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Unlike virtually any other marketing tool, cold calling lets companies change courses at almost any time.

In today’s ever-changing business environment, this flexibility is critical.

Companies new to cold calling must watch early results closely.

Testing, assessing, and refining the program from the onset are critical first steps. These actions can result in a long term program that produces a predictable stream of sales opportunities.

Veteran cold callers also must work. Constant attention is needed to keep the program sharp. Here’s a recommendation: continue with the program that works, but apply a portion of your tele-prospecting investment towards testing new approaches that may surpass your existing model. When you find one that is more effective, replace your existing program, but continue to test new approaches.

It’s easy to test and change cold calling campaigns. Unlike print ads, radio spots, billboards, or most other marketing vehicles, cold calling programs make testing and applying those results to the program easy.

Here are some of the items that every program should assess:

1) The offer. Do you want to set a sales appointment? Do you want to invite people to a webinar? Do you simply want to collect email addresses for a campaign? Are you offering a free assessment, or a free trial? Do you need an incentive to enhance your “call to action?”

2) The list. Are the decision makers and the companies on your list the best prospects?

3) Talking points. Do your callers have the conversation points to highlight the key aspects of your program? Is there something compelling that needs to be added? Are the talking points too complicated or long?

4) Your calling team. How well do they represent you? How effective are they in talking to decision makers? Can they ask for the appointment?

5) Your ability to close the leads. This is the part that comes after a cold calling lead is identified. Can you cost effectively convert that lead into a sale? Do you have the people and processes in place? Are you getting qualified leads?

Case Studies

Here are short examples of savvy VSA clients who tested, assessed and refined their programs.

1) A software company implemented a program which successfully produced leads. However, the company was unprepared to convert the leads to sales. Now, this company plans a product-specific website, marketing materials and the right expertise to make sales calls. A second cold calling initiative is scheduled.

2) An online marketing company completed a program that produced poor results. The company has changed its offer to simplify steps prospective companies must take to enroll. A second campaign has been launched.

3) A commercial roofing company implemented a program and generated desired results. Later, the company realized the prospective clients were not a good fit. The company has implemented a second campaign targeting a different prospect list.

If you are planning a cold calling program, please call us to talk about the factors that can make or break your campaign. We’d like to know what marketing tools have worked for you in the past and show you how we can add to that success. We are happy to help.

Sales people know there are two critical decisions that must be made before starting a cold calling campaign. How many leads do you need, and how qualified do you need them to be?

While these are two questions, they’re really two parts to the same question.

Let’s say you start up a telephone prospecting program and ask the caller to refer you to all interested prospects.

It’s almost a guarantee that you’ll get many more leads if you don’t put constraints on how “qualified” these leads are. But, you’re also more likely to get tire kickers and individuals who are not serious about purchasing.

On the other hand, when you stipulate that each lead must be fully qualified, your telephone prospecting program is likely to generate fewer opportunities. But, virtually all your leads will be “the right” kind of prospect. Ready to buy!

You see, there is often a trade-off between quantity and quality.

What is a “qualified lead?”

Simply put, a qualified lead is an individual with a near- term need for your product or service, who also has decision making authority and the required budget.

To a lesser degree a qualified lead is someone who may need your product or service in the future and is shopping now.

What kind of lead do you get when you don’t apply stringent qualification “constraints?”

Of course, you still will get the qualified leads, but you’ll get others, too. Some will turn into sales. Others will turn into future sales. Others may refer you business in the future. Others will amount to nothing. You may have to work harder at selling, because many may not even realize you can help them.

Should every company choose quality over quantity or vice versa?

Every company has its own sales strategy, and should establish a telephone prospecting campaign to fit this strategy.

You probably want to accept only highly qualified leads if: you want immediate revenue, your product or service is simple to describe on the phone, the decision making timeframe for your product or service is short, and/or your sales team cannot dedicate time to relationship building.

You probably want to accept less qualified prospects if: you are entering a new market or geographic area, you want to establish relationships that could result in future sales or referrals, your sales team has available time, the decision making timeframe for your product or service is lengthy and/or you have a product or service that is not quite so easy to describe in a 15 minute phone conversation, or requires technical knowledge a cold caller may not have.

Here are two Case Studies from VSA’s prospecting experience:

Company A: Willing to meet anyone

One of our clients, in the commercial property improvement business, wanted us to forward anyone who expressed interest in a face to face meeting. This company felt prospects who wanted to talk about their product were worth the time investment.

This company was entering a new geographic area and needed to develop name recognition, and business relationships.

In the end based on our leads, our client sold several accounts, and developed relationships with many companies who may purchase in the future or refer business.

Company B: Wanted appointments with qualified prospects only

Another client, also in the commercial property improvement business, wanted a completely different strategy. This company wanted us to forward only very qualified leads.

This company was already established in its target geographic area, and employed a small sales team. The reputation was extremely positive. This sales team wanted to focus on leads that could convert to immediate sales.

In the end based on our leads, we helped this client generate sales and revenue, without wasting the sales team’s time on leads with little likelihood of closing soon.

Every working business owner should have a sales lead generation program in place. Some of them can be as simple as getting referrals from existing and new customers. Some can be as elaborate as a lead generation service. Whatever method the business uses lead generation is an important aspect of business life.

Lead generation is a method used by businesses to create new customers. An existing business may have customers, but with only a few customers businesses cannot survive, so then it becomes essential for the business to find new customers.

Finding new customers is a constant process. Every business may have more than one method in place to produce new customers, but they all will have at least one. Depending on the financial situation of your business, you can find low cost lead generation programs to use or you can hire a lead generation service to provide you with a list of qualified leads.

If you are going to use a lead generation service, make sure to choose a reputable company who will stand behind the qualified leads you receive. If you are going to pay for leads, make sure you are getting qualified leads. You want the prospective clients to able to use your product or service.

If you are not getting qualified leads, you might as well get the names out of your local phone directory.

If you are going to use a low cost lead generation, make sure the method you choose will narrow down the list of prospects to those prospective clients who will most likely use your product or service. It is possible to make sales from cold calls however the percentage is much smaller than with qualified sales.

Every business needs a good sales lead generation program working for them. If it is not working well at increasing your sales, then you might look closely at the method you are using in order to find any changes, which might need to be made to improve its performance. If it still doesn’t work, try implementing a different method.