Does telephone-call-based appointment setting still work?

This is a question I hear more and more frequently. 

The quick answer? Yes. 

The long answer? Yes, but let’s talk about it. 

First, if you agree that not every business person responds to only one prospecting method, then I suggest effective B2B prospecting includes the use of multiple prospecting methods, such as:

  • Social media (Linked In, Instagram, Facebook, etc.)
  • Traditional advertising (print, radio, TV, etc.)
  • Website – website optimization
  • Paid placement ads
  • Telephone calls
  • Emails

If your style is to focus only on select methods, there is a chance you are missing out on reaching decision makers that do not utilize the methods you choose to use. For example, if your primary approach is to sell business through social media tools, it’s likely that your message will not connect with a decision maker who does not use social media platforms.  

What should be expected is if you use social media, your message will be delivered to people who also use that platform.  On the flip side, it is not reasonable to expect your message to jump across different marketing methods to reach a broader range of decision maker who might not be connected to various marketing methods.

A second point –  I commonly speak with companies who are interested in hiring Dunlap Marketing. It’s also common for our first conversation to start with the representative sharing their opinion that they don’t think telephone based cold calling does not work.  I always find this interesting as they initiated the call to me.

I have learned over the last 28 years of running my company that what they are actually trying to share with me is the fact that they DO NOT LIKE making prospecting phone calls themselves, or they DO NOT TAKE these types of calls when they come to them.  I then respond by asking, “in your opinion, does cold calling not work simply because you do not like making or taking phone calls?”

Telephone call prospecting (telemarketing) works and it is very effective at reaching and talking with prospects, but it does not reach every prospect.  It is a great way, and a unique way to have a two-way conversation with a prospect.  

Ask yourself, how many outbound prospecting methods allow a human-to-human two-way conversation? It is a great way to maximize your investment or efforts when using other marketing methods.  Phone calls allow you to advance your sales process even when you are unable to speak with the right person.  Examples:

  • 1st – you can gather intelligence from influencers or others who are informed of current status
  • 2nd – you can leave a voicemail message which allows you to keep your name front of mind with the right person

Both are positive outcomes.

Keep in mind, phone calls require a degree of tactful persistence and patience.  You have to stay with it if you want results.  In this high-tech world that we live in, evidence shows that targeted teleprospecting generates successful new business transactions.  

For more information, contact Mike Dunlap:

Email: miked@dunlapmarketing.com

Phone: (281) 496-9870 x140

12 B2B Touchpoints to Incorporate in Your Sales Cycle

Some sources will tell you it takes 8 touchpoints to make a sale in the B2B world. Others will tell you it takes 8 touchpoints just to book an initial sales call. No matter the actual statistic, the truth is that it takes multiple touchpoints to convert a lead to a customer.

Before we dive even deeper into this topic, let’s first get clear on what exactly a touchpoint is.

A touchpoint is a form of interaction between you and your potential buyer.

In marketing and sales, touchpoints can range from highly personalized to generic and broad-reaching.

Examples of personalized touchpoints are face-to-face meetings, phone calls, or 1:1 emails tailored specifically to your prospect. As a rule of thumb, these forms of personalization require more of a time commitment on your part, as the seller, but will typically yield a higher conversion rate.

On the other hand, examples of broad-reaching touchpoints are social media posts and mass emails. These touchpoints have the capability of reaching more people with less of a time investment on the seller. However, because of the lack of personalization, they yield a lower conversion rate.

At Dunlap Marketing, we believe that a combination of both highly personalized plus broad-reaching touchpoints leads to a sales cycle that feels good to both you and your prospects.

Below are 12 examples of various business-to-business touchpoints you can start incorporating into your own sales cycle.

Personalized Touch Points:

  1. Company events
  2. Networking events
  3. Referrals
  4. Face-to-face interactions
  5. 1:1 phone calls
  6. 1:1 emails
  7. 1:1 chat on your website

Broad Reaching Touch Points:

  • Organic social media
  • Paid social media
  • Blog posts and other website content
  • Emails to your entire email list
  • Mailouts

By marrying together personalized and board-reaching interactions with your potential buyer, you will find a rhythm where your prospects feel like they are getting the information and attention they need in order to make a buying decision, but doesn’t necessarily require you to be everywhere all of the time.

For more information on sales strategies, email Mike at miked@dunlapmarketing.com.

Implementing Multiple Call Attempts when Prospecting

(And Our Favorite Dating Analogy)

How many dates do you go on before you get married? I would be willing to bet that 97% of the time, it takes more than just a few.  We asked this question in an article written in 2015. It’s interesting because now more than ever, I am confident that the strategy of multiple call attempts (or multiple “dates”) works better than ever when making prospecting calls and ultimately, closing sales (or “getting married”).

Prospecting And Dating

The art of selling is a lot like dating, courtship, and ultimately marriage. It takes patience, persistence, and respect.  It takes time. 

  • Patience – Be ready and willing to stay in touch with a target prospect until it becomes time for them to enter into the buying process
  • Persistence – Be tactful and consistent with follow-up, leave voice mail messages if your call is not answered, send emails, and make more follow-up calls, all with the intent of staying at the front of your prospect’s mind when the time comes and they are ready for a conversation
  • Respect – Time, space, and money are all things that people hold closely; respecting these three things is critical for any relationship to thrive.  Be present and available, make sure your prospects know your intentions, but don’t overdo it to the point you drive them away from you

The Numbers

Many sales experts believe three percent of sales are made on the second contact, ten percent are made on the fourth contact, and eighty percent are made on the fifth or beyond contact. Note, these numbers may not be exact, but we believe they accurately reflect typical sales behavior.

