by Glen Springer | Jan 8, 2012
As a B2B sales outsourcing company we do a great deal of cold calling to generate business sales leads. In a previous blog titled Cold Calling is like Dating, we explained how dating etiquette and sales etiquette are similar when it comes to making the first impression. This blog continues the dating metaphor to the next stages of the sales cycle.
In the first part of this blog, we discussed how the goal of the first date should not be to close the deal; it should be to get a second date. We find that if our reps succeeded at getting the prospect to agree to further interaction after the cold call, it is now time to “play it cool”.
When dating, after meeting someone for the first time, there’s no quicker way to end a budding romance before it begins than to be over eager or show desperation. The same goes for business sales leads. You want to convince your prospect that you aren’t annoying or creepy. Too many calls or voice mails after a first date might give the impression you are needy or dependent; this is not attractive.
After a first date, a woman wants to feel like she’s being thought about, not obsessed over. This means no gushing emails about how much you love me and how you cannot wait to see me again. In the dating world, this is an immediate red flag; we just met. In the sales world, and when we are providing sales outsourcing services we find, people are just as suspicious of sudden and constant affection that seems to come out of nowhere. Building a strong and lasting relationship takes time, regardless of whether it’s romantic or business related. If you are going for more than a one-night stand, having patience is key.
Generally, the higher caliber the romantic prospect is, the more work it will take to impress them and arouse interest. This means you must be willing to expend this extra time and effort if you have your sight set on a Victoria Secret model. You have to wine and dine her before you can even think about closing the deal. For your sales process, think of Fortune 500 companies as Victoria Secret models. If you get to know them and put in the time to show you respect who they are, you’re much more likely to succeed.
Also, remember that not returning a phone call does not necessarily equate with non-interest. If she’s the type of girl that is worth keeping around, she will more than likely play a little hard to get. When it comes to sales prospects that act this way, you have to play back and be persistent, but not pushy or annoying.
Our advice as a sales outsourcing company and what we find across verticals and most decision maker types is that the right balance between persistence and non-pushiness can benefit you in more ways than one. First, you have convinced your prospect that you are respectable and are willing to work for what you want. If your prospect takes the bait at this point, you have succeeded. However, just as not all first dates lead to epic romances, not all cold calls lead to closed deals. But, if you have managed to convince your prospect that you’re cool and not creepy, she might set you up with one of her friends (a Sports Illustrated model perhaps?).
For more on how sales in like dating, check out Cold Calling is Like Dating. If you would like to learn more on how to generate new business sales leads or about Gabriel Sales services strategy and how these strategies work for clients, or to decide if B2B sales outsourcing is right for you, please feel free to contact us.
by Glen Springer | Dec 22, 2011
This blog discusses cold call sales scripts, and how to craft one into your overall B2B sales content strategy to make your sales process as efficient and effective as possible.
As an outsourcing sales and marketing company, we have found that a good sales script for cold calls does not begin, as many often assume, with intent to sell. A cold call script should aim to introduce your company’s service/product as a possible to solution to the specific customer’s needs. A cold call sales script should also set out to help determine any and all possible objections that may stand in the way of closing the deal.
At the beginning of the call, ask for the person you wish to speak with, and once you have them on the phone introduce yourself by name and the company you represent. You then need to make the potential buyer understand who you are and how you could help them. This works best when the conversation is focused on how your company solves problems or fills needs.
In order to sell your company’s product/service as a solution to someone’s needs, you first have to know what those needs are. This requires research on the company you are trying to sell to, as well as their competition. You can only position yourself as an industry expert if you actually know the industry.
Another way to position yourself as an industry expert is to list any of your previous clients whose name your potential buyer may recognize. This helps build confidence in your company, and also gives you a chance to direct him/her to case studies that show the success of your relationships with those clients.
Your sales script should also have answers prepared for any objections you might face. This means you need to know what those possible objections are before you make the call.
A good cold call sales script can also help you speed the decision making process. Early in the sales process you want to give your potential buyer your ROI statement. As an outsourced sales company with over 10 years of sales experience, we have found the following formula to be effective:
▪ My company /service will create an X (month, quarter, year) program that over the life of that program will produce and estimated $X dollars (go for the big deal upfront).
▪ This will mean an estimated % increase in profitability or % decrease in cost.
Once the potential buyer understands the overall picture of what you want to do for them, they can decide if that is something they might want or not. If the customer is still interested, you can then offer to do a more detailed analysis of the specific return after you have determined their specific needs.
Overall, you want your cold call sales script to work for both you and your potential buyers. While the main intent behind any sales process is to close deals, the goal of the cold call sales script is to assess whether or not the deal is closeable, and how to proceed if it is.
For more information on cold call sales scripts or B2B sales content strategy, please feel free to contact us.
by gabriel_sales | Dec 15, 2011
Gabriel Sales is a top sales and marketing operations outsourcing company with years of experience in cold calling. Here are ten B2B sales strategy tips for effective cold calling:
- Prepare. Understand the overall goal you would like to achieve with the call. Plan it all out and know what actions you need to take to meet your goal. What needs to happen by the time you hang up? Are you looking to set an appointment? What information do you need from them? What do you want them to understand about you? What do you want the results of the call to be?
- Use your manners. Poor phone etiquette is an easy way to lose a deal before it has even started. Show personality in your voice when you speak to avoid boring your prospects to death. Don’t chew anything while you speak, you want to sound professional, energetic and articulate.
