If you want more results from your prospecting calls, then focus on these fundamentals that many salespeople skip.
Type any question about prospecting calls into Google, and you’ll get a thousand responses. It seems like everyone has the secret key to landing clients over the phone. But prospecting is an enormous topic – one blog post can’t cover it all.
For the sake of conciseness, we’re going to focus on two pillars of prospecting calls: timing and persistence. One is a proven strategy; the other is a necessary mindset.
- Focus the bulk of your prospecting calls early in the day
- Be consistent and commit to a certain number of calls
These two points are fundamental to prospecting over the phone. You can try every trick out there, but without a firm grasp on these two habits, you won’t get far. Don’t put the cart before the horse!
Within that, though, there is your strategy to make those calls work for you.
7 Part strategy to make prospecting calls work
1. Catch the decision-maker before the gatekeeper arrives
Sales calls after 9:00 am usually end up with a gatekeeper. Secretaries, managers, customer service reps, salespeople—the list is endless depending on the size of the business.
The decision-makers—C-level executives or owners—usually arrive before the horde. That’s the sweet spot. Of course, you can’t call too early (violating compliance laws is an awful mistake). But you should time your prospecting calls between 8:00–9:00 am.
Why deal with the extra step? Go straight to source when you can!
2. Chisel a spot in your prospect’s to-do list
Your prospect has a busy day. There are meetings to attend. Problems to solve. People to call. Contracts to sign.
You’re not on that list. Your job is to make a spot for yourself.
If you call at 1:00 pm will you catch anyone’s attention? Probably not. That’s why you must get started early. Squeeze into your prospect’s to-do list, and you might end up on the “must-do” list.
3. Your schedule matters, too!
Take your mind of the prospect for a second. Answer this question honestly: do you have time to prospect in the middle of the day?
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If yes, then you’re probably scrambling for clients, which means you procrastinated on your prospecting calls for weeks, and now you’re in a jam. Not fun.
Schedule your prospecting calls for the morning. That works for your schedule, too, right? Block out time every week and do it early! Then you can focus on doing “billable” work for the rest of the day.
4. Prospecting is a “back burner” priority (until panic sets in!)
Do you keep prospecting calls on the back burner? Don’t worry: that’s a common habit among businesspeople.
Think about it like doing laundry (bear with me here).
Laundry is not something you particularly enjoy doing, nor does it benefit you outside of having something to wear every day. But you keep putting it off, letting the clothes pile up until you have an important meeting and there are no clean shirts. Panic time.
Prospecting calls are similar. You make calls so your business can run steadily. If a client drops, you can get a new one. Let it sit for a long time, and suddenly you have three loads of laundry to get done (and no detergent!).
5. Specific goals—with a quota—make for good habits
Developing persistence isn’t all about willpower. Salespeople who are persistent didn’t wake up one day and proclaim, “O.K. I’m a persistent person now.”
Persistence stems from goal-making, strategy, and commitment.
If you want to form a habit, then start with a specific goal.
Example goal: creating one appointment per week from prospecting.
How do you get there? Here comes the strategy:
- Make 20 sales calls per week
- Make five calls Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
- Call between 8:00–9:00 am
- Have a list of 20 contacts Friday afternoon
- Enter those contacts in your CRM before Monday
You see where this is going? Breaking down your goals into small chunks allows for better results.
6. Prospecting calls as a “numbers games” is true (up to a point)
You’ve heard it before: “prospecting is a numbers game.”
There are two reasons why that statement is commonplace.
- Prospecting calls don’t have incredible success rates. It takes a lot of effort to close one client. And many will say, “No.”
- Thinking of prospecting as a game—or as meeting a quota—creates emotional distance. When many people reject your offer, it’s easy to take it personally. Numbers are impersonal.
However, there’s a caveat here. Don’t think about your prospects as numbers! Acting disinterested (like you don’t care whether or not you work together) is a kill shot to your goals.
7. Things get a lot easier with a prospecting tool
You want to make prospecting as easy as possible, right? The effort of putting together lists, researching prospects and organizing your call strategy can be hectic.
It’s time for you to give Call Logic a try. Our specialized CRM makes prospecting calls a seamless process, so you can focus on selling and forget all of the tasks that go with it.
- Speed dial numbers from your list, so there’s no wasted time in between calls.
- Pre-record your voicemails and place them automatically
- Use the CRM from any phone (VoIP, cell phone, analog/PBX and soft phones)
If you’re serious about phone sales and want to triple the number of sales calls you make in an hour, give Call Logic a try. Sign up for our free trial now!