Line 2 & 3: “That’s great to hear. I’m reaching out to you specifically as the person who runs the marketing team .”
The reason why we say this is because we want the prospect to know that we’re not just calling for anyone. We’ve done the amount of research necessary to know that he or she is the person who actually has the authority. Finding out that someone is the director of marketing is not a breathtaking achievement, but the power of knowing this information plays directly into the words we are choosing to say.
“I’m reaching out to you specifically as the person who runs the marketing team.” Those words stand out because they are precise and come across as thoughtful. Saying “runs the marketing team” is very different than saying “director of marketing” because it sounds as if we know more about their role than just what we see in our customer relationship management (CRM) system. This part of the intro is worded to communicate that thoughtfulness and authority.
Line 4: “I’m not sure we can help each other, but I thought it was worth a quick call. Mind if I ask you a few questions and let you decide if we should chat?”
This part of the introduction is the most powerful. We haven’t given the prospect any context about what the call is regarding, but we are alluding to the fact that we may be able to help. The desired effect is to pique the interest of the prospect, get them to think “maybe we can help each other?” Our follow up question is giving them the illusion of full control of the call, “Mind if I ask you a few questions and let you decide if we should chat?” When you phrase this question like this you make it very easy to answer yes.
You may be wondering why I said that this gives the prospect “the illusion” of control of the call. The reason why this is just the illusion of control is because we know that there are really only two main responses to our question, either “sure” or “what’s this about?” Both those responses are basically the same; they are asking you to continue. The answer “no” is unlikely because the prospect doesn’t have enough context about what this discussion is about to be able to confidently reject the call. Of course, you will occasionally have a prospect answer “no” and often, that will be followed with a brush-off. Overcoming brush-offs will be covered in detail later in this chapter.
The Path
After we get the prospect to agree to let us ask a few questions, we get to the part of the script that I call The Path. Take a look at the example below.
Prospect: Sure
SDR: Thanks for the time. I’m calling from ABC Company. We help marketers increase market qualified leads by automating the qualification process, improving targeting, and tracking return on investment. Most folks I speak with are focused on improvement. Is that the same for you or are you more focused on tracking other areas such as ad spend?
The objective of this part of the call is to give the prospect some context about how we help and let them give us a direction to take the call in. To create your own path first you should come up with at least three features and/or benefits of your product or service. Once you have those the next part is finding two focuses that your prospect is likely to have and that you are able to help with. In the example above the first focus we use is “improving the quality of their market qualified leads,” because the marketing director is likely to be focused in this area and our solution will help. The same applies to the second focus we mention in the example. We are trying to spark a conversation and set ourselves up for the most important question on the cold call.
Why?
When the prospect chooses one of the two paths that you gave them, you now have the opportunity to ask “why is that important to you?” The answer to this question will give you the ammunition you need to book the meeting. Let’s continue with our example.
SDR: Thanks for the time. I am calling from ABC Company. We help marketers increase market qualified leads by automating the qualification process, improving targeting, and tracking return on investment. Most folks I speak with are focused on improving the quality of their leads. Is that the same for you or are you more focused on accurately tracking the return on your ad spend?
Prospect: I would say the main focus for me right now is on improving the quality of our leads.
SDR: I hear that a lot. I’m curious…why is that a main focus for you currently?
Prospect: Well, recently the conversion rate on our leads has dropped. We’re not sure why this has happened, but I’m working on figuring it out.
We’ve learned two great pieces of information from the prospect’s answer. We’ve learned that their current marketing qualified lead conversion has dropped, and that they don’t know why. In this example, we will be able to use what we’ve learned when we ask for the meeting, because we are offering a solution to a problem they have. However, we are not ready to ask for time on their calendar. Before we do that it’s necessary to understand what they are trying to achieve and this is something we do in the next part of the script.
Finding the gap
Once we know what the prospect is concerned about and why it’s their main focus, we can determine what it is they are trying to achieve. This is called finding the gap. We are trying to identify a gap between where the prospect is today and where they would like to be. Let’s continue with our example below.
Prospect: Well, recently the conversion rate on our leads has dropped. I’m not sure why this has happened but I’m working on figuring it out.
SDR: You said that your MQL conversion rate dropped? Where is it at now?
Prospect: 35%, last I checked
SDR: Where would you like to see that number?
Prospect: My ultimate goal is 65%, but back up to 55% would be great.
What’s nice about this example is that we are now talking numbers. The prospect wants to be at 65% conversion and today they are just at 35%. That’s an easy gap to discover. Sometimes you’re not able to find a numerical gap and that can make it challenging to use this technique on the fly.
