What differentiates a dumb cold call from a Smart Call is, first, what you learn about a prospect and his situation. We can modify the old saying “It’s all about who you know” to “It’s all about WHAT you know, about who you want to know, in order to actually get to know them.”
But it’s not just about information. The power comes in how you use this knowledge, which we will discuss later in the book. In this chapter, we’ll cover intelligence gathering: what you want to learn and where to find it.
The intelligence you seek depends on what you sell and why someone would buy. Simpler sales—those that are more transactional and have a shorter sales cycle, such as an ad in the community magazine—are not likely to warrant as much time as a seven-figure sale for consulting services to a Fortune 100 company. However, the same processes and techniques can be used in both situations.
In general, you are looking for factual data as well as situational information. Facts include basic statistics, such as how many locations or employees the company has, their financial results, and, as obvious as this might seem, what the company actually does. However, I’m not shy to repeat what should be obvious since I know most people—including me—regularly need to be reminded of the fundamentals.
It boggles my mind how salespeople can pick up the phone to call a company without even knowing what they sell. For example, my company’s name is Business By Phone Inc. I am regularly prospected by clueless callers who think that we are a phone system reseller, an outsourced call center, or a company much larger than we are, since they pitch me on services appropriate only for companies with more than 50 employees. Dumb.
Beyond acquiring the basic facts, the real jackpot lies within the situational information you uncover. This is anything about the company, industry, or individual that may make them a good prospect for you because of a need, pain, problem, desire, or other circumstance on their part. For example:
Think big picture for a moment about the chains of events that could create needs, pains, problems, and desires for the people and companies involved in those situations. Consequently, there are countless opportunities for all kinds of businesses that help solve those problems or fulfill those desires. Construction companies, law firms, recruiters, anyone who helps increase sales, software developers and installers—the list is endless.
Here are a few other activities that could create an environment in which someone would be eager to hear about an appropriate Possible Value Proposition (PVP):
Craig Elias was a top sales rep for telecommunications company WorldCom. During its collapse, Craig realized that he could either find another company to sell for or do something on his own. He chose the latter. He felt that he could help other sales reps use a model he discovered and fine-tuned while rising to the top at WorldCom.
When analyzing his six- and seven-figure sales, he noticed a trend emerging. Every sale was a result of a trigger event that shifted a prospect from being someone who never would have bought from him previously into someone who was highly likely to buy from him now. These events moved people into what Elias calls the window of dissatisfaction. Elias’s model identifies three categories of trigger events. Determine how they apply to your buyers:
These events are the types of information you would like to learn before speaking with your decision maker.
Craig has a useful free tool at his site called a “Won Sales Analysis” that I suggest you download. Instead of focusing on the sales you’ve lost, this application helps you analyze the sales you’ve won to help identify the common trigger events that place buyers in that window of dissatisfaction. Get it at www.WonSalesAnalysis .com. (Also, get a copy of the book he co-authored with Tibor Shanto, SHiFT!: Harness the Trigger Events That Turn Prospects into Customers.)
Trigger events provide tremendous opportunity and should be very apparent as to what they are for you. Don’t overengineer it. We had a major storm here in Arizona during monsoon season, and a large tree in my front yard was uprooted. The next day, a landscaper who was working on my neighbor’s tree knocked on my door and said he could remove mine as well. Trigger event capitalized on, done deal.
In addition to acquiring information on the company, it’s helpful to be knowledgeable about the people. What information is important to know? Whatever is available. Dig for what you can find out about them personally and in their professional lives. I’m by no means suggesting you mention or use everything you learn; you don’t want to come across as a stalker. A female client told me a sales rep cold-called her and, in his opening, told her that he saw her picture online and liked her smile. Needless to say, she was creeped out. You, of course, need to be judicious and use the information appropriately.
This becomes valuable when you can make a closer connection with your prospect later in a call by asking questions you will probably know the answer to (e.g., “I’m assuming you’re an LSU football fan?”) or making a comment about what you know: “By the way, I always like to be prepared for my calls and did some research. That was a great article you wrote for the Components Insight website.”
In his classic book, Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, author Harvey Mackay explained the tool he required his sales reps to use, called the Mackay 66. It is 66 pieces of information that reps need to collect about their prospects and customers: business background, special interests, their lifestyle, business needs, and the nature of the rep’s relationship with them. You can find the Mackay 66 in your Smart Calling Companion Course, Chapter 3, SmartCallingBook.com.
An item in the Wall Street Journal nicely illustrated the power of getting—and using—information about those with whom you will soon be meeting or working. A headhunter interviewing for his own new job came armed with files on 10 people within the firm (from the CEO on down) that he’d ideally like to meet with. When he spoke with his interviewers, they saw his categorized notebook, stuffed with notes and web pages on the individuals. This, of course, impressed them, since he had clearly done his homework, and he was offered a job as a partner at the firm.
