When you are contacting prospective customers or partners, your goal is…of course, to find those that are interested in the solutions you offer. Customers get tons of calls, emails, notes on social media…and ignore most, if not all. Making a ton of calls and getting ignored sounds tiring and not very rewarding. How to approach making a smaller number of high-quality calls and get positive results…
Who does your prospective customer want to do business with?
Customers want to do business with salespeople that:
- Understand their business, interests, challenges and industry trends
- Advocate for them to help thru issues
- Reduce their stress
- Think ahead for them
Do the homework
This helps you gain the required knowledge…there is no other way to be able to align the value you provide to your prospective customer.
Customers can tell if you have done your homework
Want to differentiate yourself from the 20 other reps calling the same person that same day (and/or from the other choices your target customer might explore)? Some ideas on what to try to learn about your customer:
- Business trends
- Market forces (e.g. are their competitors applying pressure)
- Challenges they are facing
- Short and long-term objectives
- Projects they have underway or are planning
Resist the urge to make a high volume of calls!
What sounds better? 50 calls in a day with no interest…OR…5 calls and 2 customers that are interested? Take the time you might have invested in the 45 other calls into doing prep work and developing creative approaches to getting your customers’ attention. You will enjoy the positive results!
Feel free to contact me directly for ideas and/or help on this or other topics!
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