Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest entry from one of our BDRs, Stephen Wolff.
It is always difficult to answer the most common question asked of me when I meet new people. “What do you do for work?” I always tell people I work as a “Sales and Marketing Consultant.” The reason I say this is because I do more than just find “leads” for AG Salesworks clients. Part of our responsibility as a Business Development Representative (BDR) is to not only find “quality sales opportunities” but to get marketing information on what is going on in the businesses that we call into. The information we uncover is key to building our clients’ forecasts. The sales reps can tailor their pitch, due to the level detail outlined in our opportunities, making the most effective use of time spent with prospects.
When I begin calling on a prospect I have three goals in mind. First is to get the lead. Second, if the prospect is not interested, get some information on why they are not interested, and third, set up a time to reconnect in the future when they would be more interested in evaluating a new product, anticipating that in the long run this is a chance to turn this prospect into an opportunity.
I think of my job as a detective. When I call I try to use every minute that I am on the phone with someone to get as much out of the call as possible. This can be tough with time constraints, meetings and people who just really do not want to talk to people taking up their time with sales calls.
I like to use Colombo’s lines “Oh, one more thing.” I find that people are willing to share one more thing with me in order to get me off the phone. This one thing may turn into a longer conversation that could bring out more pains and needs from the prospect and in time, turning this ‘not interested’ person into an opportunity for our clients. Every little bit of information helps. It may not get me an opportunity today, but the information I gather can only help me to find that opportunity down the road. Usually, it’s this marketing information that sets AG Salesworks apart from everyone else in our field. When a prospect tells me that they are not interested, this is where we need to find out why. Is it because they are using a competitor and if so who? The information that we find in this part of our calls is extremely important as it creates the marketing intelligence that is often just as important as a lead is to our clients.
For sales, I find information such as when they plan their budgets, how they find funding, when their funding is released, and when their fiscal year begins. For marketing, it could be finding proper verticals, best collateral, and the organization size that best fits their product. Also, for both sales and marketing, other useful information can be how old their technology is, how often do they evaluate their solution, and when do they think they will be looking at vendors or upgrading/expanding on what they are using.
So all of this information can be very beneficial several ways, most notably: by a BDR to follow up at a later date knowing what to expect and set up a call accordingly, as well as by the marketing team to determine where they need focus their energy and marketing resources to build their future pipeline.
We, BDR’s, are like Detectives trying to find all the facts and get the whole story from each phone call so that we can provide the most information not only on the opportunities that we find but also on the prospects that are not opportunities…Yet.
Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you another guest entry from one of our BDRs, Jill Ryan.
Out of the 12 month year, these next 3 months are going be the hardest for inside sales reps. Sure, all year long our friends and family that are Firefighters, Nurses, Police Officers, EMTs, bartenders and servers have envied us for our guaranteed weekends off. Now the tables have turned, I know some of us were wishing we could catch a mid week beach trip, but we have a job to do. I am the first one to say that AG has a culture like no other and we are lucky to have such a good time at work, but let’s face it, cold calling while its 85 and sunny out isn’t the best.
I am the kind of person that cares about my performance all the time. I am obnoxiously competitive and work the best under pressure, so go figure, I love contests. What better way to honor the cube dwellers during the next couple of months then to roll out some new incentives. Here at AG, we are lucky. We have an incentive in place that if we exceed production standards for the week, we can have a half day on Fridays. A lot of businesses are gone early on Fridays, so it makes for an effective work week. But what else can we do to spice it up during the summer?
- One thing I know my coworkers and I enjoy is time off. A monthly incentive to get some time off is most definitely something people will work towards. Everyone has trips they would like to take over the summer, and a chance to bank some days for the beach or lake is an expense most organizations can manage, and people would appreciate.
- Team contests! In sales, we all do a lot for each other in a pinch, why not have contests within your teams to boost the spirits and give each other that extra push. Some of the previous contests that have been great were a mix of meeting inside sales related benchmarks with a fun skills contest to cap it off. For example, our last contest combined meeting certain goals with a putting contest – the teams who had the best results towards these goals, putted from a shorter distance. These contests get people to work hard to meet the goals and have fun in the process.
- Something affordable but fun for the entire group. Whether that be a summer party, a day to head to a Pawsox game, or just the beach. Make it something the management can budget for and the company as a whole has to work hard to obtain, whether that be through lead goals or call expectation.
Let’s face it, we all work hard, but it can get difficult to stay focused in the summer when nothing changes in the routine. Summer is a time to throw the routine out the window, get outside, be active and enjoy each other. Why not continue that theme within the office to keep everyone on their feet, willing to work hard to play hard.
Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you another guest entry from one of our BDRs, Jill Ryan.
"Your prospect can sense a smile over the phone". How many times have you heard this coined in some way in the sales world? Sure it seems like a no brainer. We all keep our "screw you's" and thanks for nothing" on hold until we've finished squeezing our cheeks and praising them for the minimal amount of help and time of day. It's the concept we are trained on "always dial with a smile". No one ever talks about how difficult it is sometimes to sit in your cube for eight hours and really smile for cold calls.
I'm sure your wondering, where is this girl going with this? Just on a rant about her job? Actually the complete opposite. I think its common sense that a person in sales is more successful when they are focused, relaxed and happy on the phone, but that is evident of the culture they work in. If anyone watches the Office, they are prepared to laugh through a minimum of 60 percent of the episode. The show is based on a sales position out of Scranton, PA for paper products. On "paper", no pun intended, this sounds like the most boring job in the world. How could there be a show about a sales office selling paper be so funny? Because Dunder Mifflin has an office culture that makes an 8 hour day fly by, while getting the job done. Whether they are convincing Dwight that it's the wrong day of the week, or having public speaking meetings in the conference room, these people are constantly having a good time while somehow leading the paper industry.
I often compare AG to my own little mini TV series, much like Dunder Mifflin. I have never walked into this office angry to be here, except for the occasional Fridays when I wish I had gone home at a reasonable hour the night before. Our team has no problem "smiling and dialing". When I first came to AG, part of my interview process was to ensure that I would not contribute negatively to this culture. The president of this company's main mission with his business is to ensure a great company atmosphere. Specifically, we have no problem taking a little time off to have an office mini put tournament or leaving a little early on a Thursday for some Coronas. These perks come from a two things: Incentives and Respect. AG knows that cold calling is one of the hardest jobs out there, and everyone that works here has been on the phone crunching dials. As a result, management puts incentives in front of their BDR's (business development reps) to keep the client relationships strong and the lead rate high. A prime example of our main incentive here would be "summer hours". At AG, if we meet our level of expectation during the week, we can leave at 12:30 on a Friday. I guarantee that from 8:30 Mon morning until about 12:15 Friday afternoon, this is the #1 goal of each and every BDR here. We all strive for it, and the majority gets it done.
So while training your inside reps on "smiling and dialing", it is essential to have some respect for the job itself. Put some music on in the background, discuss some fun summer incentives and put together a leader board so these people feel appreciated. Speaking from experience, we have got a great thing going on over here at AG. People that leave and come back to us always say "you'll never find an atmosphere like AG". As great as that is to hear, it surprises me to hear that more companies don't take a similar approach. I have some talented friends in sales positions at different companies that are dying to have this type of work environment. If more management folks looked at the value their team is bringing and showed some respect and incentives, maybe they could form their own little mini TV series as well. If you want your inside sales reps to "smile and dial", take a look at your companies culture.
Today's post is a special guest post by one of our BDR's, Dan Marx.
Sales can be tough. Prospecting may be even tougher at times. We sometimes deal with rejection on a minute-by-minute basis and are expected to forget about each occurrence and move on. Oftentimes, we set ourselves up for rejection by starting with a poor introduction or by focusing our attention on what our company does, instead of what the person on the other end of the phone needs.
Decision-makers receive dozens, if not hundreds of cold calls each day. Unfortunately, there are still many prospectors who are only interested in pitching their products and services. They spend countless hours writing scripts, not taking into consideration the prospect's actual pain points. Product dumping is obviously not the most effective method for grabbing the attention of today's busy executive. Others try to grab the attention of prospects using an engaging opening question. After reading an article last week, I began considering another prospecting method.
Back in 2008, Peter Belanger wrote an article entitled "The Best Cold Call Approach Ever." The story starts out with Peter hiring a gentleman named Frank for a telesales position with the company. On Frank's first day, he called a major restaurant chain in California and was able to sell them fifty laptops for a total of $250,000 in the same afternoon.
Here is the greeting and headline Frank used:
"Jack, this is Frank Jordan with Microline in Santa Ana; we're a cost-plus hardware reseller, and I wanted to see what procedure you'd like me to follow to compete for some of your business..."
Peter goes on to analyze the headline and discuss why it is so effective. I think it's easy to see why this headline worked for Frank. He could not be more direct with his purpose, shows respect for the prospect's schedule, and sets reasonable expectations. Wouldn't you appreciate this approach more if you were the decision-maker getting a cold call? Knowing this, why don't more teleprospectors use a similar direct approach?