I ordered your book to help me get a $100,000 Business Development Manager position. The final interview test was to make a sales call to the company CEO and sell him his own company. I used everything you taught in the book … and GOT THE JOB. During the de-brief the following day, I asked, “What specifically got me the position?” Every single point brought up by the CEO was something I learned in your book. I want to thank you so much!
—Sales pro David Flannery
How many attempts, on average, does it take before you actually get someone live on the phone? The numbers vary wildly, but the point is that you are not doing all of that research before each attempt. You do the bulk of it once, you make the attempt, you put the relevant information in your customer relationship management (CRM) system, then you remind yourself of it before your next attempt. If you are worried about wasting time, analyze how you are without any research. That is eye-opening.
So let’s explore where we can find this kind of information.
It should go without saying, but you should check your company’s database before calling a prospect to see if there is any history there. But again, the obvious isn’t always followed. I have heard many calls where salespeople called people they thought were prospects only to learn they had been customers for years. Oops. Now that’s embarrassing.
Always check the notes for any comments from previous contacts and certainly look to see if there were any past purchases.
Past customers are one of your best sources of new business. There is gold in this list. And don’t be afraid if the customer quit buying because of a problem. The problem will be remembered if no one bothers to contact them. However, calling will give you a chance to fix it. And if the previous buyer left, go through the Smart Calling process with the new buyer. You can always reference the previous relationship, and you have some history to work with. (You can find a guide on this topic, “How to Get New Business from Your Best, and Easiest Sources,” in your free Smart Calling Companion Course, Chapter 3, SmartCallingBook.com.)
Although I certainly don’t feel like I just turned 60, I can sound like a crotchety old fogy when I’m talking about the environment we sell in today. I often feel like saying, “When I was your age, youngster, we weren’t able to go click, click, click and have almost everything we want to know about a prospect appear on this screen in front of us before we call him.”
Today’s technology makes it quick and easy to acquire valuable information that can Smarten up your calls. In fact, there is no excuse for not having information about your prospects before you call. The only argument I’ve heard otherwise—which I still don’t buy—is that reps can’t afford to take the time before a call to do research. They claim that they need to be on the phone, constantly placing calls, and can’t occupy themselves with research. Bull! That’s the numbers-game mentality of throwing it all up against the wall and seeing what sticks. I can’t think of any situation—even the simplest, most basic transactional call—that wouldn’t yield better results and be worth the time invested to know something about the person and company.
Your prospect’s website should be your first online destination. Again, what you sell will determine where you drill, but here are a few ideas about specific places to go:
Tim Nelson says, “I think the most important [thing] I learn from [an organization’s] web site is how the company portrays itself. I sell new project information to architects, engineers, and general contractors, and they all have ‘brag sites’ that tell of the jobs they’ve built. That tells me their focus. It also gives me an indication of their [level of] Internet savvy-ness, as this will affect how someone would use our solution.
“Their sites also [let me know] who the principals and heads of other offices are that might be impacted by the information I sell. Knowing about other key people allows me to be more pointed in my questioning. Instead of asking ‘Does anyone else need to be involved with this?’ I can say, ‘Since this will also impact your Project Management team, does Doug need to be involved in any of this?’ ”
There are numerous places you can go to gather intelligence online, several of which I’ll mention.
Sam Richter is an expert at finding information about people, companies, and industries online, and how to use advanced techniques for using search engines as well numerous sites to visit to collect intelligence. There’s information available online that you probably never thought was accessible. In Episode 90 of The Art of Sales podcast (TheArtofSales.com) Sam did a mini-webinar on how to quickly and easily gather sales intelligence online.
Here are a few of the techniques Sam suggests for using Google.
Sam is a wizard at employing Boolean search terms (using symbols such as + and −, and terms like “and,” or,” “not”) and other little-known secrets to cut down on the amount of time it takes to do a search, to provide more useful and targeted results. He has even automated and simplified his processes by creating the Smart Calling Intel Engine. Now Smart Callers can simply type their requests into user-friendly search fields. See it and sign up at SmartCallingIntel.com.
John Ruffing shared an interesting idea about finding people who are in a buying mode. If you sell to governments at any level, do Internet searches for “Requests for Proposal” and your key words. He said that most government entities must post their RFPs, and this is a good way to find them.
