What is Good Call Frequency?

Posted on by Mike Dunlap

Tactful Persistence is the Key to Success

How often should you reach out to a target prospect?  

This is a question we are asked a lot when setting up an outbound telemarketing campaign.

The answer depends upon several factors:

  • Is this a first-time interest in the conversation with the person or company?
  • Is there a known need?
  • Is there a known relationship?
  • Is the prospective company a high-value target for you?

For Dunlap Marketing, making multiple attempts is an important contributor to our success.  Mostly we reach out by making phone calls with the reinforcement of sending one-on-one emails and voicemails.  With calling we balance the number of call attempts over a duration of time.  Time becomes a good friend.  Over time you can call early in the morning, late in the morning, early in the afternoon, and late in the afternoon.  Mixing up your call times gives you a better chance of connecting.

The “How To”

Apply good common sense to call frequency. You want to avoid your target prospect feeling that they are your only prospect.  You have other prospective companies to develop, so find a balance between spending time with other quality opportunities. 

Back to persistence, this is an important trait to have because persistence is often necessary to reach the person you need to speak with.  Decision makers are very busy, and guess what, they are not waiting for you to call them.  It’s no secret that people are often difficult to speak with.  Our belief is you have to earn the opportunity to speak with them, and tactful persistence is often required to earn the opportunity. It is important to trust the fact that just because you are unable to speak with the person, does not suggest they are uninterested. Often, it just simply confirms the fact that they are busy!

To specifically address the question: how often should you reach out to a target prospect – with first time campaigns, where the prospect data file is not huge, it’s common for Dunlap Marketing to start a campaign with the agreement of making 5 call attempts over a 4 to 6 week period of time.  As a general rule, our belief is it’s good to penetrate the list by making multiple call attempts if possible.  It gives you a more accurate feel of what the quality of opportunities is going to look like. 

This represents just the tip of the iceberg based on call frequency.  This type of campaign can rest for a month or two, then you can start calling into it again.  Unless you spoke to the right person, the likelihood is no one in the company will ever remember you called in prior times.  On the other extreme, with campaigns that we have been working on for years, it is very common to see appointments that we set today as having 50 or more call attempts over the past few years. 

If a prospect is important to you, do not be afraid to be tactfully persistent with trying to make contact.  However, it is very important that you do not over call and always be courteous to everyone you encounter while navigating to the right person.  To state the obvious, when you finally do reach the right person, be prepared!

The Exception

When done properly, tactful persistence is almost always a good trait; however, when you have a larger prospect database to develop, it may not be as necessary to practice persistence, as with smaller data files.  The larger the file, the more you can play the game of numbers, meaning, there will commonly be a segment of your target prospects that are more likely to answer their phone.  The larger the file, the more you can skim the top of the list, connecting with those who are easier to connect with. 

You may find that you are successful in filling your pipeline by making 2 or 3 call attempts.  Take advantage of this if you can.  As you develop the prospect list over time, you will find the level of challenge will start increasing as it relates to connection rates.  This is very typical.  The offset is you do a better job of saturating the list.

Ultimately…

A byproduct of skillfully working through your target prospect list is you can create multiple silos of categories.  You can prioritize your silos by who may have short-term interest, mid-term, long-term, or no interest at all.  This is all very good information to know as it helps you determine how to spend your time moving forward.

Part of the value of tactful persistence is it allows you to be creative with keeping your name in front of target prospects and how you integrate other marketing methods to communicate ongoing.  This all becomes beautiful marketing and it will generate terrific results for you.

In closing, this article brings to mind two of my favorite sayings, both of which I firmly believe in relating to how we live our lives and how we conduct business:

  • “Tactful persistence is the key to success”
  • “You never get a second chance at a first impression”

Both sayings significantly play into the intent of this article; work hard, be patient, do not give up, and always respect others.

You can contact Mike Dunlap at miked@dunlapmarketing.com or call him at (281) 496-9870 x140.

Dunlap Discussions: Prospecting Tips from the Pros – PART 3

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

The time has come to wrap up our three-part series, Dunlap Discussions: Prospecting Tips from the Pros, with the grand finale.

(Did you miss part one and two? Find them here and here!)

The intention of this series is to help salespeople and marketers who are tasked with prospecting. The tips and suggestions from this series have been captured from our team of appointment setters, who have an average of more than 15 years of experience in the industry.

In parts one and two, we covered tips on 1) preparing to make prospecting calls, 2) connecting with the decision maker, 3) speaking with the decision maker, and 4) asking for an appointment. In part three, we will wrap up with tips on closing out a call and general prospecting calling tips.

Closing a call:

It’s the finish line – the way you close your conversation will play a part in the impression you’ve made on this decision maker, which ultimately plays a part in the decision maker deciding if he/she is going to follow through and attend the appointment you just scheduled.

As a whole, the Dunlap Marketing team feels strongly about two things when it comes to these final moments of a call:

  • Be gracious
  • Review all appointment details

Gratitude is always appreciated – the small effort it takes on your end can positively impact the receiver monumentally. In fact, it might just be what sets you apart from your competitor. One thing that’s guaranteed: you won’t regret being gracious.

