The Critical List

In any prospecting program there are three major variables: the script, the person calling and the list.

The list is one you can control most and plan for in advance. And it is worth every hour you spend on it. For example, a purchased list can have a discard rate between 10 and 30 percent, depending on the target market...these are wasted dollars if you mail or call them.

So where to get a good list? We've found one of the most reliable sources to be association membership lists...often well worth the cost of membership.

Next come subscription lists, if you can meet the minimum purchase requirements and don't mind renting rather than buying.

Then, if you to decide to use a retail list source, our experience has shown InfoUSA/SalesGenie to be one of the more accurate. The best thing about a retail list provider is you can test small, random selections from whatever demographic you select.

But keep your eyes open for new developments...we visited a Seattle company last week and were shown a beta version of a list selection resource which provides the best of all the above. More to come.

Just the right script

How do you know if you are using the right script when making prospecting calls?

First, throw out the script! You have to be able to "tell" the story, no "read" it...remember that advice from grade school book report presentations?

Especially throw it out of someone else has written it for you.

Today one of our most successful agents was working from a script written and used by another of our most successful agents. But even after a couple hundred calls he sounded just awful...flat, no energy to it. Worst part...prospects were cutting him off and he knew it.

We spent about 30 minutes doing several role-playing exercises, digging in deep about how he felt about this company's products. It finally clicked. He took the key phrases we had identified and made them flow in his own words. It was strong and believable. I'm certain he'll set an appointment today with the "new" version!

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!

The perfect cost per appointment

How much should you pay per appointment from a telemarketing firm?

Unfortunately, the answer is..."it depends". Primarily it depends on one piece of information: the value of a customer to your business. Of course there are many ways to calculate that value...net profit, gross margin, etc...but what really matter is that you just pick one, know why you did and then stick with it.

Here's an easy-to-use method for calculating customer value in this article.

Once you know your typical customer value, decide how much of that you are willing to spend acquiring a new customer. This is usually a percentage of the customer value and varies widely between industries, depending on typical gross margin and market maturity. We've had clients pay anywhere between $150 and $1,200 per appointment and in every case the number represented a reasonable percentage of customer value.

Most important, realize the cost per appointment will typically increase as your appointment-setting program matures. Your telemarketing firm should be able to explain when this will happen and what can be done to keep the cost from jumping substantially.

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!

Honesty above all

Arne-Per, our VP of Sales, just forwarded to me a blog entry by Seth Godin describing a horrific experience receiving a telemarketing call from a woman trying to insist she was really calling from a local organization, even though he knew better.

Really, it all comes down to honesty and having the courage to be truthful...and requiring your prospecting staff to do the same. The standing rule for our calling staff is, if someone asks you where you are calling from, don't hesitate to give them our firm's name and the direct line to the president (me!).

And the biggest surprise which has come from this? About twice a month, a prospect starts questioning one of our callers and pushing them for information about our telemarketing firm...because they want to know how to hire us!

We, too, are seeing signs the economy is stabilizing.

It's not a change or return to growth by any means, but we're seeing two signs businesses are at least realizing that life is continuing and they better do something about it.

First, it is getting easier for us to get leads and appointments for our clients. Of course, "easier" is a relative term...it's not like every person we call is excited to hear about the next new thing, but we're also not getting the total don't-talk-to-me shut down of the last two quarters.

Second, we're seeing an increased number of clients talking with us and signing up to ramp up their prospecting efforts through out call center. It's as if business owners are finally sticking their head up out of the foxhole and realizing if they don't grab some market share now, someone else will!

We're all getting used to the new reality. It's like my sister the rock-climber used to say, "Once you've had your first fall, you're never really quite as afraid of falling again."