Google News Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) is a free service that needs to become part of your Smart Calling toolbox. Google will send you email at the frequency of your choice (even daily) that notifies you of any new content posted to the web containing the search term(s) that you determine. At minimum, you should have alerts set up with your main competitors’ names and those of your biggest customers. You should also include both the company name and the names of individual decision makers at your most coveted prospects. You can enter queries for whatever you’d like, including specific terms such as “building permits in 68137 zip code.” Google is your part-time lead generator, and works for free!
Change is inevitable; it happens every day. Prospects can be particularly vulnerable after their existing vendor merges, is acquired, or undergoes some other type of change. Smart sales reps have processes in place to take advantage of this. They track their prospects’ current vendors, monitor any changes, and sort their database accordingly to place an effective call.
Here’s how a Google Alert could help you identify a trigger event: A friend told me that his business bank recently changed owners and names—three times. One astute sales rep from a competing bank had been pursuing and managed to contact him after each change while the effects were fresh in my friend’s mind. Although he hasn’t changed banks yet, the timely calls combined with the annoyance of the turnover are beginning to wear down his resistance.
Here’s exactly what to do:
To be successful, be clear that the purpose of your call is more than just a check-in and be sure to avoid common opening mistakes (see Chapter 9).
LinkedIn is the professional network for businesspeople, so if you are serious about Smart Calling, use it.
On the surface, LinkedIn is a social network for business. Users post their professional information and experience, and also can connect with others. It is also a sophisticated tool that offers many potentially valuable services to help you Smarten your calls, start more sales conversations, and close more business.
I’m proficient in LinkedIn, but I’m certainly not an expert. So, I did the next best thing: I sought out and partnered with a LinkedIn expert who specializes in working with salespeople, Crystal Thies, the LinkedIn Ninja. We collaborated to create an entire course on using the various aspects of LinkedIn to be effective at Smart Calling and sales in general (LinkedInForSalesSuccess.com).
I have asked Crystal to provide her input here, and I will suggest a few techniques for harnessing LinkedIn’s powerful features. My focus here will be primarily on intelligence gathering, but I recommend you learn about other aspects of the platform as well. Depending on your level of sophistication, this might be painfully elementary—or way over your head. If you are an expert, skim through and see what new ideas you pick up. If you are a newbie, invest some time to raise your level of expertise. It will pay off for you.
Here are just a few Smart Calling LinkedIn Tips:
Be an Advanced People Searcher. Here’s a way to use LinkedIn to help build your prospect list. Click in the Search box at the top of your home page, select People from the dropdown; click on the All Filters to the right. You now have a variety of criteria you can use to find prospects matching the profile you desire. For example, I entered “VP of Sales” in the Title box selected the “Phoenix, Arizona Area” Metro area for location, and selected Computer Software for the Industry, and came up with 284 executives that matched my query. That’s a pretty good list to prospect for business in my own backyard. To increase the credibility and warmth of the potential connection, select 2nd-Degree in the Relationship filter. You can further refine your search with keywords, company name, and more. LinkedIn will even email you updates based on your search when new contacts match the criteria. It’s like LinkedIn is your own sales assistant.
One word of caution: A free LinkedIn account is limited in the number of searches you’re able to run each month. They will let you know when you’ve reached 75 percent of the quota they’ve given you. To limit the number of times you hit the “Apply” button, adjust all of the filters you’re going to use at the same time.Use LinkedIn Messages and InMail instead of Email. You can direct message people you are connected to on LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s message feature is more like text messaging. Depending on their visibility settings, it shows a green circle if your connections are on LinkedIn at that moment. If they are, they’ll get a pop up immediately, so you can have a real-time chat with them.
On paid accounts, you can send a LinkedIn InMail to people who are not first-degree connections. LinkedIn says these are 30 times more likely than a “cold” call to get a response, but they are still essentially last resorts with a low success rate. Free account users can pay $10 each per message, which could be a great investment if it helps you get in. Savvy LinkedIn users try to connect to prospects first, without trying to sell them immediately. Then, they can send unlimited messages for free (unless prospects feel pestered and disconnect).Finally, please show professionalism and make good first impression by including a personalized message with your connection request. I’ve always found it odd that someone could just hit a button and request access to another businessperson’s entire network of connections, including valued customers and colleagues. I’m finding personalized connection requests to be even more rare, so when you do it, you will stand out. In your request, comment on why you feel it would be beneficial for you both to connect, and any commonalities you have. Do not sell or ask for an appointment (that is also becoming all too common).
In your Smart Calling Companion Course (Chapter 3, SmartCallingBook.com), you’ll find a video training about how to do this effectively.
I’m often asked about what has changed most with prospecting and selling in the past 10, 20, or 30 years. That’s an easy question. The human brain and buying motivators haven’t changed at all. What has changed is the ability to get great sales intelligence—and the resources available.