I think most of us would agree that we respond better to people who are honest and upfront with us. It sure would save both you and the prospect on the other side of the phone a lot of time, right? My point is that most teleprospectors spend so much time critiquing their introduction and messaging to appeal to prospects that they don't consider the option of having an open and direct conversation.
What do you think?
Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you another guest entry from one of our BDRs, Jill Ryan.
In brainstorming what to discuss this week, I decided to address the landscape of what we do and how open ended questions can be helpful for teleprospecting. As business development representatives (BDRs), our jobs are to extract pains and needs, the business profile, time frame, ultimate decision maker and the budget.
Once I get my contact identified live on the phone and finish qualifying them, I usually hang up victoriously and begin to type up my lead notes for the next step. When I started at AG, I would often draw a blank on the timeframe and budget specifics, but after a few write-ups with ambiguous notes on the budget and time frame-"semi low priority and fiscal year come July 1", the training staff pointed out that the only way to get the meat of those specifics, is to work on open ended questions.
As I mentioned in my last blog post, I do not do well with scripts. My personal nightmare is asking someone, "Has budget been allocated or approved for a CRM solution and will you ultimately be releasing the funds". Maybe it's just me, but by the time I arrive at these questions, I've developed a pretty great rapport with this prospect. I find my success is in making a few assumptions and asking open ended questions. No one wants their position down played, so more often then not, I assume that they will affect the decision on some level. I usually ask if there is anyone they want involved with the discovery call that would impact a next step. This question usually results in the prospect listing 1-2 individuals they would like to invite on the call. From here, I can flow into "okay great, now will this team over see the initiatives for the upcoming fiscal year,", and then make note of the decision maker. After this, the last missing piece of the puzzle is the budget specifics. Given my style of making a few assumptions, I use my previous questions and segway into "great, and are you coming up on a July 1 fiscal year?" There are only two answers that can come out of this question... "Yes or no date XYZ".
The final step in my process is clarifying the level of interest. It is extremely important to find out how serious the prospect is about evaluating come their fiscal year. If this is a call for basic information, it can affect the value of the lead. I use the pains and needs as my driving factor in asking "based on the conversation we had today, if our solution can help enhance your process, is this something you could see evaluated come July 1?" I make note of the active initiative and the funds that may be allocated, and who the individual is that approves such a budget.
It's hard to forward a qualified lead onto a rep with yes or no answers all over it. If you make a habit of that, they will know absolutely nothing about the person on the other end of the phone. Our goal as business development reps is to give a client a clear picture of "if and when" an opportunity can be committed to forecast. There are multiple steps taken in committing a prospect to pipeline. It begins with the level of information we extract from that first contact. As BDR's, we set the stage for our clients, so why wouldn't we ask open ended questions? Any one can pop online, research RFPs and CFO's and put together some facts. We're not surveyors we're business development reps. Our job is to be professional listeners and information gatherers, so why wouldn't open ended questions be our number one tool?
Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you another guest entry from one of our BDRs, Jill Ryan.
Every month, when I take a look at connect rates, I am baffled at the amount of times a Business Development Rep (BDR) actually connects with a prospect. Take April for example - mid month I was averaging a connect rate of 11.8%. To me, that means the other 88.2% is going to spam, deleted voicemails and maybe, if I'm lucky, a forwarded referral. There are days a BDR can leave what feels like a million voice and emails only to come into work the next day with nothing but bounce back emails. We've all had those mornings when we wonder, "What can I do to fix this?" A lot of my success lies in the feedback I receive from prospects directly.
Often times when we're crunching the phone trying to reach our quota, we forget that there is someone on the other end who has the choice to either read that email or listen to that voicemail. We've all been on the receiving end of a sales call and had preconceived notions of how that call would result. People are not robots so they are not going to call robots back. Having said that, my connect rate increases through tailoring my emails and avoiding scripted voicemails.
Each time you speak with someone that refers you to the most appropriate person, or offers a piece of compelling information, that should appear in the follow up email. We, as BDRs, are constantly learning from each other and developing different approaches on the phone that drive our success, so why would that not carry over into emails? Some examples of successful emails I have include the name of the reference directly in the subject line, or are titled, "Interested to connect, Jill with XYZ Company." The prospect receives the introduction in email number 1, so the purpose of email 2, 3 and 4 is to simply find out if you are in the right department and if there is a need. Keeping track of which emails have the highest response rate is a great way to reevaluate your messaging on a monthly basis. Making simple changes to a feedback request or changing the word "initiatives" to "goals" could be that extra 2% you need to pass that prospect or move onto the next.
