Does a CRM get you better appointments?

I spent a very late night this week customizing a CRM, standardizing data, importing it and creating a new reports...in fact the whole process took about two weeks.  Somewhere around 2am I asked if it was really worth it.

The answer is yes.  Why?  Because in sales prospecting two elements have to be perfectly balanced:  efficiency and effectivenss.

You have to be efficient at making calls, printing letters and sending emails...the more efficient you are, the more prospects you contact and the more results you generate.  But you also have to be effective...contacting the right people, in the right industry and at the right size companies.

And the key to being both efficient and effective is having the right tools.  And that means the right tools which let you address the requests of prospects immediately and move on to the next.  In my experience, both small companies and large fail their staff in this area, but it's their obligation to provide the right tools if they are going to require results and compensate based on results (as they should!).

So yes, if you are a sales prospector/appointment setter, it's worth having a well-tuned CRM.  And if you are a manager or company owner, it's also in your best interests, so put in the time & money it takes to get it right!

How to be the most knowledgable telemarketer

You would think the best approach to being a highly knowledgeable prospector or sales person would be to study diligently and immerse yourself in all the details about your service or product.

But you'd just be deceiving yourself. It's impossible to know all the answers to every question a prospect might throw at you. Most likely they have years of expertise in their field and you will always lack their level of knowledge...so don't even try to impress them, you'll just look silly.

But you can sound intelligent and prepared by remembering one key point: the person asking the questions ALWAYS controls the conversation.

It's simple, but difficult to do in practice. The key thing you need is not more knowledge, but the ability to answer with a question.

Some question versions which work well are: "That sounds like an important issue to you; can you tell me why?", or "I'll check into that, but can you tell me how you've handled it in the past?", or "That's a great question; how would you be using that feature?"

Always remember, you are the sales expert, not the product expert!

A secret prospecting opportunity

For a number of years I've followed prospecting results to see if there was a pattern to timing. You know what I mean...everyone says don't call Monday morning or Friday afternoon (bunk!), or don't call the day before a holiday. Is it really true, or is it just folklore so we can all squeeze in a long weekend?

Turns out it's not true. Regularly, we have some of our best results on Mondays and Fridays. More surprising is the consistently strong prospecting results we get between Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Sound strange? Maybe. But think about it...after Thanksgiving business travel and meetings slow down, budgets are set, new initiatives are waiting until January.

This all means your prospects are more available, which is exactly what you want when making a prospecting call. You don't want them to make a decision or even necessarily meet with you...you just want them to take your call and have an initial conversation to see if the topic is worth pursuing for a future in-person meeting.

So don't ignore Mondays and Friday, but especially don't ignore the two weeks after Thanksgiving. It will set you up for a very strong January!

A newbie no more

How to get a new telephone prospector up to speed and producing results quickly? A couple weeks ago we had a new staff member start, and I followed the process closely.

First, and most important, we interviewed and screened her very carefully. You might think a five-interview process over several weeks is a waste of time for such a "low level" position as a telemarketer...but it's not. Through trial and error (ok, lot's of errors!), every minute invested before the hiring decision significantly reduces the uncomfortable conversations and firings later on.

Second, we spent a lot of time with role-playing. Sounds simplistic, but practice does make perfect. We started with the basics...covering the script and key phrases...moved on to personal variations, then into objections and difficult personalities. Once she could deliver the key phrases nearly effortlessly, it was on to...

Third, be paired with an experienced staff member. This started with listening and watching, then doing. Then it finished off with some refinements and additional perspective from a second senior person...can't have the newbie stuck on only one point-of-view!

Fourth, and most important, expect results. By the second day our newbie had set her first appointment and was a newbie no longer! Three days later her call efficiency was as good as the veterans...and still she was setting solid appointments. Total time: 5 days from beginner to valued contributor.

Finding your compelling voice

This week one of our newer staff was struggling and after getting hung-up on a couple times, complained, "I wouldn't want to listen to me either!"

After congratulating him for his self-awareness, we took some time to dissect what was happening and why he wasn't connecting with the prospects. It turned out to be two simple things.

First, his voice was tense and thus higher pitched than normal. This removed all the authority from his voice and almost invited prospects to run over him in their rush to hang up the phone.

Second, the script sounded too much like begging for an appointment, rather than inviting for one. A couple word changes fixed that.

But most important was a shift in his attitude...he came to understand he didn't need these prospects to set an appointment with him. In fact, they needed to qualify in order to be worthy of getting an appointment from him! This change in power balance was immediately reflected in his voice and the script delivery; he sounded more calm and confident.

Did the prospects respond positively? We'll see next week!

Keeping the leads coming...

When you're implementing a telephone prospecting program it's important to understand the effect of time.

What happens after you've called everyone once and landed appointments with all those interested? Will you get similar results by simply going back through the list again? Of course not! You've already plucked the low-hanging fruit.

Now you have two choices: 1) wait 6 months until everyone has forgotten your first call and call again, hoping a competitor didn't get to them first. 2) develop a plan for nurturing those with limited or no interest from the first call, until their situation changes and they accept your invitation for a conversation.

Obviously, the second option takes more work (and your results won't be as amazing as the first time the list was called), but you'll be there when the prospect recognizes their need. And get them signed up before your competition!

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!