How SDRs lose a prospect, and how to avoid it

Do you remember your first few days as a new Sales Development Representative? Surely, you were beaming with confidence about your new career, ready to take on the world and build solid relationships with other clients and businesses, all while showcasing the best qualities of the company you’re now representing. Just think back to that time when you shake your manager’s hand, they gave you a “welcome to the team” pep-talk, you sat down at your desk and you decide you’re ready to start this journey on the right foot. You grab your script, dial in a new prospect, you hear the ring-dial on the other line and then:

“Oh! Um… Hello! This is Jason, uh… from XYZ Company. Sorry to take time out of your day, but I was wondering, hmm….” (Frantically looks at script).

Yep, the dreaded “Cold Call”. We’ve all been there because we’ve all started out in sales at one point or another, and I would dare to say that nearly no one opened their first Cold Call in a perfect manner (that’s why companies develop scripts, after all).

However, Cold Calling is an intimidating endeavor, whether you’re thirteen and going door to door selling movie tickets (was this only me?), or an adult trying to interest a new prospect in building a business relationship.

Let’s go over some of the reasons why SDR’s might lose a prospect during a Cold Call before we discuss some of the things we can do to adjust and correct your approach. While you’re reading this, grab a piece of paper or some sticky notes, and if you notice that you make some of these mistakes, simply write them down so you can make a mental note to help correct later on.

Why Introductions Fall Flat

In the above example, Jason didn’t get the opportunity to start discussing what he can offer to a prospect before sounding unsure of himself. One of the key reasons why is he used filler words such as: “Um, uh, hmm, like, so”. These filler words have all been used in our daily vocabulary at some point or another. They’re a method we use in our day to day habit to exude a pause where a written comma would be. However, when you use those filler words during a conversation with a prospect, it comes off as you being nervous. Which is understandable, because you are! That’s what we’re trying to address.

Other words or phrases that you should avoid are, “Kinda, ya think, or ‘I know I’m bothering you’”, as these phrases show to your prospect that not only you’re nervous, but it gives them the impression that you don’t really belong there. What I mean by that is, you come across as so nervous, timid, or unsure of yourself that the prospect on the other line is getting the impression that you don’t know what you’re doing or you don’t belong on the phone with them.

If this is the case, the prospect will likely “brush off” the SDR so he doesn’t have to continue the conversation. A “brush off” is exactly what it sounds like: an objection that happens early on in the conversation. The prospect hasn't heard what you have said or offer to their business and they are just trying to get you off the phone.

Additionally, prospects will have their own “script” in order to navigate the conversation and get you and other Cold Callers off the phone more quickly. Granted, it’s not a real script, it’s simply a method that the prospect has built in their repertoire to get you off the phone as soon as possible. The SDR’s goal is to disrupt this script to force them, the prospect, to listen to what the SDR is offering.

A simple example of a prospect brushing off a SDR

Prospect: “Thanks for the call but we are all set.”

A typical response of the new SDR might be:

SDR: “Oh? Ok, thanks for the time.”

Or worse, the SDR gets stopped in their tracks, “Uh…. [quiet while waiting for the prospect to hang up]”.

Another problem the SDR could cause is coming across as pitching their service or talking way too much. This is typically caused by the SDR diving right into the pitch without getting any “buy-in” from the prospect. An example of a “buy-in” could look like this:

Prospect: “Hello, this is Braden.”

SDR: “Hi Braden, Kyle here, I am reaching out to you as the person in charge of marketing at ABC Company. I’m not sure if we can help each other but I thought it was worth a quick call. Did I catch you at the worst time?”

Whereas pitching or talking too much might come across like this:

Prospect: “Hello, this is Braden.”

SDR: “Hi Braden, this is Kyle from XYZ Company and I am reaching out to you as the person in charge of marketing at XYZ Company. At XYZ Company we are helping markers drive more traffic to their website by optimizing their pay per click advertising and using insights to improve their offering. The purpose of my call is to see if this is something you are interested in. Do you have some time to chat this week to see if our service would benefit your organization?”

