Is it the death of the cold Caller?

Let me throw some statistics around.

Recent studies have shown that –

  1. 80% of prospective clients are finding you first and
  2. By the time they reach out to you, they have looked at your website an average of 12 times
  3. 70% of their buying decision on your offerings has already happened by the time they reach out to you

So, what does that mean for your business?

  1. Is sales and marketing still in separate silos? Is it time to rethink that?
  2. Do you have ‘junior’ team members answering the phone thinking they are merely ‘inside sales’ waiting for their leg-up to being one the ‘big guns’ in the sales team? Want to rethink that?
  3. Is it the death of the BD, cold-calling Hunter?

A prospective client has a problem or pain point, needs and researches a solution, finds, looks at, and investigates your website, and then contacts you, feeling you could meet their needs. 

So, it’s a customer that actively needs you. The timing is right; they consider you a potential vendor to solve their problem.  

The first person answering your incoming client is setting the perception of your business. They need to be one of your most highly skilled sales professionals. 

They will set the tone and intent and shape the client’s journey by how they are reading the signals, taking an interest in the client, asking questions, listening intently, and their ability to move the sale along. 

With all this in mind, and now that the business is getting so much inbound traffic, do ponder if you still need to put energy into BD hunters?  Do you still need to be cold-calling?

BD hunters traditionally ring up a list of potential clients in the hope that they want what you have and that the time is right. It’s a job for the tough and resilient people with excellent rapport skills and an ironclad mindset – to keep going and expect a win.  

So, while some businesses think they don’t have the inbound ‘luxury’ because their phones are not ringing hot and prospects aren’t knocking at the door – with clients increasingly seeking out, researching, and choosing vendors, the trend of inbound prospective clients is growing.  

More importantly, when your inbound client comes in, the team may not be quick enough to respond, so the results are poor. The website has done its job, but the wheels have fallen off at the next step.  

I frequently get asked, ‘What should our conversion rate be?’ 

My response is that if the client needs your solution and, after researching, has contacted you directly, then it should actually be 100%. Considering that there may be a few other variables, I’ll be generous – 85%.   

More telling is, ‘When did the lead come in, when did you call back, and what did you say?’.   

Inevitably, this tells me why they haven’t converted the inbound enquiry. 

  1. The response speed was slow; someone else got back to them sooner: first in, best dressed.  
  2. There was insufficient sales knowledge and a skills gap around what to do and how to do it.   

All too often, I find that the individual or team handling the initial client touch point has had little to no training whatsoever. Yet they are responsible for the engine room of your business and the sale, which is the oxygen the whole company needs to breathe. 

How can you help those “inbound warriors”? 

Firstly, recognise and help them to feel important as the ‘Directors of First Impressions’. They are responsible for setting a customer’s impression of the company and influencing the sale outcome. 

Help them know about and understand sales: how to have an intent to help and have excellent product knowledge. To know how to ask effective questions, listen to understand, and then confidently explain and educate your customers on how your solution will help them. 

And what about those great Cold Callers, the strong, resilient BD hunters on your team? Harness those strong skills to proactively sell to clients ahead of needing you.  Get them to use LinkedIn to pre sell a client before they reach out, get them to reach out to ‘add value’ to those prospects.

Aligning the fact that they and your company are the right fit for when that client is ready. Educating and adding value over time results in brand awareness and trust. It’s all about trust. Of course, they are always ready to make the sale happen if the timing happens to be right…

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Piece written by Charmaine Keegan,  author of over 20 eBooks, is a sought-after guest speaker, panellist, and keynote. She is a Certified Trainer Extended Disc System, of Situational Leadership, of NLP (how we operate), Hypnotherapy (unconscious communication) and Timeline Therapy (recognising your beliefs about sales and money – and recognising that of your customer). She has studied the psychology of human behaviour and is considered an absolute authority and true expert on sales techniques. She has ‘walked the walk‘ so her content, programs and key notes are highly practical and focused on results.

Smarter Selling is sales and mindset coaching for high performing leaders and teams