Sales is a tough career, and it's made even harder when we have the internal battle of "should I follow up, or would I sound too pushy?" Here are some tried and true tips for prospecting follow-ups so that you stay on their radar without sounding too pushy or aggressive.
- On your initial reach-out, make it a triple pronged approach. Call, email, and LinkedIn message/invitation. In your call, don't even ask for a call back, let them know that you are emailing as well to draw their attention to their inbox (which is probably flooded with sales emails.) Your initial reach out should display a strong value proposition as well as some information you gathered from some research into them and their company. Make it feel personal, and you'll get more responses.
- How often is too often? Don't be the person to call multiple times throughout a day and never leave a voicemail. There is no faster way to get blocked. It is okay, however, to reach out a few times in a week if you do it right. Doing it right isn't "Hi, this is Steve Dade. I'm following up on my voicemail from yesterday to schedule a meeting. Give me a call back at _________." Diversify the messaging and make sure to not be repetitive. A better follow up sounds more like "Hi Sally, I saw this article in the news about your company that was interesting. I'm curious to see what your team had to do with it. In case you haven't seen it yet, I'm sending you a link to your email." Do this enough and show genuine interest/display enough value, and you'll get a response.
- Don't rely on one contact with your target company. Find 3+ contacts, and customize your messaging to their persona or job duties. Your solution might not be priority for the Director of HR, but it might be the top priority for the Director of Operations, or visa-versa. Sales is often about finding the right person at the right time, so hedge your bets by reaching out to multiple people at the same company.
- Don't listen to anybody that says that cold calling or cold messaging is dead. Yes, there are probably better routes, such as finding referrals, but those might not be available to you at all times. Cold calling, when done right, is still very effective. Those that say cold calling is dead probably leave voicemails that sound like "Hi, this is Joe Jones from XYZ Company. We are the industry leader in staffing, and I'd like to see if you are looking for a new staffing partner. Give me a call back at _______." Then their follow up sounds like "Hi, this is Joe Jones from XYZ Company. We are the industry leader in staffing, and I'd like to see if you are looking for a new staffing partner. Give me a call back at _______." (If you didn't notice, they were the same exact message)
- Always do what you say you are going to do. If you leave a message that says "I'll try to give you a call back on Wednesday at 1pm", make sure you reach out at that exact time. Not 5 minutes early, and not 5 minutes late. You want to leave the impression that you do what you say you will do, and that you can be trusted.
- Remember, it takes multiple attempts to get a response. I've had it happen many times that I don't get a response or somebody live on the phone until I've reached out 20+ times. Typically they answer and say "I'm so sorry I haven't responded, I've been so busy. I have been wanting to talk though and appreciate your persistence." This response only happens if you've followed the first 5 tips I've laid out above.
How often you reach out is very subjective, but if you are asking yourself whether you should try again or not, try again. Be bold. Sound different than your competition. Never give up.
#sales #prospecting #coldcalling #valueproposition
About me: I helped scale one agency from $50 million in annual revenue to over $100 million in 3 years. I genuinely get excited to see companies grow, which is why I'm in consulting. My methodologies that I've created over many years in the industry are repeatable and will without a doubt lead to growth.
As a consultant, my deals are always structured where a large portion of my fee is tied to your growth because any expert should put their money where their mouth is. Reach out today for a free consultation call.