In the business-to-business prospecting campaigns that Dunlap Marketing does, it is very common for us to make at least eight call attempts* before we start feeling the early indications of list saturation. The fact is, being tactfully persistent is required if you want to speak with the people who make decisions. 

*As a footnote, in this example, list saturation does not suggest you are completely finished calling on a target list of prospects after eight tries. It simply suggests that you let the list rest for a period of time, then start working it again.  After you let the list rest, be smart about how you apply the “respect” content mentioned above.

Only ten percent of salespeople make more than three contacts. 

Forty-eight percent of salespeople never follow up with a prospect.

Again, these numbers are believed by many respected business leaders and I believe they reflect common salespeople behaviors.

Sticking With It

In Dunlap Marketing’s B2B prospecting experience, we have learned that just because someone is not easy to connect with, does not mean they are uninterested in what we’re calling about.  The game of numbers works well in our favor if we call enough records enough times over a duration of time.  When we stay on plan, we will accomplish our goals without wearing out our welcome. So, how many dates should a couple go on before getting married? Two? Four? Twelve? One hundred? You tell me!  As a father of three daughters, I will take the higher number of options.

5 Tips to Increase Success on Prospecting Calls

While conducting a recent team meeting, I asked the staff to share their thoughts on what it takes to have successful prospecting calls. The result of this question lead to a handful of outstanding tips, which prompted me to write this article so I can share them with you. 

According to the Dunlap Marketing team members, their five top prospecting call tips are:

  1. Listen carefully to the prospect’s tone and behavior, then adjust your approach to match
  2. Try holding the prospect’s attention long enough to deliver the intended message
  3. Get the prospect interested enough to start talking
  4. Keep calling, do not give up
  5. Be polite and grateful

Listen carefully to the prospect’s tone and behavior, then adjust your approach to match

In my early days of selling, this was called “mirroring the prospect”. I believed and saw this technique work in the early stages of my career, and I continue to see it work now.

You might ask yourself – how can I mirror a prospect I can’t see?

If the prospect answers the call, but sounds like he or she is in a hurry, consider talking a bit faster and tell them, “I know you are busy so I am going to quickly get to the reason for my call”, then do as you said you were going to do. 

The objective is to match your tone and talking speed to that of your prospect.

Try holding the prospect’s attention long enough to deliver the intended message

This notion of holding attention long enough to deliver your message reminds me of writing call scripts. Call scripts should be short and to the point. Your prospects are busy and were not waiting for your call. Because of this, keep in mind that you should be grateful they took your call and avoid making them feel like you’re wasting their time. 

A good way to cut back on time spent on the front end of your conversation is to consider not asking the prospect how they are doing or how their day is – often this falls into the category of wasting time.  Rather, as an ice breaker, use a friendly and engaging voice and speak with a smile on your face. You might be surprised how this approach not only saves you time, but also yields better results.

Get the prospect interested enough to start talking

This goes hand in hand with holding the prospects attention, mostly because if you can get them talking, you have likely caught their attention. In most instances, the best way to get someone talking is to ask them a question. 

Before you can ask a question, I feel it is important that the prospect knows why or what you are calling about – make this brief and get straight to the point.  Once they know the purpose of your call, you ideally want to ask a probing question that identifies a pain or deficiency within their current situation.  In our office, we have a goal of asking this initial question inside the first 15-20 seconds of the conversation. Your approach here is to get your “foot in the door”.  Do not feel like you have to push yourself all the way in, just get your toes in, especially if you represent a longer sales cycle offering. 

Three probing questions you can try using are:

  • Does your current provider ____?
  • Does ____ present a challenge for you?
  • If there was one thing you can improve, what would it be?

Keep calling, do not give up

Tactful persistence is the key to success. 

If your call goes unanswered or your voice mail is not returned, it is not good to assume your prospect is not interested. Chances are, it simply means your prospect is busy and has more pressing issues to deal with.  At some point in time, your offering will become important to them.  Your job is to stay engaged so you can learn where they are in the buying cycle or life cycle of their current situation.  You want to identify trigger dates so you know when to turn up the intensity to have constructive conversations.

If you have difficultly speaking to the decision maker during early stage prospecting, try connecting with other people in the company in an effort to learn about their current situation, future timing, and satisfaction level. This information can be uncovered by different people inside one company – not just your top contact person. And most importantly, these nuggets of information will help you gauge your future timing. Capture this information and set follow up reminders in your CRM to call back accordingly.  Even more, ask for email addresses and send periodic emails that contain relevant information.  Be disciplined with your follow up tasks.  Over time your efforts will pay off.

These habits are most critical for salespeople who manage smaller, more finite-sized prospect lists.  The smaller the population of who your prospects are, the more tactful persistence will pay off for you and your prospecting efforts.

Be polite and grateful

Always make your prospecting phone calls with a smile on your face.  Some of my staff are outstanding at speaking to a prospect as if the person is right in front of them.  This is a gift. 

Be respectful and do not be afraid to call your prospect back if they tell you they are very busy.  Politeness and gratitude require you to have faith that the game of numbers is in play – and if you play the game properly, you will get your fair share of opportunities.

If you force a conversation, the likelihood is you will compromise quality outcomes (in our office, we prioritize quality outcomes over quantity of outcomes).  The more you force, the more disappointment there will be down the road when implementing next steps.

If you feel like you need to be forceful, consider asking the prospect for a better time to call back.  Record this information in your CRM and call them back at that time.  If they do not answer, leave a voice mail and try again later in the day or the next day.  It might not be easy to get them back on the phone, but keep trying.  When you do connect, chances are better that you have a more productive conversation.

Being polite and grateful often go hand-in-hand with tactful persistence. Tactful persistence is most rewarding when you are also polite and grateful.

For more information on successful prospecting, feel free to reach out to me at miked@dunlapmarketing.com or call at (281) 496-9870 x140.