Does telephone prospecting still work in the current economy?

Yes, but...

...only if your message directly addresses the current crisis on the desk of the CEO or senior manager you are talking with.

It's true in the hundreds of calls made each day from our call center we are speaking with many more dispirited and discouraged business owners. No, they aren't going to buy a new training program or invest in new capital equipment, unless...

Unless you tell them how you will 1) help them make money or, 2) save money.

For example, when we call CEOs of mid-sized businesses for our training company client, we never mention the word "training" (it's a quick ticket to speak with the most junior HR staffer!). Instead, we tell both the executive assistant and the CEO we want to talk with them about how to keep their best people, if that is a priority for them (and for it is for all!). That gets their attention and the 30 seconds we need.

In today's economy don't waste your prospects' time with any other message than how you will help them make money or cut expenses; they don't want to talk about anything else!

Fridays bad days for prospecting?!

Don't let any sales person tell you they can't prospect on Fridays because no one is available to speak with. Our results consistently prove otherwise.

For example, last week, the majority of all the appointments we set for our clients were from calls made on Friday...Friday the 13th nevertheless!

And you know the next best day? Monday.

Personally, I hope the myth of Friday and Monday being poor prospecting days continues. It leaves people more available to talk with those of us who are calling on those days.

The point is: in sales prospecting, often breaking the "rules" gets the best results, simply because everyone else is following the rules.

What's really happening out there.

With all the news stories of businesses in trouble (another $1 trillion for banks announced today!), you'd think business activity is grinding to a halt. Ok, yes things are slower than they were (maybe it's a return to "normal" growth, whatever that is), but a surprising number of companies are out there aggressively seeking new customers and being successful at it.

How do I know? Because we're making the calls for them.

Recently, we've been starting 2-3 new projects each month generating new customer leads for businesses intent on growing...despite the current economy. Yes, we are working harder to find those new leads for them...more calls and emails, more compelling scripts...but they are finding new prospects.

And guess whose market share they are taking. Maybe yours!

In upcoming posts I'll share with you more details about what we are seeing now in the sales prospecting environment and the techniques we're using to get the best results. Check back for more!