- Sell using a script, but don’t sound scripted. If you are fumbling over your opening statement, you can come off unprepared. You only have a few precious seconds at the beginning of a call to “hook” your client’s attention. Show confidence. Give them a reason not to tune you out.
- Don’t create extra objections for yourself. Good planning on your part, creating a solid opening, can head off objections simply by instilling confidence in your prospect. Make sure everything you say after is as equally planned out. Don’t say anything that does not direct apply to solving your prospect’s problems.
- Ask questions that sales qualify. Have the questions you need answered to sales qualify a prospect prepared ahead of time, and have them in front of you to reference. This is extremely important; in most cases, you need to learn as much about your prospect as they do about you. Good questions lead to better information and more appointments. Order your questions in sequence of priority, and ask them in that order.
- Listen to their answers. This may seem obvious, but listening is key when making a good sales call. By asking the right sales qualifying questions, you can be sure you will get the right answers, if you simply open your ears. Listen attentively to their needs, do not interrupt and wait for them to say everything they want to.
- Do not mistake negative answers for rejections. The two are not synonymous. While an unfavorable response (such as a prospect claiming to be too busy) may be a sign they are not interested, it should not be assumed this is always the case.
- Do not push unnecessary content. Many times, a request for additional information is simply a guise to get off the phone. Don’t let this happen to you! If your prospect asks for more information, make sure you know why. Ask them what kind of information they want; this will increase the odds of them actually reading it.
- Get what you want. Show no fear, be confident and ask for it! Whatever the goal of your call is, the only way you’re going to achieve it is to ask. Just like with your opening, you should have a planned out way of asking for what you want. If your goal is an appointment, set the date and time immediately.
- Show your value. Talking about how great you are rarely impresses anyone. If you want to keep your prospect engaged, you always have to remember the client’s perspective. The best way to show your value is to ask smart sales questions, and then listen to the response and follow up with another great sales question.
For more information on cold calling or B2B sales strategy, please feel free to contact us.
by gabriel_sales | Dec 8, 2011
This blog outlines the role of white papers in today’s B2B sales content strategy and how to craft a white paper so that it best serves both you and your customer.
Today’s digitized customer often researches potential purchases using the relevant media content provided to them. One way to provide educational content to your customer is to use a white paper. White papers, in the business sector, are used to persuade the reader that a service, product, technology, method, etc. is superior to others, and that it will fill the client’s needs. Its goal should be to influence the decision making process of current and potential customers.
A good white paper is aware of its clients’ specific problems and addresses this early in the paper. Instead of simply explaining what your service or product is, phrase the information as solutions to needs you already know your client has.
For example, instead of:
“Gabriel Sales provides full-time sales and marketing operations.”
Write:
“Gabriel Sales’ full-time sales and marketing operations helps to identify winning strategies for your specific goals and objectives, navigate the new intricacies of today’s complex sales process and close deals.”
Time has become one of the most valuable resources in today’s digital environment of instant satisfaction. Potential customers do not spend as much time with your content as they used to and need to be entertained as well as educated. If your white paper is too text heavy, it is unlikely to be read in its’ entirety. It will also probably bore your reader into clicking on something more interesting.
Having clear summaries at the beginning and end of your white paper, as well as throughout, helps keep your reader focused on the messages you are trying to deliver. It also helps to ensure that if your reader does not have time to read your entire white paper, they are still spending some time with your overall message.
Also, the use of graphics, such as charts, graphs, or fact boxes, helps retain the reader’s attention. These graphics can also be used to summarize the key messages you want your reader to take away from the white paper.
To learn more about white papers and how to incorporate them into your B2B sales content strategy, please contact us. For more information on how White Papers can be included in an overall digital content strategy learn a little bit more about a holistic approach by checking out “What is better sales collateral?”
by gabriel_sales | Dec 1, 2011
This blog outlines how a business case study can be leveraged as a marketing tool, and the ways doing so can benefit your company.
While a case study’s primary function is to educate its reader on a particular subject, the power of using a case study as a piece of B to B sales content should not be overlooked.
In recent years, many companies have started using case studies as a means of educating potential customers on the type of work they do. As an outsourced sales and marketing company, we find this helps the company both build credibility and work more time efficiently during the sales process.
Case studies can be used to build credibility by reassuring the potential customers of the company’s past successes. A case study provides a company with the opportunity to provide a narrative of their process to show the tangible value and explicit results of the work they do.
A good case study starts by outlining the starting point. Here, the company has the chance to detail the problems they are equipped at solving and explain how their solutions fit the customer’s specific needs. Expose a business pain your customer has, and that you know how to fix it. In essence, you put your potential buyer into the shoes of a decision maker who has already been in their position.
The “Results” section of a case study then shows readers why your company’s solution to its client’s problems were the best, by providing evidence of the success of your business relationship. Results should be expressed in specific, quantifiable terms to exhibit that your company not only has a process for solving problems, but that it can execute as well. Results should also reveal the broader business problem your company solves (i.e. closing more deals, increasing profit, etc.).
During the sales process, companies can direct decision makers to their case studies to help persuade him/her to reach a decision. This helps the company work more time effectively by eliminating the need for people to give out this information over the phone.
Overall, a case study should tell your business story. Unlike white papers, which are more detailed and generalized, case studies provide personal narratives of specific situations, and give a chance to show that your company’s work has real value.
For more information on B to B sales content or how to write business case studies, please contact Gabriel Sales.
