Implementing Multiple Call Attempts when Prospecting

Posted on by Mike Dunlap

(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.

Four Reasons Daily Prospecting Will Increase Your Bottom Line

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

Question: How can you get the best results from prospecting?

Answer: By making it a daily habit.

Here are 4 reasons why daily prospecting will benefit you, your sales team, and ultimately, your bottom line.

  1. Prospecting keeps your pipeline full
    • There’s no denying it – inbound leads are usually warm, move through the sales cycle at a favorable pace, and are the lowest hanging fruit in terms of prospects. Unfortunately, for a salesperson who is trying to grow his or her portfolio and increase their number of clients, relying solely on inbound leads is usually not sustainable. There just are not enough of them. A great way to prevent your lead list from running dry is to incorporate a mixture of both inbound and outbound-generated leads. Prospecting = outbound leads. Outbound leads = a full pipeline.
  2. Doing a little prospecting each day keeps the task manageable and prevents it from feeling “too big”
    • Which would you rather clean – one dirty dish or a sink full of dirty dishes? Cleaning one dish is much more manageable than a sink full of them. But, when you stack that first dirty dish in the sink, it becomes tempting to continue stacking and stacking, up until the sink is filled and you have no other choice than to tackle all of them. Wouldn’t it feel better to keep the task small and manageable? Prospecting is no different. By doing a little bit of prospecting each day, you avoid letting the task grow and grow until it feels like a big, time-consuming undertaking.
  3. Repetition will keep your prospecting skills sharp
    • What our parents and coaches told us growing up is still applicable in our adult lives – practice makes perfect. And while “perfect” isn’t necessarily attainable, continued practice will only make you better. Prospecting daily will make you a better prospector – it’s as simple as that.
  4. Consistent prospecting will give you a leg up on your competitors
    • Spoiler alert: just like the thought of prospecting doesn’t make you jump for joy, it also doesn’t make your competitors jump for joy. In fact, tasks that we don’t want to do often get pushed to the bottom of our to-do lists. And we all know what happens to tasks at the bottom of our list – they end up not getting completed! This is a trap that many people inadvertently fall into – and chances are, it’s a trap your competitors fall into. If you want a leg up on your competitors, do not allow yourself to fall into this same trap. Set yourself apart from what others are doing and get ahead of your inbound leads running dry by prospecting every day.   

Prospecting is a tool that will take your sales success from average to great. A little bit of prospecting each day will grow and compound, leading to your future success. In the words of Darren Hardy, author of The Compound Effect, “Small choices + consistency + time = significant results”.  

Applying Salesmanship 101 Principles

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

An international oil and gas company, a two-year Dunlap Marketing client, has proven when it comes to selling, salesmanship 101 principals still remain. Dunlap Marketing provides an integral function of making prospecting telephone calls into business around the US that have large and medium fleets of vehicles. The objective is to schedule phone or face-to-face appointments with interested prospects and our client’s regional sales managers.

“You guys are on fire in my area! Two proposals went out this week from your leads.” – Mid-states region

Process:

  • Before calling began, Dunlap researched and built a national database consisting of our client’s target prospects, based on industry-type and fleet size
  • Once the database was built, Dunlap called to identify the person responsible for decisions relating to fuel card programs
  • Through tactful persistence, Dunlap makes ongoing telephone calls to communicate with this person – the goal being to learn how their company’s current fuel card program works and identifying potential interest in meeting with our client’s regional sales managers
  • Upon request of the prospect, the Dunlap team will email additional information about the program to prospects who want to learn more before scheduling an appointment
  • Throughout the course of calling, Dunlap adds additional database records to the master list. New records can come from either our client’s CRM or through additional research
  • The ultimate goal continues to be scheduling appointments, with a major focus on new business development

“Thanks for the leads Mike.  I sang your company’s praises last week at our national sales meeting.  I think your staff does a great job.” – Southeast region

Additional Value-Adds:

  • Maintaining CRM application to properly track / manage appointments we set
  • Blitz programs isolating certain events or markets that include a targeted initiative around selling more fleet fuel card programs
  • Internal, weekly product training for continuous education of the Dunlap staff

“Our sales manager was able to speak with all of the calls scheduled! AND one of them is likely to close a deal with us! Nice job!” – Marketing Manager

The success of this campaign is based on applying basic salesmanship 101 tactics. Proper planning, messaging, cold calling, strategic follow up calls, and use of email correspondence are the building blocks of selling.

For questions or inquires, contact Mike Dunlap at miked@dunlapmarketing.com, 281.496.9870 x 140 or Kaitlin Dunlap Cuevas at kaitlind@dunlapmarketing.com, 281.496.9870 x 180.