Know Your Prospect, Better Yet Know Who Your Prospect Reports To!
Last week, I emphasized some of the math behind a successful teleprospecting campaign. While the math isn’t only about call volume, it is the idea that you need to take a look at the connect rate (number of valuable conversations) and lead rate (number of opportunities uncovered from your conversations). What happens if your rep has a good call process, high activity volume, and high connect rate, yet is still suffering with a low lead rate? What is wrong with this equation?
Unfortunately, cold calling is not a perfect equation. If the input is there and the output has yet to transpire, it may be time to take a step back and take a hard look at the messaging you use with your prospect. When you are having conversations galore and not uncovering opportunities, the truth is, you are likely not saying the right thing to the right people. If what you are saying to your audience is not correlating with their day to day responsibilities, you will not be successful. You can outperform your entire team in terms of call volume and conversations and still end up at the bottom of the ladder in terms of qualified opportunities. There are two very basic ideas to keep in mind when engaging with and leaving messages with a prospect:
Know your prospects role in the organization:
Understand your prospect’s day to day responsibilities. Tailor your message to what keeps them at work late and how you can save them time. For example a manager may be responsible for quality assurance whereas a VP or C level title will be more interested in consolidation and efficiency.
Know who your prospect reports to:
Know who your prospect is accountable to at the end of the day. What is it about your product/service that will make your prospect the hero with their boss? Think about your product/service’s benefit points and how they relate to a manager’s role around quality assurance. This could be as simple as reporting fewer errors to their boss. Think about the VP you are calling who needs to improve efficiency and how you can help their organization by providing a solution that would entail less man hours and cut costs.
While there is absolutely a process that needs to be followed in order for teleprospecting campaign to be successful, it is important to remember that process alone will not always be enough to ensure you achieve your desired results. Make sure you understand the specific benefit points about your solution and message it appropriately to the right prospect. How do you ensure a successful conversation when you get your prospect on the phone?