Sales Prospecting Perspectives

Everyone talks about asking the right questions on the phone and getting quality information… but what topics should you touch upon?

Having a script makes teleprospecting easier than winging it, but you can’t write out what the prospects are going to say every time. You can make educated guesses, but it is impossible to map out every direction the conversation can go. Having a few core questions in your arsenal can help fill gaps in conversations or guide prospects in a more focused direction if they do not seem to be clicking with your introduction.

I'll preface this blog by letting you know that I'm not an avid runner. I've never run a marathon in my life, but I can say that I understand the saying, “It’s a marathon; not a sprint.â€? I’ve used this tidbit of advice on many occasions: big dinners, binging on TV shows, days spent shopping, etc. Now I can add teleprospecting to the list of things this saying has shown me to be true. 

Halloween! Thanksgiving! Christmas and Hanukkah! All of these events are great in Q4… but in sales and teleprospecting, it seems like Q4 is everyone’s least favorite time of year. Everyone is focused on closing business rather than building new business. But once the holidays are over and it’s back to work in 2014… Uh oh! Where’s the pipeline?

There is more to teleprospecting and B2B cold calling than a lot of people might think. There is a method to the madness; you don’t just sit down at a desk one day, pick up a phone, and make some dials. There are multiple campaigns to work on simultaneously, and in order to stay organized, we have to use lead statuses.

Reading the title of this blog you might think, “Why would I not want to be comfortable with my client?� Or, “I have a great relationship with my client.� These are great responses, as you should want to have a good relationship and be comfortable in terms of communicating. But I am talking about getting to that point in your relationship where you might be getting lazy. For example, you could relate this to the point in a relationship with your significant other where you start to leave your clothes on the floor, or wear sweatpants to the movies. YIKES. This should never be the case with your client.

Going through a slump? Feeling like this fat cat?

Whether it's that time of the year, or your pipeline is looking depressing, or your personal motivation is lacking, there are endless reasons why you might be having a difficult period for passing leads. But this is not a bad thing. Since there are many reasons for a “sales slump,� this means that there are endless ways to escape it!

Here are some tips for getting out of a sales slump and back into doing what you do best:

No matter what time of year it is, it’s important to stick to your company’s call plan. Of course, variation is fine depending on projects and clients, but it is best to try and keep the call plan on track. At AG, we have found that our call plan works for most projects and receives many responses from prospects at all levels and in many different departments.

Currently, I am working with two clients at AG Salesworks. I’ve been working with one client since February, and with the other client for only about two weeks. The transition from one client to another has to be smooth, and the focus on both clients needs to remain equal. It can be a stressful process to learn a new product and new style of communicating with sales reps and marketing contacts, but if you are organized and plan your days, then the process of ramping up will be easy.

I can almost guarantee that the hardest days of work for inside sales reps are the first days back from vacation. At least they are for me. Everyone is longing to sleep in and be back with their family or friends. However, the transition back into work mode can be smooth if you stay organized. After having some time off last week, it was hard to put my mind back into the commuting, working and organizing mode.

It’s never fun to lose clients, but there’s always something inside sales reps can learn from their client’s decision to leave which they can apply and improve upon when dealing with new clients. When clients end an engagement, it can be for many different reasons: budget, end of a campaign, decision to try a new inside sales team, restructuring within the company, etc. Whatever the reason is, it is sad to watch a client leave, but you can use what you learned from working with one company and apply it to another company when they sign a contract.