B2B 2: the cold calling myth

b2b stuff 2

Note from Bruce:

I was recently asked by an interesting B2B company to write some blog posts and new business direct mail thoughts. They were interesting because <a> they wanted to focus on a smarter, more intelligent, level of thinking in their communication <b> they truly had an ‘edge’ to them in terms of attitude, and <c> they were interested in taking on specific objections they hear day in and day out in a candid fashion. It was fun for me and I generated maybe 20 draft thoughts for them in less than 3 days. The following shares my favorites <in rough draft form and the name of the company removed>.

 

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The myth is that cold calling is not effective.

 

The myth is that no one answers a cold call.

 

The myth is just that … a myth <not true>.

 

 

The fact is within an ‘X model’ calls get answered, calls generate discussion, calls create ongoing dialogue, calls become relationships, and, most importantly, calls become meetings, decisions and sales.

 

The fact is that cold calling is effective when structured and engineered for a sales pipeline <not a direct sale>.

 

 

The fact is that relevance, solving the right problem and understanding a decision maker’s reality will make anyone at least take a call <or open up to some dialogue>.

 

The fact is that most internal sales people are great at sales and closing and less effective at cold calling <hence the myth>.

 

 

The fact is that with the proper structure cold calling can initiate a connection with key decision makers.

 

 

Structure

 

Effective cold calling is all about structure.

 

Effective cold calling is dependent upon reaching the right decision maker with the right message and effectively identifying where they are in their decision making process.

 

Effective cold calling is lead generation, and lead assessment, not generating an immediate sale.

 

 

A solid consistent structured approach is imperative because getting through to the range of actual decision makers is a difficult and significant hurdle in prospecting and sales. You have to treat every outreach as an investment. You have to treat every connection as an opportunity to make an affect. You have to treat every potential dialogue with a plan and a goal.

 

Yes. That means leaving voice mails.

 

Yes. They generate responses.

 

<insert a response factoid>

 

 

A structured voice mail initiative connects with the appropriate decision maker with an intelligent relevant professional voice mail message. The message is a pragmatic, short and direct value driven voice mail.

 

 

Each voice mail is followed up with a collateral piece reinforcing the value proposition.

 

To be effective several different voice mail and collateral support packages are utilized over time. Every interaction, digital/voice mail/personal, we create is considered and crafted with intent to affect the decision maker.

 

 

Cold calling is effective and effective cold calling leads to sales.

 

 

Lastly.

 

Creating a desired affect with cold calling is not an art, it is more like engineering.

 

 

Engineer not Artist

 

 

Let’s face it, making a sale is an art. The great sales people can artfully weave their way through objections, different decision maker needs and company objectives.

 

However, getting to ‘the sale moment’ is anything but an art. It is about structure, consistency and pragmatism. The initial connection, often a cold call, is exactly the same. The initial contact has to be well defined, tight, focused and on message to create any successful connection leading to an ongoing dialogue.

 

 

Cold calling mostly fails because companies ask artists to be engineers.

 

Company X: no one is better at B2B cold calling.

 

Company X cold calling results:

within 2 months of working a list the average # of sales meetings generated from cold calling is 8+ per month.

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Written by Bruce