In the previous two editions I listed a few online commercial providers of information. Since then, the sales intel industry has exploded. The available tools can provide massive amounts of data on individuals and companies. Many are also hybrid products, performing functions such as reporting, forecasting, and more.
Any list or recommendation I would have put in this book would have been outdated by the time it reached you. Therefore, I suggest you do your own search. Google “best sales intelligence tools” or some variation of that, getting more specific for your industry and type of sale. You’ll find the major players, for sure, along with compiled lists of others, and probably a gem or two you’ll want to invest in.
Notice I used the word invest. The very best—and not coincidentally highest paid—sales pros understand that being in sales is as close as they’ll get to running their own business, without having the risk or large investment. Therefore they are not afraid to invest in the tools that they know will provide a huge return for them.
Pay attention to those automated “Out of Office” replies you get in response to emails. They often contain the names of others you could contact. These people could be other decision makers.
If you’re prospecting it could give you contacts who could either influence or make a decision.
Another new social networking site probably popped up in the time it took you to read this sentence. Certainly, many of these sites could provide valuable Smart Calling intelligence. Particularly if there are communities devoted entirely to buyers in your industry (similar to the groups on LinkedIn). However, they can also be a tremendous time toilet.
There is no denying the popularity of social media. We all know people who are addicted to it, but not everyone embraces it. That is particularly true for C-suite executives. But keep something in mind: You are not your customer or prospect.
It doesn’t matter how you feel about Tweeting, Facebooking, Instagramming, or whatever. If that’s where your customers are, that’s where you can get valuable Smart Calling information.
Again, I’m not going to address your overall social media marketing and communication strategy. That is a much larger discussion that experts discuss online every day (see Chapter 6). What I will discuss here are some of the top social media sites you should consider for Smart Call sales intelligence.
For Smart Calling intelligence purposes, you may be able to find useful information about prospects and their ideas on Twitter. In addition, many companies have Twitter accounts, so this could provide insight you might be able to use as the basis for a connection.
As part of my routine when researching prospects, I check Twitter to see if they are active. With one prospect, I noticed that she had an account, but only tweeted occasionally. I noticed one where she was on vacation and tweeted that she was thrilled her resort had Skinnygirl Margaritas (a brand name). Of course, I wasn’t going to lead with that on our initial call, which happened to go very well. After building some rapport, I was comfortable enough to ask her about Skinnygirl Margaritas. We had a good laugh, which did not hurt the relationship-building. I did get the business.
You can also search hashtags to find conversations about specific topics, groups, or interests. For example, as I was writing this paragraph I did a search on #salestraining. It returned a page of tweets from other sales trainers, but also one from a sales manager who asked, “I’m going to provide webinars for my team. What pitfalls should I avoid?” I will answer that with some good content, and then that provides the basis for a Smart Call.
You can follow prospects you would like to make contact with. Unlike LinkedIn or Facebook, where they must accept your invitation to connect, Twitter allows users to follow anyone, depending on their privacy settings. You could call them and reference something they tweeted about, or you could reply to their tweet and engage in a virtual conversation before contacting them.
Most savvy companies have Facebook and Instagram accounts. When doing your research, check out their pages. You might just uncover a nugget you can use.
Another way to use Facebook and Instagram is to search for your contacts. Because Facebook and Instagram are more personal social networks, you might find information that you wouldn’t see elsewhere. Search their posts, photos, and the things they “Like,” but use this information cautiously. My feeling is that people probably don’t consider their public posts to be really private but keep professional when you refer to what you see online. If you can learn about your prospects’ interests, music, food, sports, and hobbies, and their beliefs and values, that info could help you make an initial connection and build a relationship. Plus you might see some cool pictures.
If using video is part of your targeted prospect’s business, you could find some real gems on YouTube. Just be careful not to waste your time watching videos of dancing cats. (Unless, of course, they belong to your highly targeted prospect.)
I found a video of one of my prospects, a sales manager, who gave a brief motivational speech to his team to kick off a sales contest. (The video was posted by one of his reps.) The sales manager did a pretty decent job and I complimented him on our sales call. How many salespeople who called on him did the same?
Finally, this should not be a revelation to you: Look at social media as you would any other activity that requires a time investment on your part. Pick the outlets that are most likely to yield good Smart Call intelligence, analyze how much time you need to invest in them, discern what your potential return could be, and create your pre-call plan accordingly.
You now have a clear idea of the information you’d like to have about your prospects before speaking with them, and a number of places you can go to find it. But we’re not done yet. Some of the very best information you can get will come from other people. I’ll show you how to do this in our next chapter.
What will you commit to do as a result of this chapter?