Dunlap Discussions: Prospecting Tips from the Pros – PART 3

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!

Common Lead Generation & Appointment Setting Questions in 2022

As we talk with companies who are seeking guidance about outbound teleprospecting and lead generation services, the following 4 questions are the most common ones we hear.

1. How has the pandemic impacted prospecting behaviors? – Our world and our “back to normal” is evolving back to the way it was before the pandemic.  Not everything will go back to the way it was, but in business, most human behaviors seem to be going back to, or get close to, normal – “normal” defined as pre-pandemic.  In our office, we are as successful today as we were before the pandemic with scheduling appointments.  Things were confusing during the pandemic, mostly trying to determine if a target contact person was working in the office or working remotely.  People are still working remotely, but they have become reachable via phone calls.


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2. What do you mean, multiple call attempts? Persistence – we are firm believers in “tactful persistence is the key to success”.  If someone tells us they are busy and asks us to call them back, we call them back.  Most often we feel like a non-response to a phone call simply means the person is busy and is unable to talk, or they are not ready to talk.  This is fine.  We do not assume that they are not interested in what we are calling about.  We do a very good job of balancing persistence with politeness - with this balance we will continue to develop a prospect over time until they are ready to talk to us, and hopefully earn a scheduled appointment.

3. Does cold calling really work?  There are many terms for it – cold calling, outbound prospecting, teleprospecting – no matter what you call it, the question remains the same. Does it work? This is always a very good question and there are several key elements that factor into the answer.  The answer can be different based on these key elements: 

  • Outbound teleprospecting works if you have a good plan and process in place for making calls and managing the data (CRM)
  • It works if you have a sales team that hustles and goes after new business opportunities
  • It is a beautiful way to cover lots of territory and geography without having to travel
  • Lastly, and often overlooked, historically we have learned that there are fewer competitors involved when you generate opportunities through teleprospecting.

4. Why cold calls rather than social media or other digital approaches? – It does not have to be one or the other. Incorporating multiple methods can complement rather than compete against each other.  Both do a very good job of generating sales opportunities and together, you end up with more prospects to sell services to.  Both social media and teleprospecting have the ability to overlap and impact a larger group of people, where separately, they both touch people who respond to either digital approaches or phone calls, but not both.

There is a process that needs to take place when building a campaign – whether we coach you on building your own or build it for you. There is also a frame of mind that needs to be present.  You can do an outstanding job building your campaign but if you do not have the correct frame of mind, it becomes difficult to succeed with the campaign.  We will teach you both: the process and the frame of mind.

Maybe this article answered the question(s) that you have, if not, we are happy to talk to you. 

Dunlap Discussions: Prospecting Tips from the Pros – PART 2

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!

7 Steps to Implementing a Smart Calling Program

What is Smart Calling?

A smart calling program incorporates the discipline of making prospecting sales calls with a plan. It’s having a targeted approach and a game plan that will guide you to a desired outcome.

A smart calling program has a plan that utilizes a known process that you can trust.

7 Steps to Your Smart Calling Program

The following are seven steps, developed by our team, that you and your team can follow as you prepare your own smart calling program:

  1. Data Records: clearly identify the businesses you want to call 
    • Common starting points are utilizing either a current customer list or an idle customer list
    • If you’re building a fresh list, common list-building criteria are: 
      • Specific industry categories (such as SIC codes)
      • Specific company sizes (revenue and/or employee count)
      • Defined geography
  2. Identify the Decision Maker: know who the right person is you want to talk with; if this information is not available to you, know the proper title and/or department – in today’s environment, it’s also helpful to find out if this person is working in the office or remotely
  3. Messaging: prepare a message that is brief, quickly gets to the reason for your phone call, asks good qualifying questions, asks about current satisfaction levels, and defines their future plans
  4. Utilize Technology: have a data-capture tool, such as a CRM, that allows you to efficiently document the valuable information you gather, a tool that allows you to define and schedule next steps, and might allow you to send follow up emails
  5. Train: be properly skilled to make the phone calls, roll play, and practice.  Record your live calls and listen to them and have peers listen to them  
    • If you are new to making business calls, don’t feel like you must be an expert – you do not.  Prepare yourself to answer basic questions, and this will get you much further than you think.  Remember, these calls are the beginning of the sales cycle, not the end
  6. Schedule: develop a schedule for making your smart calls and enter these times in your calendar. Create a schedule that is reasonable and achievable, then follow your plan and be patient
  7. Commit: trust your plan. If you do the work, you will start to see the results

If you follow the above steps, you will be implementing a smart calling program with a smart plan – a plan that is targeted specifically to a group of companies, some of which might become your future customers. There are common industry phrases that describe this type of work such as cold calling, telemarketing, teleprospecting, or lead generation. No matter what you call it, when it’s done properly, it is an excellent way to fill your pipeline with qualified prospect opportunities.

We live in odd times right now.  Normalcy is something that people are looking for, an example of this is human-to-human conversation.  With all of the bells and whistles that can come with sales and marketing, sometimes the simplest thing to do is call and have a conversation.

Dunlap Marketing has been in the business of building and conducting smart calling programs since 1996. Over the years, we have developed a process that we utilize with every client we serve. For more information on our programs, email Mike at miked@dunlapmarketing.com.