Taking an active look at your emails is something that should carry over to your voicemails. As we ramp up on new projects, we are often controlled by the voicemail we drafted up. That message can include a purpose, a direction and your phone number twice, but it doesn't sound natural. More often then not, we forget that the product we are selling means nothing to the person on the other line. What is going to resonate with them is how you got directed to them, which goals you can help them accomplish. A call back will bring you to the next step in the prospecting cycle every time; whether that be qualify them in, out or move onto the more appropriate contact. This all sounds easy on paper, but we all know its not. For me, it was trial and error. I took the scripts and tossed them in the trash. I put an open ended purpose in front of me to glance at and positioned myself as someone that is looking to connect strictly based on their goals. I reference webinars, past conversations from my pipeline and any piece of information that build report between me and the prospect. As a result, I have great conversations with prospects and my connect rate has gone up. This business is what you make of it. If you evaluate your process and messaging on a regular basis and apply that to your routine, you will constantly improve. That being said, take a day and throw a curve ball into your process. Re read those emails you wrote 3 months ago, look into your connect rate and remember, the person on the other line is receiving 10 calls a day from someone just like you, so make yourself memorable.
At AG, we feel like our corporate culture is something that sets us apart; it attracts the employees we want and keeps them here long term. We feel like that benefits our clients because they're getting seasoned teleprospectors calling on their behalf. Today, Steve Giordano, one of our teleprospectors, blogs about the differences he noticed when coming on board.
I've worked in a fair amount of jobs in my life. This isn't to say that I'm flakey, but I just don't believe in staying at a job that doesn't give me as much as I give it. No growth to me means no future, and I move on. I believe that's the focus for most career oriented people in our field. Some of these people may proceed in different ways. In the various jobs I've had, I've worked with several fine people. More often than not, however I've worked with people who were more concerned with their own careers than the betterment of the whole. It was this that drove me out of my former job and towards my current career at AG Salesworks. It's unfortunate, as well as enlightening, to have to work at a job that you dread going into.
My best example of this comes from my previous job working for a well known financial institution. When I first started, I was teller in a bank branch. My initial management team was very encouraging. But as I grew into a sales role, I came under a new regime which didn't seem very concerned with anything other than themselves. Now, this isn't a gripe piece or me voicing out against "the man." I know the difference between a hard boss and a brute. This woman was the latter. That being said, I understand that bosses need to sometimes feel that they need to keep a separation between themselves and the people that work for them. I fully respect that. But there are ways to go about it, and in this job she made it very clear on several occasions that she was virtually unapproachable. More than that, however, I feel that she and the people who were my superiors (and that worked directly under her) were not on my side. The benefit of this was that it drove me to want to seek out other positions within the bank, and expand my horizons and try to see what else I was capable of. The drawback to this, however, was that if I wanted to switch to these positions I would need the approval of my superiors who were not very interested in the betterment of my own career.
It's my opinion that in a sales environment, for someone to do the best they can they need the best people around them in order to reach their potential. Previously, I didn't have this luxury. Presently, I consider myself spoiled. When I first came on to work for AG Salesworks, I was greeted by our training team so warmly that the best way to explain it would be is to say that it was like meeting a significant others family for the first time. Everyone was welcoming, accepting, and attentive. When I have an issue with an account I'm working on, they're always readily available to help me out and help me figure out what I can do better to succeed.
My managers are also always willing to assist me as needed. They've also been very helpful with taking me through what I would need to do if I wanted to grow into the next role of my career here. In short, they've pretty much the antithesis of what I've come from and have made myself used to.
A good team isn't difficult to assemble. You just need to know people's strengths, their weaknesses and how to work with them, and to encourage them likewise. I'm fortunate to work with the people who I know I can trust and rely on. It's also a comfort to know that I don't need to worry about a co-worker trying to do me in for their own gain. It's cheesy to say, but I really work with a great group of people. And right now, I'm waking up each day looking forward to going there. Pretty cool, huh?
Today's guest post on Sales Prospecting Perspectives is from Jill Ryan, one of our top producing Business Development Reps. Thanks Jill!
I think it's safe to say after teleprospecting into many different regions of the United States, there are various tones and personalities that can set the stage for a successful call. So many of us are guilty of picking up the phone and talking to the prospect from Georgia in the same tone we would with the VP from New York City. How do we address this? By comparing time zones to social personalities.