Here is a good way to think about it. What’s the current situation and what would you like the situation to be? Here is another example.
Prospect: Well, recently the conversion rate on our leads has dropped.
SDR: Why did your conversion rate drop?
Prospect: I haven’t been able to figure that out yet.
SDR: Why is that?
Prospect: We have qualified leads coming in from a lot of different sources and it’s a tedious process to sort through them all.
As you can see, we are still able to find a gap even though we are not working with numbers. In the above example the gap we found is that the prospect is having trouble identifying why lead conversion has dropped. Always try to quantify this if you can. If you can’t, finding the gap to discover where the prospect is and where they want to be can still apply. Once we understand the needs of the prospect we can shift our conversation to solving their problem.
Close the gap
So far, we’ve learned the prospect’s focus, why it’s a current focus, where the company is now, and where they want to be. The next natural place to go is determining what they’re currently doing to solve their problem. Let’s continue with our original example.
Prospect: Well, recently the conversion rate on our leads has dropped. I’m not sure why this has happened but I’m working on figuring it out.
SDR: You said that your MQL conversion rate dropped? Where is it at now?
Prospect: 35%, last I checked
SDR: Where would you like to see that number?
Prospect: My ultimate goal is 65%, but back up to 55% would be great.
SDR: What are you doing now to get your conversion back up?
Prospect: Nothing yet, because we don’t know what’s causing it.
Our prospect has now admitted that in order to improve their lead conversion rate they need to figure out wha
t is causing the drop. That takes us back to asking our favorite question:
Prospect: Nothing yet, because we don’t know what’s causing it.
SDR: That makes sense, but I’m curious...why are you having trouble figuring out what’s causing the drop?
Prospect: We have leads coming in from a lot of different sources and it’s a tedious process to sort through them all.
SDR: Is that problem still on your priority list?
Prospect: Yes.
Ask for the meeting
Now we have everything that we need! The prospect admitted that there is a problem, expressed the challenge they have trying to solve that problem and that the problem is still on the priority list. At this point it’s time to move to my favorite part of the call—asking for the meeting.
Prospect: We have leads coming in from a lot of different sources and it’s a tedious process to sort through them all.
SDR: Is that problem still on your priority list?
Prospect: Yes.
SDR: Since this is still a priority for you, why don’t we set aside 15 minutes tomorrow and I can walk you through how we’ve helped other folks improve their data reporting across multiple marketing channels so they can more quickly identify problems and focus their time on improving their lead conversion. Does tomorrow at 11:00 am work?
Prospect: That works.
We did it—we booked a meeting! When we ask for a meeting, we’re tailoring it to their problem, and offering them a solution. We position our close as something other folks have been able to do. This is because we want the prospect to know that they are not alone and this is a problem that can be solved. Finally, we give them a time instead of asking for one. It is very important to be assumptive because it removes a lot of uncertainty in the meeting setting process.
You may be thinking that this example is making it look too easy. If you think that, then I have some news for you…You’re right! This is a very optimistic example of a cold call, one that I created to illustrate the high-level call structure. We can’t script every single variable, so for the rest of this chapter I am going to introduce you to some techniques that you can use in specific situations.
Cold Calling Techniques
Every call is going to be different and require you to think quickly and adapt your strategy on the fly. You will encounter this frequently, so it is important to be prepared for the situations that come up most often. The goal of this section is to arm you with some basic techniques that I have found to be effective.
Overcoming the brush-off
As you are making calls, you will notice that early in the call many prospects will give you an excuse for why they don’t want to talk with you. These come in various forms and I call them brush-offs. A brush-off is the prospect saying something in an attempt to end the call before they know what you are calling abour or even enough to decide whether your product or service could be valuable to them. A quick note...this is not the same as an objection. An objection typically comes at the end of the call when the prospect knows what your product or service is and has a reason why they do not want to continue the conversation.
Before we talk about how to overcome a brush-off, we must first fully understand what they are. Every company will get a different set of brush-offs based on their industry, product, or service. The words the prospect says may be different for you than it will be for someone else, but the sentiment is the same, “I don’t feel like speaking with you right now.” Let’s take a look at some examples.
“Im not interested”
“I’m too busy to speak about this”
“Send me an email with more information”
You must have thick skin to cold call and this is why. These brush-offs are responsible for 90% of all frustrations salespeople have with cold calling. Fortunately, you know they are coming so you have plenty of time to prepare. There is a simple technique that can insure that you will be able to respond to any brush-off that is thrown your way. It is called the Triple A. Triple A stands for acknowledge, answer, ask.
