Why Most Prospects Tell You,
"I'm Not Interested"
The people you are trying to sell to have decisions to make, staff to manage, deadlines to hit and voicemails and e-mails to answer. They are simply just busier than ever. Unfortunately, most business owners, sales leaders, salespeople and marketing professionals do not factor this in when developing their sales processes and marketing campaigns -- a decision that could cost them a small fortune in lost sales opportunities.
What Typically Happens When A Salesperson Calls A Prospect?
When a salesperson calls a prospect, one they have never spoken to before, the person on the other end of the call starts to process:
- Who the caller is and what company are they calling from.
- What are they are trying to sell.
- And whether they should continue the conversation or not.
By 20 to 45 seconds into the call, the majority of prospects politely and sometimes not so politely tell a salesperson they aren't interested and hang up.
Why Most Prospects Tell A Salesperson They Are Not Interested.
The reason why most people on the receiving end of a cold call tell a salesperson they are not interested is because the salesperson approached the call from their own viewpoint and not from the prospect's perspective. Think about it for a minute.
So How Do You Get More Prospects To Listen To You?
Face it, cold calling a database of prospects isn't fun for most salespeople, largely because they endure rejection after rejection after rejection on most calls. That is why we have prepared a list of tips below for you (or someone you know that is in sales) to help you get a warmer reception when cold calling a database of prospects.
- Set up a drip marketing system at your business -- a system that blends direct mail, e-mails and a telephone follow-up schedule.
- Evaluate the themes of your campaigns. If your themes are not educational or informational content 80% of the time, it could reduce your campaign's effectiveness.
- Set up a 12-month drip marketing calendar as well as a rolling 90-day calendar containing more details about the who, what, where and when.
- Take a hard look at the frequency of your e-mail campaigns. If you are in a B2B world, more than 2 emails a week could have a negative effect on your open rates.
Here Are Some Suggestions For The Frequency Of Your e-Mail Campaigns:
Listed below you will find some suggestions for your organization. Again, these suggestions may differ based on what you sell and who your target audience is.
- Send an e-Newsletter campaign on a weekly, bi-weekly or a monthly basis.
- Send an e-Press Release on a quarterly basis.
- Send an e-Sales Letter on a semi-annual basis.
- Send an e-Postcard on a quarterly basis.
- Send a direct mail postcard, sales letter or lumpy mail campaign based on a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly basis.
Executive Summary: The key to your cold calling success is based on the marketing campaigns you send before you call. It is no secret that the majority of people do not want to buy what you sell, but at any given moment, 9% to 18% of your target audience has a varying degree of interest in buying what you sell. If you provide them information that helps facilitate a good buying decision, and then follow-up on that information with an "Oh By The Way" call, you are almost guaranteed to see an increase in sales by 10% to 25% in the next 90 days or less.