If we look at the four types of personalities: the amiable, the driver, the expressive and the analytic, its easy to compare these to the people you are getting on the phone. According to well known business coach, mentor, author Jonathan Farrington, the very best sales professionals have become adept at recognizing which personality they are dealing with and adapt their approach and communication style accordingly. For example, the amiable prospect with their kind nature and pleasant tone can be your prospect from the South. If approached correctly, this individual is cordial and kind about disclosing information and agreeing to engage in the early stages with your company. Speaking in a driven tone, leaving no room for listening can put this person in your pipeline for many months. You will not find success speaking to this person as if they were your driven prospect from, let's say for example, the North.
Taking a specific look at each of these personalities, you will not only find yourself placing them in the regions you are reaching out to, but prepared to adjust your tone as you sense a specific personality.
According to Farrington, The Amiable are uncomfortable with and will avoid conflict at all costs. They speak softly and slowly and are more interested in opinion then fact. The Expressive are full of excitement, and interpersonal action. They are sociable and stimulating and will involve other parties. Drivers are perceived as serious, industrious, persistent, and exacting. And drivers are action and goal oriented, need to see results and have a quick reaction time. They rarely want to waste time on personal talk or preliminaries. The analytic typically works more slowly and carefully than Drivers. They are perceived as serious, industrious, persistent, and exacting.
In my experience, this logic can help guide you in what you are trying to accomplish. Our purpose is to be professional listeners while executing control over the call. If you go into every dial with the same tone and the same attitude, you are going to fall on your face. Every time you pick up that phone, the person on the other line is going to have some sort of need and possess one of these personalities. Learning to adjust your style dependent on their personality will put you in a better position to obtain the information you need.
We all open our CRM system everyday and stare at those flagged tasks waiting to turn them into opportunities. Being told "Sounds like a great opportunity, I'll pass it along to my boss and board of directors give me a couple of weeks", by the Expressive IT Director is exactly the same as being told "No, I need a month" by the Analytic Chief Marketing Officer. As teleprospectors, we need to keep in mind that moving our pipelines and opportunities forward can happen by identifying with these social cues and keeping them in mind when dialing. Speaking just from my own experience, working with my thick Boston accent has been a challenge. I have had to really use this approach in sales to drive my success. I have learned to speak slowly, listen, quiet my tone and control my conversation so that prospects do not end up as red flags on my CRM home page for months on end.
Everyone has a different style and a different approach to how they perform on the phones. I think it is important to keep in mind that we connect with what we are comfortable with, so let's approach these different personalities with the tone they are going to be most comfortable with.
How do you go about being deliberate about approaching various prospect personalities?
We, at Sales Prospecting Perspectives, thought it would benefit our readers to also hear from the folks who are in the trenches of teleprospecting, making dials every day to find sales qualified opportunities for our clients. Today's post is a special guest post by one of our BDR's, Dan Marx. Thanks Dan!
A few weeks ago, the VP of Marketing for one of my clients visited our office for the first time. While listening in on calls with me, she noticed that I was sending an Outlook Meeting Request to a prospect for five minutes of their time later in the week. She explained, as a VP, she often receives meeting requests, some polite and others just plain rude. Never having teleprospected, she was interested in learning why I send Outlook Invites. Her question got me thinking. Sure, sending an Outlook Invite is a component of AG's call process, but what do I really hope to accomplish and how is my initiative perceived by prospects?
I think it's easy to understand why some may consider this practice a bit intrusive. It's enough that I've left someone two or three messages, but now I'm trying to put myself on their calendar? I doubt I would be happy either. Those outside of the sales world argue that this method cannot possibly be effective in securing meetings. Sometimes this is true, but this isn't why I send Invite requests.
It would be nice to say that every Invite turns into an accepted meeting, but that's not reality. However, I have found that Invites have a much better response rate than standard emails. Think about how many emails end up in your inbox each day. Wouldn't a five-minute meeting request grab your attention? If the prospect isn't interested, they usually give me a reason why - budget, heavily invested in another project, or they will not be looking at this type of solution until later in the year. If this is not their area of responsibility, they usually refer me to the appropriate contact. Invites give both sides the opportunity to save each other time and headache.
It's easy to question the effectiveness of Outlook Invites as part of a methodical prospecting process. When I set out to write this entry, I looked at all of the leads I passed last month and found that eight of my twenty leads (40%) were a direct result of the Invites I had sent to prospects.
The important thing to remember is that the people you are reaching out to are busy. If someone is not replying to your emails, it doesn't necessarily mean they aren't interested; oftentimes they just have a ton of work and are in and out of meetings all day. While some may view sending Outlook Meeting Requests as intrusive, I think it's just the opposite. Invites give both sides the opportunity to either move forward in the sales process or close the loop altogether.
What do you think: are sending calendar invites too forward for teleprospecting purposes?