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Four questions to ask ourselves to determine whether to apply Sales 2.0 techniques to the appointment setting process.

February 24th, 2010 by Barry Caponi

 

I just read a very good eBook by Nigel Edelshain, originator of Sales 2.0 Methodology.  In it he talks about all of the excellent tools or processes that are now available to us to find information on our Targets, or use to get an introduction to the person we wish to speak with: Linkedin, triggers of events, Jigsaw, ZoomInfo, etc.  All good ideas, but here’s the operative question we must ask ourselves prior to engaging the Sales 2.0 approach.  Is it worth it to do all of this work prior to picking up the phone and asking for an appointment?
 
Shame on us if we set an appointment and don’t do this research prior to attending that meeting.  And I am a big proponent of the Sales 2.0 thinking prior to trying to set the appointment, but it is not applicable in every selling environment and to every step in the process.  To spend an hour, or even 30 minutes researching every thing possible about a Target in my territory when my average sized sale is small (i.e. I must close a lot of deals), my territory is large and my typical Target looks like every other business in that territory.
 
So here are four questions we should ask ourselves before deciding to do a lot of research or not prior to attempting to set an appointment.
 
  1. What is my average sized sale or what is the lifetime value of this potential customer?
  2. What do I sell (how complex a sale is it)?
  3. How big is my universe of targets?
  4. What level of management am I calling into?
 
If my average sale is small, I sell a simple commodity like product or service and/or my solution is sold into a ‘horizontal’ market, I may eat most of my profit in a lot of up front investigative time.  On the other hand, let’s say my average sized sale is more than $50,000 and I only have 100 possible targets in my territory, then I can’t afford to miss one.  I’m therefore going to be doing all of the networking, research, social media, etc. to make sure I don’t blow it when I actually try to get the person on the phone to set the appointment.
 
Also, if I’m calling into first line management or into purchasing and my sale will be quick, I’m not sure I would spend a lot of up front time doing research either.
 
In those ‘not-worth it’ situations, I’d prefer to invest my time in building a solid approach, voicemails and emails that tell my story of how we helped someone else, and work on how I handle the ‘nos’ I invariably still get.  At the end of the day, when I place that call, I’m still trying to set an appointment with someone I don’t know, or just barely met.  And just because I did a lot of research and got a strong referral, let’s say, I’m still going to hear exactly the types of ‘no’.  They’ll just be nicer about it. I’ve still got to have the skills to counter that ‘no’.
 

Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.

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The long term value of prospecting our territories.

February 17th, 2010 by Barry Caponi

 

We believe that we are most effective over time if we adopt a long term view of prospecting our territory. Effective target selection provides us with a list equal to the number of targets we can reach out to in a year based on the adoption of well thought out Best Practice which includes the number of attempts and intervals between those attempts used to set an appointment with a given target. That number very seldom exceeds 1,000. For instance, here is an example of the use of our Activity Calculator2 determining the optimal size of a territory.
 
 
How Many Targets?
How Many Targets can you pursue in a year?
Minutes per day on the phone  60
Average number of steps taken in your Best Practice before a pursuit ends  3.5
Average Time Per Step (CRMs are typically 6 minutes; Klpz is less  3.0
Number of steps you can make a day  20
Number of days per year you will telephone prospects  220
Number of times a target will be ‘pursued’ a year until you reach them  2.0
Replacement targets, as a pct. of total, that are needed to keep your calling list the right size  25%
You need a list with this many names  786
 I will use email to actually double the number of times I reach out and touch someone (sorry Hallmark) as each dial includes an automatically generated email that matches my voicemail message. That works like targeted advertising as my Best Practice messaging (voice and email) should be what we feel this audience will best react positively to.
 
A sales professional trying to sell to more than the number our Best Practice prescribes is a waste of selling time and represents what most sales non-professionals use, and that’s the ‘drive by shooting’ approach. One must make multiple attempts to be successful.
 
As a manager, we should be paying attention to not only who our charges are calling, but also what is the process they are using. Time is a precious commodity. Let’s not waste it.
 
 
2 If you would like a copy of this Activity Calculator, send me an email at barry@coldcalling101.com. It’s free.
 

Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.

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When and how can email support cold calling campaigns?

February 10th, 2010 by Barry Caponi

 

Email is effective in a support role in the appointment setting process. Here’s how.
 
Email is good for the following things:
  •          Increasing the number of ‘touch points’ 1 in which the target sees and hears our key themes and messages
  •          Long term territory building (this assumes we continue to pursue this target over time)
  •         Reinforcement of a verbal message
  •          Finalizing (once a game of phone tag has begun regarding the time and place for an appointment, or to confirm an appointment
  •          Delivering attachments that support the messaging
  •          Delivering web links that support the messaging
  •          Provide a way for target to communicate back (even if they say no thanks)
  •          A few of our targets actually prefer to communicate that way
 
Bad uses for email in appointment setting:
  •          Sending without a voicemail first as the only vehicle to deliver our message
  •         When a conversation would be better (like when trying to set an appointment)
  •          Closing a sale – appointment or P.O.
We believe that the biggest advantages email can supply is being a quick and inexpensive, yet personal and reinforcing communication. So use it to support develop a warmer list to call for an appointment.
 
It should go without saying therefore that using email as our primary vehicle for setting appointments is ineffective. 
 
1 The advertising industry rule of thumb is that it takes approximately 7 touches or touch points for a target to just recognize our name. So assuming we make 8 dials per year (4 per Cycle x 2 Cycles) including a voicemail and an email on each, we’ve touched this target 16 times with multiple messages (assuming each attempt in a Cycle has a different advantage to our solution/message).
 

Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.

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Does email work in cold calling campaigns to actually set appointments?

February 3rd, 2010 by Barry Caponi

I was talking with a manager of one of our customers the other day and he told me he noticed on some of his team’s Klpz reports that one of his reps was making very few phone calls but was still hitting her activity goals of reaching out to her targets each week. I asked him if she was setting as many appointments as she needed and he said no, her Initial Appointments had dropped.

Without boring you with his travails, let me cut to the chase. I’m sure there are markets somewhere where email trumps the phone for setting appointments, but I have yet to find it. If it’s yours, I’d love to talk to you. In the meantime, here’s what I think about email in the appointment making process.
 
My experience is that when sales professionals begin making more attempts to set appointments via email than the phone, it’s generally an indication of them avoiding making the calls and fooling themselves into thinking they’re still working at it. My advice? Nip it in the bud immediately and get them back on the phone. (It’s particularly seductive to do this in Klpz because sending the already created email templates requires only the click of a mouse to send.)
 
Surveys show that less than 5% of our universe of targets is ‘in the market for what we’re selling when we contact them’ – and realistically I believe it is closer to 1%. Historically, good direct mail (and email) campaigns show a 2% response rate, and that is not measured in appointments. So what makes our intrepid sales professionals think they can better what marketing experts can do?
 
Only in a conversation can we convince the 99% that don’t think they are ‘in the market’ to see us by asking the right question based on their response. We can’t do that in an email.
 
So use email where it is effective, but use the phone when trying to set appointments. (Next week, we’ll talk about where and how to use email.)
 
You can also check on my Blog dated 1/31/08 entitled, When the email left along with our ‘Cold Call’ is returned with a ‘Not Interested’. It discusses some of the challenges of using email to set appointments.
 

Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.

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