Diversifying Your Calls

If you're a salesperson that sells to many different verticals, it's always best to create a well-diversified list of companies to call on, ranging from small to large. We know that large accounts take months to close, so it's important to fill in the gaps with smaller and mid-sized accounts. We always want to build our calling lists with a range of businesses varying in size across a spectrum of verticals, to give us a consistent amount of monthly closes. Here are some ideas, to make your cold calling more successful.

HOW MANY VERTICALS / LEADS

If you're gathering a list of 200 people to call each month, you should look at 6 verticals with about 33 leads in each. The reason you're making a list of 200 people to call is because it's better to have more, knowing that some leads will automatically get crossed off. This is normally due to people changing jobs/positions, companies/departments restructuring, or a lack of contact information available. Every now and then a person at a company will purposely hide their email address and phone number, or change their email alias from that of everyone else in the company, due to a massive amount of sales calls. So having a large list to draw from each month is imperative.

GENERATING LEADS

Salespeople sometimes have trouble figuring out where to generate leads from. If your company is not buying lists, here are a mix of resources you can use for free.

1.) Google Maps. Hit the 'more places' button when searching on a specific vertical in an area.

2.) LinkedIn. The free version of LinkedIn will only provide so many searches per month, so it's always good to max this option out first, or only use it for specific people who are hard-to-find.

3.) Lists online. There are plenty of online articles that will provide lists of companies headquartered in different states or cities, as well as top companies in different spaces. 

4.) Daily life. I've come to the conclusion that everyone is a possible lead: people that you meet at parties, parents of your kids' friends, neighbors, etc. Someone either owns a business or works at a company that you can connect with. 

SHOOTING FOR THE TOP

When reaching out to someone in a specific department, you always want to start with the head of that team. They are usually the hardest to reach, but getting to a decision-maker is key. It's always good to have the second person in-charge on your calling list as well. Sometimes the top-person is more of a 'figurehead', while the second-in-command is the person that handles the day-to-day. So reaching out to both is best practice.

BEST TIMES

Tons of sales blogs talk about reaching business executives either before 9am or after 5pm. It's best to make your top phone calls from 8am - 10am because that's normally the time we see phone calls go through. Other times of day you'll mostly be leaving messages. Noon is usually a good hour to build decks. 4pm is a good time to work on building/revising a call list.

 CHANGING IT UP

When musicians get stale, they will 'shred' or 'jam' with different musicians, to keep fresh. If an email template or a phone message script seems like it's getting worn out, definitely change-it-up by talking to some of your colleagues, to see what's been working for them. Also, remember that different seasons call for different angles. In Q3, I always like to mention that Q4 and the holidays are quickly approaching. In Q1, I like to talk about gearing-up for the Spring season. So there are plenty of fresh angles you can use when you feel your current phone/email pitches needs a refresh.

I hope that helps with your cold calling. Make it a great day.