Acknowledge: Let the prospect know that you heard them
Answer: Address their underlying question or concern
Ask: Follow up with a question to regain control of the call
Let’s use “I’m not interested” as an example.
Prospect: Not interested
SDR: I totally understand, Terry, I called you out of the blue and my intention is to see if it makes sense for us to have a conversation. Most folks I speak with are focused on improving the quality of their MQLs. Is that the same for you or are you more focused on accurately tracking the ROI on your ad spend?
Re-read the example above and break it down by acknowledge, answer, and ask. Once you do that keep reading for the correct breakdown.
Acknowledge: I totally understand Terry, I called you out of the blue. (We are acknowledging the fact that their lack of interest is directly related to our cold call.)
Answer: My intention is to see if it makes sense for us to have a conversation. (We are answering the underlying concern that the prospect has—that we are going to try and sell them something.)
Ask: Most folks I speak with are focused on improving the quality of their MQLs. Is that the same for you or are you more focused on accurately tracking the ROI on your ad spend?(We are asking an open-ended question, in this case giving them the path, in order to regain control of the call. The goal is to get the prospect talking with us, not telling us that they aren’t interested again.)
Let’s take a look at another example.
Prospect: Send me an email with more information.
SDR: Sounds good Terry. I’ll email you by the end of today. I have a lot of information I can send, so I want to make sure I send over something relevant. Most folks I speak with are focused on improving the quality of their MQLs. Is that the same for you or are you more focused on accurately tracking the ROI on your ad spend?
Break down this response like you did the other, by acknowledge, answer, and ask. After you do this take a look below for the correct breakdown.
Acknowledge: Sounds good Terry, I will send this email over by the end of today.(We are acknowledging that they asked for an email and are agreeing to sending it.)
Answer: I have a lot of information I can send, so I want to make sure I send over something relevant.(We are answering the underlying concern that the prospect has—that what we are calling about isn’t something that they need.)
Ask: Most folks I speak with are focused on improving the quality of their MQLs. Is that the same for you or are you more focused on accurately tracking the ROI on your ad spend?(We give the prospect the path in an attempt to get a conversation started.)
Take some time to write down all of the brush-offs you get when cold calling. Select the most common three and follow the Triple A structure to write your own response to each. You should practice reciting your responses every chance you get, so you are crisp and confident when you say them on the phone. Here is a game you can play with some of your coworkers. Grab a ball and sit in a circle. The person with the ball will say a brush-off while bouncing the ball to a random coworker. That coworker must respond to the brush-off while catching the ball. The idea is that the ball bouncing towards you simulates the pressure you feel on the phone when the prospect brushes you off. Repeat this until everyone can respond to every brush-off from memory, without stuttering, and with confidence.
On call alarms
When you are in a conversation with the prospect, it can sometimes be difficult to know where to go next. This typically happens because the prospect is talking a lot and giving you a lot of information. Your challenge is figuring out what to do with that information, and how to capitalize on it to book a meeting. Regardless of how a call is going you must be listening for on call alarms. An on call alarm is a sta
tement made by the prospect that indicates one of three things.
They have identified that something can be improved
They have taken some kind of action to improve something
They need clarity on if a problem exists.
At first, it may be challenging to identify these, but as you practice, on call alarms will be so blaring that they will be like… an alarm! The first question we have to answer is how to identify on them. I have broken this down into a simple acronym, N.W.A. Those of you who are a fan of late 80s hip hop will have no problem remembering this one. However, my abbreviation is very different than what you are used to. N.W.A. stands for Need, Wish, and Action.
Need
Need is the most powerful word that the prospect can say. If your prospect needs something that you can provide, then you, my friend, are most likely booking a meeting. To be honest, this is the least common on call alarm. It also doesn’t always come up as the prospect saying the word “need.” Sometimes it is baked into the context of what they are saying. Take a look at the following examples.
Prospect: I need to figure out what has caused the MQL conversion rate to drop.
Prospect: I have spent a lot of time on this and can’t seem to figure out why the MQL conversion rate has dropped.
The first example is the easy one to identify—they said the word “need” and your alarm bells should be ringing. The second one, however, can be a bit trickier to identify. They don’t use the word “need,” but they are expressing the need to figure something out. “Need” is baked into the context of the sentence. You will improve at identifying needs as you practice and have more conversations under your belt. The next part of N.W.A. is the W, and this one can be tricky as well.
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