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Getting your prospect on the phone is the biggest challenge that you face while sales prospecting. You can have the best product, the best sales pitch, and be a very talented sales person, but if you can't ever get the prospect on the phone, you are not going to be able to sell anything. And while this task can be extremely frustrating, there are actually small things that you can do that make a big impact on your ability to connect with prospects. We outline those in this Sales Prospecting 101 module as it will give you a clear methodology that can immediately improve your results.
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How to Get Prospects on the Phone
Michael Halper
Sales Prospecting 101
Your Biggest Challenge
• Figuring out who to call
– Companies can be big complex mazes– Might not have a the exact name and phone number
• Prospects often do not answer the phone
– Decision makers are often in meetings – They let calls go to voicemail– Have phone forwarded to a gatekeeper
• You can spend as much as 80% of your time trying to connect
– That is ok and what is important to use a mix of tactics so that it is only 80% and not 100%
– Using the right mix of direct calls, voicemail messages, and email will minimize this challenge
Figuring Out Who to Call
Organizational Structures
Functional Departments
Organizational Structures
Organizational Levels
Organizational Mapping
Organizational Levels
Finding Contacts
CRM
Finding Contacts
Finding Contacts
Business Contact Database
Finding Contacts
Prospect’s Website
Finding Contacts
Finding Contacts
Gatekeeper
•Ask for direction by title
– “I am trying to reach the Director of HR, can you point me in the right direction?”
•Name drop
– “We are planning on meeting with John Wilson but would like to connect with the Director of HR before we go in that direction. Do you know who we should reach out to?”
Finding Contacts
Internal Referrals
•Getting additional contacts while talking to prospects
•At the end of a good discussion:– “Do you know who else it might make sense for
me to reach out to?”
•When talking to the wrong prospect– “Oh I see. Do you know who the correct person
for me to reach out to is?
•Be quick to communicate that you will not share where you go the prospect’s name
Getting Prospects on the Phone
Getting Around Gatekeepers
• View gatekeeper training
• Name dropping
• Be prepared for objections
• Be friend the gatekeeper
• Ask qualifying questions
• Get direct line phone numbers
Voicemail
• Primary strategy
– Do not leave a message
– Saves time and keeps call back option open
– Schedule the next call for next day or day after
• Secondary strategy
– Leave voicemail every 5 call attempts
– Schedule next task two weeks out
– Follow-up every voicemail with an email
Email• Key to improving connect rate
– Creates a multi-touch approach
– It is easier for the prospect to reply to emails
– It is easier for the prospect to save your information
• Send a pre-call email when it makes sense
• Follow-up every voicemail with an email
• Guess email address through Google search– Use an email checker
– *@[company web domain]• Will provide the naming convention of the website• Send email with guess and check for delivery
– Guess using common email styles• [email protected]• [email protected]• [email protected]• [email protected]
Vertical Movement
• Calling at levels above and below the target prospect inside of their department
– Trying to reach a manager, call above and call at the director
– Trying to reach a director, call below and try to reach a manager
Organizational Structures
Organizational Levels
Horizontal Movement
• Calling into other departments that are impacted by the target prospect’s department
– Can’t get into IT, call into operations
– Can’t get into HR, call into finance
Organizational Structures
Functional Departments
Organizational Mapping
Organizational Levels
Call CadenceRound 1
1.Pre-call email
2.First phone call
3.Leave voicemail message #1
4.Send voicemail follow-up email #1
5.Pause (one to two days, one week, etc.)
Round 2
1.5 to 10 calls with no voicemail message
2.After 2 weeks, leave voicemail message #2
3.Send voicemail follow-up email #2
4.Pause (one to two days,one week, etc.)
5.Move laterally and horizontally to find new contacts and start round 1
Round 3
1.5 to 10 calls with no voicemail message
2.After 2 weeks, leave voicemail message #3
3.Send voicemail follow-up email #3
4.Potentially close contact
Summary
• One of the biggest challenges you face is getting a prospect on the phone
• Use resources like LInkedIn, CRM, Google, Company Website and business contact databases to find contacts
• Be prepared for how to get around gatekeepers
• Use a mix of call cadence, voicemail, and email to create a multi-touch approach
• Use vertical and horizontal organization movement when you cannot connect
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