Reviewing all appointment details is a quick way to solidify the agreement the decision maker just made. Quickly verify the pertinent information such as time, date, location, email address, and phone number, if applicable. While you’re at it, if you’re going to send a calendar invite following the phone conversation (which we highly suggest), let the decision maker know to be on the lookout for it.   

General tips:

This final round-up of tips falls into a “catch-all” category. Many of these tips are some of our favorites, so don’t pass them up!

  • Confidence is key
  • Always be respectful – no matter who you’re speaking with
  • Tactful persistence – don’t give up after the first few “nos”
  • Gatekeepers are not your enemy – they can actually be your ally
  • If a prospect asks you a question, first answer their question, then follow up by suggesting an appointment

And that’s a wrap! If you have any follow up questions, please feel free to email us at either miked@dunlapmarketing.com or kaitlind@dunlapmarketing.com. Happy prospecting!

Dunlap Discussions: Prospecting Tips from the Pros – PART 2

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

We’re back at it with part two of our three-part series, Dunlap Discussions: Prospecting Tips from the Pros!

(Did you miss part one? Find it here!)

This series is intended to assist any salesperson or marketer who is tasked with prospecting. We interviewed our team of appointment setters, who have an average of 15+ years of experience in the industry, to learn their top tips and advice for prospecting, getting through to the decision maker, and scheduling appointments.

Last week we kicked off the series with tips on 1) preparing to make prospecting calls and 2) connecting with the decision maker. This week, we are diving into the next two phases of a prospecting conversation – speaking with the decision maker and asking for an appointment.

Speaking with the decision maker:

You’ve gotten through the gatekeeper and now you’ve found yourself on the phone with the decision maker (woohoo!). Now what do you do?

Three tips from the Dunlap Marketing team are:

  • Be confident, professional, polite, and brief
  • Know your material
  • Qualify to make sure there’s a fit/need

Remember that first impression we talked about last week? Well, now that the call has been transferred to the decision maker, you’re now back at square one. When speaking with the decision maker, be professional and quickly get to the point. Be confident with the material and message you’re presenting (practice, practice, practice). And before moving too deep into the conversation, make sure there is a need for what you’re calling about. This will save both you and the decision maker time!

Asking for an appointment:

You’ve presented the information to the decision maker confidently and concisely. You have qualified to verify a need or a fit. Next up, it’s time to ask for the appointment.

Some primary suggestions from the team at Dunlap Marketing are:

  • Ask for the appointment by suggesting a date/time
  • Have a positive mindset

Help the decision maker help you. By asking an open-ended question such as “when can we schedule an appointment”, you might inadvertently turn the decision maker away by putting him/her in a situation where he/she has to suggest the date and time. Instead of this approach, narrow the options and offer up one or two dates and time frames.

And of course, have a positive mindset. Believe that you are capable of setting this appointment – because you are!

We’ll be back next week to wrap up this series by talking about closing the call and other must-have tips from our team!

Decision Maker VS. Decision Influencer – Who Do You Talk To?

Posted on by Mike Dunlap

Teleprospecting for New Business Opportunities

The epitome of early-stage business development is making your very first teleprospecting calls into a new prospect list.  As you have likely experienced with B2B business development, at the beginning of the nurturing process, it’s highly unlikely to make a sale during your first few interactions with a prospect. Sure, “right place at the right time” scenarios happen, but not frequently. However, an outcome that is more likely to occur is identifying companies that will soon be in the market for your services. Because of this, it is wise to set your expectations as “getting the sales process started” when engaging in early-stage business development.

A conversation we have almost every time we build a campaign for a client is:

Who do we need to talk to?

Most commonly, our clients’ response is:

The decision-maker!

But, is this always the best approach for getting your sales process started? Our question then becomes:

Is it realistic to get the decision maker on the phone?

Usually at this point, our clients start scratching their heads…

Typically, decision makers are difficult people to get on the phone – as a general rule of thumb, the larger the company, the more difficult it is to reach the decision maker. If the objective of your cold calling efforts is to get the sales process started, and if a mid to long-term sales process is common, why not increase your likelihood of having a productive conversation and broaden your reach to include decision influencers.  These are people who may not be directly involved with the decision making, but are knowledgeable about future plans, and likely have a measurable contribution to the future decision.

In our experience, decision influencers are more willing to take phone calls and are more available to offer insight into the company’s future plans.  Because this is early-stage business development, a major goal in a conversation is to identify future purchasing plans.  It’s too early in the process to ask for a decision to be made – you are simply trying to determine the timing of future plans. 

We use this analogy frequently inside our office:

If you are on a first date with someone, is it normal to talk about wedding plans, or should you spend time getting to know each other?  Should you learn what the likes and dislikes are of the other person?  Should you learn about their needs? 

Over time, as you nurture a relationship, you then, start talking about the serious topic of a long-term commitment.

It is perfectly acceptable to start building a relationship with the decision influencer.  During this journey, you will be able to learn more about the likes and dislikes of the company, and what the important elements are that you can build your sales strategy around.  There is a lot to be learned, but do not lose sight that you still need to ultimately connect with the decision maker.  If you are successful at building trust with the decision influencer, chances are, they will introduce you to the decision maker.

In summary, this approach is most beneficial when your target prospects are large companies with layers of people.  If you are cold calling into small and mid-sized companies, keep working to connect with decision makers as well.