In the example above, the SDR wasn’t allowing the Prospect a word in to listen to his thoughts or have a back and forth conversation. Remember, “It takes two to Tango;” you can’t expect to build a relationship with a Prospect if you’re the only one having the conversation.

Let’s look at some of the methods we can use to help improve the overall introduction and increase our chances of building more relationships with our Prospects.

What Makes an Introduction Work Well:

One of the biggest lies that most modern SDR’s hear is that you shouldn’t come across as being too much of a salesman. Sounding like a salesman is, obviously, not the best means of building relationships with Prospects. Again, first and foremost, Prospects are people and it’s important to remember that when approaching them with an opportunity to work together.

However, with that in mind, we’re a Sales Development Representative. You were hired for the purpose of selling a product or a service. You should know that; the Prospects will know that, so let’s not fool ourselves and denying us that role. We can be a salesman without sounding like one. By improving your overall tone, you’re able to portray yourself as someone who is more confident and is seen as an invaluable person to the Prospect’s company.

When improving your tone, you don’t want to replace pauses with filler words as mentioned above. You want to make sure you’re clear and concise with your approach because most cold callers sound scattered, possibly confused, unsure of themselves, or use softer language.

Think about some of the high-value people in society, whether it’s someone in power like a corporate CEO/CFO or a Prime Minister, to a favorite celebrity or musician, high-value individuals speak very clearly and sound polished. These individuals have had years of practice talking to millions of people in the course of a lifetime, so they need to stay clear, concise, and to the point.

Prospects are exposed to high-value people all the time, whether it’s their manager or CEO, or someone in the public eye, or other confident SDR’s who have the experience of speaking in a manner. You have a short amount of time in order to convince your Prospect that you’re a high-value person, and fixing your tone of voice will help this.

First, it’s worth mentioning that this will take time to adapt and correct, so the key to becoming more natural and confident when delivering cold calls is:

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

This goes with most everything in our lives, whether we’re learning to walk, talk, interact, or gain a new mental or physical skill. The more we practice a said skill or ability, the more familiar we become performing that skill, and it becomes more natural to us. In this example, don’t worry so much about sounding scripted when it comes to your introduction. It will sound scripted at first, but when you practice your introduction over and over again, correcting mistakes along the way, you’ll internalize your introduction and it will become more natural, and you’ll sound more confident.

As far as correcting little mistakes in your introduction, cutting out the soft language and filler words such as “kinda, um, uh, like,” is key to sounding like a more confident speaker and overall SDR. One tip you can do is putting those words on sticky notes or a piece of paper with a big “X” over it, place those notes on your computer monitor or someplace visual so you can internalize this practice and help yourself from repeating these habits. The more you can remove this language consciously from your vocabulary the more confident you’ll come across when speaking with future Prospects.

Additionally, try to avoid language that sounds like you’re imposing on the Prospect or acting like an inconvenience to them. It makes you sound like you don’t belong in a business conversation with the Prospect, or you sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about, and it will show over the course of your conversation. Don’t lead a cold call with, “I’m sorry to be bothering you,” or, “I don’t mean to be a bother,” it gives the impression that you’re not confident in what you’re offering your Prospect.

They want to be reassured that you’re their go-to person for any kind of questions, concerns, criticisms, or assistance for the product or service you’re offering. Make a lasting impression by removing this language from your introduction and give your Prospect the confidence that you’re what they need in their future business ventures.

Another great tip to help eliminate mistakes is to listen to your own conversations. Similar to how fighters will watch their own performances during a boxing or MMA match, you too should play back conversations that you have with Prospects during your cold calls, listen to them critically, and pinpoint specific mistakes you might have made.

Check the tone of your voice during your call. Did you sound too monotone? Were you too energetic or not energetic enough? You want to come off as passionate, but too much energy can cause you to sound cheesy and unprofessional. A good rule of thought is to try and match the energy of your Prospect. If they’re friendly and energetic, keep the conversation lively; if they’re low energy and monotone, keep it civil and professional but speak slower and with purpose.

Try to keep things clear, concise, and to the point. You don’t want to bombard your Prospect with tons of qualifying questions. You want to briefly explain to them in one sentence and follow them up with a question. Here is an example:

SDR: “Hi Braden, Kyle from ABC Company. I was directed to you as the person who handles marketing at ABC Company. I’m not sure if we can help each other but thought it was worth a phone call. Do I catch you at the worst time?”

