Five Steps to Successful Telephone Prospecting

To paraphrase Mark Twain, “The rumors of telephone prospecting’s demise are greatly exaggerated.” There’s a reason for that.  Today’s plethora of social networking tools have fed this fire, telling salespeople that if they only Tweet enough, customers will beat a path to their door.  There’s only one problem – it doesn’t work.

The good news is that you can put the right tools, metrics, and resources in place to get appointments with new customers efficiently and effectively.  All you need to do is implement these five keys:

1. Have a good database. For some reason, data acquisition is the most intimidating part of tele prospecting to many people. It shouldn’t be.  You can acquire a calling list that costs (from Dun and Bradstreet, Hoover’s, or InfoUSA) or even for free (from ReferenceUSA, an offshoot of InfoUSA that’s available through most public libraries).  A “quality database” includes, at minimum, the following fields for each company record:  Contact name and title, company name, phone number, address, website, type of business, and business size (either in employees or revenue).  If you have this information, extensive pre-call research is unnecessary and a time waster.  Research AFTER getting the appointment.
2. Import the database into a good CRM system. CRM can be fairly inexpensive, or it can be an enterprise solution.  Either way, you need the above database imported into your CRM system so that your salespeople can pull a contact up on the screen, make the call, type a couple of quick notes, and then move on to the next contact.  Successful tele prospecting depends on quick repetition.
3. Have the right metrics. Too many salespeople fail at tele prospecting because they don’t know what success looks like.  A focused salesperson working with the proper database can typically hit the following metrics in a focused hour or prospecting:  20 Dials, 6-7 Contacts (a voice-to-voice conversation with the target decision maker), 1-2 Appointments.  Keep in mind, these are achievable by a focused salesperson who is equipped to make a call, type a couple of quick notes, tab to the next person, and make another call.
4. Use a quality Infomercial. Your Infomercial is a quick 15- to 20-second introduction and pitch to earn a conversation with your prospect.  Basically, the parts are:  Introduction (who you are and who you work for), Statement of Help (how your customers benefit from doing business with you), and the Following Question (a question that ties back to the Statement of Help, designed to spot a need).
5. Use call blocking to your advantage. Salespeople who succeed at tele prospecting are salespeople who make prospecting a priority.  To make prospecting a priority, schedule it on your calendar as you would schedule any other appointment or meeting.  “Call blocking” is the process of setting up a time, preparing to make calls, and then using that time only to make prospecting calls.  You can do this individually or as a sales team; what’s most important is that you do it.

If you implement these steps, your sales force will win more new business, and that new business will likely be of better quality than you’re getting now.  And, like Mark Twain, you’ll discover that tele prospecting is very much alive.

Troy Harrison is the author of “Sell Like You Mean It!” and a Speaker, Consultant, and Sales Navigator. He helps companies build more profitable and productive sales forces with his cutting-edge sales training and methodologies.  For information on booking speaking/training engagements, consulting, or to sign up for his weekly E-zine, call 913-645-3603, e-mail Troy@TroyHarrison.com, or visit www.TroyHarrison.com.

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