Get your timing right

When trying to get in front of a prospect timing is everything. If you catch someone at the wrong time of the day, it will not matter weather your offering is of interest of not, you will not get a fair hearing.

Calling in the morning is a known tactic to catch prospects as they get into the office and while it can be effective as a general rule, having a bespoke approach may yield better results. Examine the industry of the company you are targeting. By doing this you will begin to understand how people use their day and at what times they be more receptive to a sales call.

Often no matter how well you research your timing, it may not be ideal for your prospect. Make your first call an appointment setting exercise: Use the call to introduce yourself and to establish a good time when the prospect can give you a few minutes to discuss their needs.

by springboardb2b on November 8, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Techniques

Posted by springboardb2b on November 8, 2011

http://springboardb2b.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/get-your-timing-right/

Know your audience

Knowing who you need to talk to in order to progress a sale is the ideal introduction into a target company. By using a targeted list of leads, your time and efforts are maximised. The more you know about the person you are going to talk to the better. Use all the services at your disposal to find out as much as you can about the person.

Services like LinkedIn and Twitter will allow you to log on and view your lead’s profile and view their areas of interest and the issues which they are dealing with. With this information, you can position your offering in the most effective way.

by springboardb2b on October 30, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Top Tips

Tagged Know your audience, sales tips, Telemarketing

Posted by springboardb2b on October 30, 2011

http://springboardb2b.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/know-your-audience/

Don’t Drown in the Detail

All too often sales people and marketers delve into the detail of what they are selling too quickly. Before you get into detail you need a prospect to be interested in the bigger picture of what you can do. Remember your not selling the details, your selling the big picture.

A good exercise is to summarise what you do into a sentence or even a word. Below are some examples:

BMW The ultimate driving machine
DHL We move the world
Disneyland The happiest place on earth
Apple Think different
DeBeers A diamond is forever

The more concise and easy to understand you can make your offer the better. Don’t dilute your offering, just trim the fat. Prospects buy into the concept before they want the detail, so keep it simple!

by springboardb2b on October 20, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Techniques

Tagged Sales techniques, Taglines, The Big Picture

Posted by springboardb2b on October 20, 2011

http://springboardb2b.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/dont-drown-in-the-detail/

Are you Listening?

Are you listening to what your prospects are telling you? Mortons were:

Morton’s Steakhouses, like many other businesses have a twitter account. In the process of monitoring their twitter, they came accross a request from a prospective customer to meet him at the airport with a steak . Morton’s listened and acted.

In this case Morton’s have gone the extra mile, which was worth it as the story got them a tonne of coverage and positive word of mouth.

We are using this example to underline the importance of listening to prospects. Most of the time they will tell you what they want, you just need to listen.What they want will not always be simple or even possible, but knowing what they want is the first step in giving it to them.

by springboardb2b on October 16, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Sales, Techniques

Posted by springboardb2b on October 16, 2011

http://springboardb2b.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/are-you-listening/

Springboard Telemarketing Tip Series: “We currently have a supplier. However would like to keep your details on file”

I would imagine anyone that has been in sales for more than a month is familiar with this stall from a prospect.

Below we have included a tip for dealing with this stall to allowing you or your sales team to spend more time on genuine prospects.

Prospect:

‘Mr Salesman, thank you for your information but we already have an agency that works in this area. We will however, like to keep your details on file should a future need arise.’

Our typical response in this scenario is something like this;

SpringboardB2B:

‘Thank you Prospect,It is not unusual for the companies I speak with to have something in place already.

We would be delighted if you would be kind enough to keep our details on file for future, but would like to make sure that it makes sense to do so.

Usually, we find that establishing whether or not we can help at the start creates a ‘quick win’ scenario, so if you do approach us in future we have already have an understanding on how our services will work in your world.
Mr Prospect, can we arrange time in the diary to investigate whether you should retain our details or not.’

If the prospect is serious and committed to looking at other suppliers when the time comes he/she will see value in this approach.

Otherwise, if the prospect resists, it is likely that offering to keep your details on file was a consolation prize without them offending you by saying no.

Cold Calling Challenge – Here is our tip for dealing with “send me more information”

This is a challenge we all face daily on the phone.

While there are several ways to deal with this, it is important to determine if this response is a result of:

a tactic used by the prospect to get you of the phone without offending
information gathering by prospect with no intent to take things further with you

Our Response:

SpringboardB2B:

[Prospect], in our experience when someone asks us to send out information, what they are really saying is they have no interest but are too kind say so, is that the case here?

Prospect:

NO, We would like to receive some more information to get a better idea of what you can do for us

SpringboardB2B:

I appreciate your honesty and I would be delighted to share more information with you. As you can imagine we have a heap of marketing material and what I dont want to happen is that I send you loads of information that is not relevant and bore you.

Can I ask you a few questions to figure out what information would best suit your company.

Prospect:

No problem.

Always ensure that when you agree to share information with a prospect that you have a defined next step.

Five Top Tips to improve your B2B Telemarketing

Telemarketing is an invaluable sales tool, however the difference between a successful campaign and a failure is often down to the techniques used in planning and executing the campaign. Here at Springboardb2b we specialise in telemarketing campaigns which engage and build relationships with prospects. Below are five of our top tips for getting the most from your telemarketing campaigns.

1. Scheduling
Scheduling calls correctly will allow you to make the most of your time. Researching the prospects you are calling and establishing the correct time to call will have a dramatic effect on your results. For example when making initial calls, before 9am is often an excellent time as prospects may have a few minutes to talk before their day starts.

2. Know your audience

Each call should have a specific purpose which is achievable; this will give your pitch clarity and avoid wasting time. Spend some time planning each call and your desired outcomes. Plan your call and know what you need to get out of it while allowing for changes to your pitch as you get more information from the prospect on their needs.

3. Effective Questioning
Using your knowledge of the prospect to guide the conversation and allow for a more bespoke approach. Rather than listing benefits, use questions to determine if those benefits are useful to the prospect. By allowing a prospect to talk about their business and its needs, you can more effectively present your offering within the context of their world.

4. Know your goal
Each call should have a specific purpose which is achievable; this will give your pitch clarity and avoid wasting time. Spend some time planning each call and your desired outcomes. Plan your call and know what you need to get out of it while allowing for changes to your pitch as you get more information from the prospect on their needs.

5. Get Next Step commitment
Single call sales are few and far between. Most calls will not end in a sale; however each call should move the prospect to step closer to a sale. Getting a next step commitment from a prospect ensures the sales process is moving forward. A next step can come in the form of a follow-up call or meeting, an introduction to a colleague or any other action which helps move a prospect towards a decision. Getting a commitment from the prospect highlights in them a positive attitude towards your offering.

springboardb2b

Get your timing right

Know your audience

Don’t Drown in the Detail

Are you Listening?

Springboard Telemarketing Tip Series: “We currently have a supplier. However would like to keep your details on file”

Cold Calling Challenge – Here is our tip for dealing with “send me more information”

Five Top Tips to improve your B2B Telemarketing

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