempts are throwing away a huge number of sales. On the other hand, calling every day for three weeks is going to annoy your prospects, not convince them to buy.
The best contact pattern for you will vary depending on your sales strategy and the type of product you sell. However, a good place to start is to contact leads once a week for at least four weeks. If you sell a high-value, low-volume product and/or sell to CEOs and other tough-to-reach executives, you might go as long as eight weeks and eight separate contact attempts. Each time you leave a message, add a reference your previous message and let them know when your next contact attempt will come. Naturally, you should also leave your contact information and perhaps a time when you'd be available, so that the prospect can reach out to you if she's sufficiently intrigued by your message.
If you've made several contact attempts without reaching anyone but the voicemail system, try varying the time and day you're calling. Busy executives are often easiest to reach very early in the morning, before their assistants arrive and while the decision maker is answering the phone himself. Consumers tend to be available early in the evening (but not during dinnertime!) and on weekends.
Don't forget that cold calling isn't limited to the telephone. Decision makers who are nearly impossible to reach by phone may be quick to respond to an email. Snail mail can also be an effective way to reach important prospects, especially if you have some interesting tidbit to share – like a magazine article featuring the prospect or a bit of breaking news that's relevant to the prospect's industry. Dropping by the prospect's home or office in person can also be a good way to get her attention and show how serious you are about talking to her. If you use one of these other sales channels to reach out, count it as your contact attempt for the week and then mention it in the next phone call (something like, “I hope you got that newspaper article I sent you in Tuesday's mail – what a great photo!”).
If you're getting hung up on a gatekeeper rather than on an answering machine, then your job is to turn the gatekeeper into a co-conspirator. Each time you speak with him, jot down a note or two about the conversation – particularly his name. Then the next time you call, you can drop a remark about that topic to prove that you're actually listening. It's amazing how much a spouse or assistant will appreciate a simple courtesy like listening to and remembering what they said to you. If you can get the gatekeeper on your side, reaching the decision maker will become far easier. And since gatekeepers often act as advisers, you're more likely to close the sale if they approve of you.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
The question is, how many calls is too many? For that matter, what's a reasonable time frame for leaving those calls? Studies show that the average sales cycle takes multiple contact attempts to get rolling, so salespeople who give up after one or two contact attempts are throwing away a huge number of sales. On the other hand, calling every day for three weeks is going to annoy your prospects, not convince them to buy.
The best contact pattern for you will vary depending on your sales strategy and the type of product you sell. However, a good place to start is to contact leads once a week for at least four weeks. If you sell a high-value, low-volume product and/or sell to CEOs and other tough-to-reach executives, you might go as long as eight weeks and eight separate contact attempts. Each time you leave a message, add a reference your previous message and let them know when your next contact attempt will come. Naturally, you should also leave your contact information and perhaps a time when you'd be available, so that the prospect can reach out to you if she's sufficiently intrigued by your message.
If you've made several contact attempts without reaching anyone but the voicemail system, try varying the time and day you're calling. Busy executives are often easiest to reach very early in the morning, before their assistants arrive and while the decision maker is answering the phone himself. Consumers tend to be available early in the evening (but not during dinnertime!) and on weekends.
Don't forget that cold calling isn't limited to the telephone. Decision makers who are nearly impossible to reach by phone may be quick to respond to an email. Snail mail can also be an effective way to reach important prospects, especially if you have some interesting tidbit to share – like a magazine article featuring the prospect or a bit of breaking news that's relevant to the prospect's industry. Dropping by the prospect's home or office in person can also be a good way to get her attention and show how serious you are about talking to her. If you use one of these other sales channels to reach out, count it as your contact attempt for the week and then mention it in the next phone call (something like, “I hope you got that newspaper article I sent you in Tuesday's mail – what a great photo!”).
If you're getting hung up on a gatekeeper rather than on an answering machine, then your job is to turn the gatekeeper into a co-conspirator. Each time you speak with him, jot down a note or two about the conversation – particularly his name. Then the next time you call, you can drop a remark about that topic to prove that you're actually listening. It's amazing how much a spouse or assistant will appreciate a simple courtesy like listening to and remembering what they said to you. If you can get the gatekeeper on your side, reaching the decision maker will become far easier. And since gatekeepers often act as advisers, you're more likely to close the sale if they approve of you.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
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