Prospect: “No, what’s going on?”

SDR: “We are helping SAAS companies improve their online presence by optimizing their pay per click marketing campaigns and improving SEO. The majority of people I speak with are focused on increasing the ROI of marketing spend. Is that the same for you or are you more focused on improving your search rankings?”

Keep in mind that you should NEVER push your own agenda towards your Prospect.You’re supposed to understand their needs and provide a way for them to solve the problem that they have been experiencing. Not trying to get them to come to a meeting. That being said, they will need to come to a meeting, but they will do that because of the value of your offering and/or the desire for a solution to their problem. Don’t say things like:

“What I want to do,”

“I would like to set up a meeting,”

“I think your organization would benefit from…”

These phrases show to your Prospect that you’re putting your needs before their own. This is a mutually beneficial relationship you want to build and by putting your agenda first, you’re blowing your first impressions with your Prospect.

In regards to asking too many qualifying questions, it’s best to steer clear of asking questions like:

“How many visitors do you have to your website?”

“What is your marketing budget?”

“How much do you currently spend on PPC?” (Pay per Click advertising).

It’s not to say that these aren’t important questions, but it’s more imperative to be clear and concise with your introduction rather than bombarding the prospect with a bunch of qualifying questions before we even earn the right to have a conversation.

Lastly, don’t give up. When a Prospect says “We don't have plans to look into this until January, call me then,” the worst response a SDR can say is, “Ok, I’ll call you in January then.” This is horrible because you haven’t really introduced your product or service and what a relationship could provide.

Additionally, they won’t remember who you are since you didn’t book an initial meeting with them when you had them on the phone. You need to try and look into why they’re waiting to discuss their needs in January. A much better response would be:

Prospect: “We don’t have plans to look into this until January, call me then.”

SDR: “Sounds good, January is when a lot of organizations choose to look into their marketing efforts. To make sure that it is worth us connecting again in January, give me an idea here: What is your main focus with your marketing? Are you trying to maximize your PPC conversion or improve your SEO?”

This follow-up question allows us to better understand what their focus is and what they want to improve. After having a conversation with our Prospect we may find out that they are hurting with PPC conversion. If that is the case we can book a meeting for this week and discuss with them on how they can improve this. The best case scenario is they say, “Ok, let chat on Wednesday.”

Worse case scenario is they say, “Like I said, let's chat in January,”  which is the same position you would have been in before but you actually understand their needs and have increased your chance of booking the meeting when you call back.

Another common mistake is when the prospect gives a brush off and it sounds like they are about to hang up. Many SDR’s will stop speaking on the other end anticipating the *click* of the Prospect hanging up. Always… ALWAYS default to trying to overcome this brush off and continue the conversation. Even if you know they will hang up the phone you should build the habit of keeping the conversation going until the Prospect actually hangs up the phone.

For every ten Prospects that you think are hanging up, there are one to two people who are waiting, giving you a chance to respond. If you stay quiet, you’re giving permission to the Prospect to end the conversation when you could have kept the discussion going in hopes that they’ll stay on the phone. Below is a great way to ensure that you’re not being brushed off:

Prospect: “We are all set here…” *pause* (waiting for you to speak before hanging up the phone).

SDR: “I hear you, Braden, you have something that is working and I don't want to waste your time here. Let’s see if it makes sense for us to chat. The majority of people I speak with like their current solution but still want to improve their SEO. Is that the same for you or is your main focus increasing your PPC conversion?”

Remember, even if most Prospects hang up on you after saying, “We are all set here,” you should practice trying to overcome the brush off. That way when a Prospect does give you a second to speak you can take advantage of that by gaining more valuable information that can prove useful in a future conversation.

By utilizing these tips and becoming more comfortable with your introduction, you’ll become more aware of what you can improve on and thus, become more confident when cold calling future Prospects. Confidence is key, and that will naturally come by practicing and improving with each future cold call.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions feel free to comment or message me, I am more than happy to help. Now... BACK ON THE PHONES!