How much do you really know about your prospect before you call them? Do you know anything about their industry? Do you know the names of their competitors? What kind of challenges are they facing from their competitors? How much more attention would your prospect give you on the telephone if you knew just one more detail about their company or industry?
One of the main reasons why sales reps don’t make the sale is because they know absolutely nothing about their prospect before they pick up the telephone. Why is this happening? Perhaps, they are equating quantity with closing sales? Yes, it’s important to make outbound calls, but what’s even more important is how much research you do prior to making that first telephone call.
When you incorporate what you have learned about your prospect’s company and their industry into your telephone conversation then you are letting your prospect know that you really do want to help them. The question now that you might ask is what specific steps can you take to understand your prospect’s line of business and industry? Below are four practical ideas that you can use to separate yourself from other sales reps who might also be cold calling your prospect:
Cold Call By Industry
If you really want to master the industry of your sales prospect then only make cold calls in that industry. Think about it, if you made ten calls a day in the same industry five days a week for one month, can you imagine how much you will learn about that industry? Can you imagine how much more you could bring to the telephone call? Rather than sounding like just another cold caller, you will soon be viewed as an expert in your field. The more time that you take to learn your prospect’s industry means that you will begin to ask better questions. Better questions will always close more sales!
Industry Associations and Trade Publications
Find out the main industry associations and trade publications in your prospect’s industry. As you peruse these mediums, what are the major challenges facing your prospect’s industry? Based on what you have learned, you can incorporate your findings into your cold calls and offer your prospect multiple solutions. Solutions will always close more sales!
Study Your Prospect’s Company Website
Spend a few minutes on your prospect’s website to learn more about what they do, how they do it and why they are a market leader in their industry. If you see an audio or video demo of their product or service then check it out. If you see a list of client testimonials then read each one to find out more about their customers. Check out their most recent news releases and if there’s a management biography then read it! Collectively, if you take the time to understand how your prospect does business then you will always close more sales!
Get To Know Your Prospect’s Competition
How can you capture your prospect’s attention? Let them know what their competition is doing and what they may not be doing. Do an online search and locate similar companies in their industry, study them and offer your results to your prospects on your cold calls. Offer ideas on your call as to how you can help them take market share away from their top three competitors. If you can come up with one good idea to help them take additional market share then you will always close more sales.
Research is your key to make more sales and without it you are just another sales rep making cold calls. A sales rep who makes 100 calls per week will never do as well as a sales rep who embraces a research mindset and makes only 25 to 50 calls. Quantity does matter, but quality is what will set you apart from your competition and make you money!
Copyright 2008 Mr. Cold Call, Inc. – All rights reserved.