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Honorable Selling Article: Igniting a buyer's need
Igniting a Buyer’s Needs with Telephone Prospecting
Creating and developing need is a critical selling skill. This article describes telephone
prospecting tactics that you can use to spark needs within a prospect or buyer.
Getting buyers to become aware of their needs is typically the realm of your marketing
department. They are constantly coming up with new lead generation and publicity
campaigns designed to arouse interest and curiosity in your company and your
products. I do not want to belittle any marketing or publicity campaign that generates
leads for those of us in sales. But responding to a compelling marketing message does
not necessarily mean that these prospects will turn into paying customers.
In the late 90’s I was Director of Sales for a software company that produced several
hundred leads per week by offering our prospects a free CD. The phones were ringing off
the hooks, our snail mail was delivered by the box load, and hundreds of emails poured
in. Our sales team spent untold hours following up on these leads. Unfortunately, almost
all of these inquiries had needs that were too weak to justify the purchase of our
products, and it became an effort in futility to try and develop these leads into paying
customers. The bulk of our revenue (over 75 percent) was produced by cold-calling into a
small handful of self-referencing target accounts who had extremely strong needs, but
had never responded to these mass marketing campaigns.
What’s the moral of this story? Like those fishbowls full of business cards at a trade
show give-away, be wary of leads that were generated by a free offer or a sexy marketing
message. Just because someone enters a drawing to win a free copy of your software
does not mean that they have a stronger desire to buy than someone who was too busy
to attend the trade show. As a matter of fact, the buyer who was back at the office working
may be a better prospect – it’s just that you will have to cold call this buyer to reach them.
Don’t become mesmerized by an ocean of incoming Web leads. That does not mean you
should not follow-up on these customers to learn about their situation and help develop
their needs - you certainly should. But save some of your selling time to search for the
type of customer that you know is likely to develop a strong need for your products or
services – even if they have never heard of your firm and are not yet aware of their need.
The only way to find these individuals is to proactively search for them – commonly
referred to as prospecting.
Telephone Prospecting
By far the most common way to ignite a buyer’s dormant needs is to prospect via the
telephone. It can also be one of the most frustrating ways to attempt to generate new
business, so you had better prepare yourself for a lot of rejection and for leaving dozens
of voicemails. But, if you can deal with that, it is one of the best ways to find prospects that
have not yet begun a search for your solution.
So, how do you go about creating need in a buyer when prospecting via the telephone?
Let’s begin by explaining what NOT to do, and that is to begin your call by launching into a
description of the features or capabilities of your product. Remember, this buyer is most
likely not yet looking for a solution. They don’t now anything about your product or
company. The goal of your first 20 to 30 seconds in your prospecting call is to arouse
interest or curiosity in the buyer, not to inform them that your product is the market leader
or that you have just released a brand new version of your product.
One of the most successful techniques for cold-calling is to describe a specific issue that
your product has been able to help your customers resolve. Alternatively, you can lead
with how your product has enhanced an aspect of your customer’s business. Describing
generic benefits (reduce costs, save time, increase sales) without tying them to an
industry specific issue is not nearly as effective as discussing specific concerns or
enhancements that are prevalent within the industry you are targeting.
After leading with an issue or enhancement that your product can help with, end your call
introduction with a compelling statement or question designed to entice the prospect to
engage you in conversation. Here are two simple examples of this type of cold-call
introduction:
Call Intro Example 1: CFR-21 Compliance Software for Biotech Industry
(Calling into the Compliance Manager)
“Hi John this is Greg Johnson with Acme Software and we work with Compliance
Managers who are concerned with the difficulty and high costs of achieving and
maintaining 21CFR compliance. We help our customers reduce compliance related-
costs by automating the audit-tracking process. I am curious what role you play in that
process …”
Call Intro Example 2: Targeted Email Campaign Software
(Calling into the Marketing Manager)
“Hi John, this is Greg Johnson with Acme Email Solutions. We help Auto dealerships
boost customer loyalty and attract new customers through the use of targeted email
campaigns. I am curious as to the type of email campaigns that you currently run, and
what your role is in these programs…”
Notice that neither of these cold-call introductions mentions a specific technical feature or
capability of the product. As a matter of fact, neither of them even mentions the product.
The call introductions are designed to arouse interest or curiosity in the buyer by
mentioning an issue or desired enhancement that this buyer may resonate with. It should
be an issue or enhancement that is likely to develop into a recognized need for your
product or service.
You will know immediately if the buyer is curious by their response to your implied
question. In my experience, about one out of every four cold-call connections expresses
positive interest. In these cases, you probe to learn about the buyer’s situation and
issues they are facing, taking care to answer any questions they have about your
company or products.
However, what about the majority of your connections, the three out of four responses
which are not positive? You need to be prepared for these negative responses. The most
likely ones are “I am not interested” or “I am busy right now.” Have a scripted answer
ready for each of these scenarios, as well as any other responses that you are most
likely to receive.
If you have already gone through the Natural Buying Process™ exercise, then you are
aware that every individual involved in the buying process will resonate with different
issues. Be sure that your call introduction scripts are customized for each type of buyer
that you are calling (Buying Catalyst, End-user, Decision Maker, etc.) Here are the three
P’s of prospecting, which summarize the most critical factors which will lead to a
successful cold-calling campaign.
Creating and developing need is a critical selling skill. This article describes telephone
prospecting tactics that you can use to spark needs within a prospect or buyer.
Getting buyers to become aware of their needs is typically the realm of your marketing
department. They are constantly coming up with new lead generation and publicity
campaigns designed to arouse interest and curiosity in your company and your
products. I do not want to belittle any marketing or publicity campaign that generates
leads for those of us in sales. But responding to a compelling marketing message does
not necessarily mean that these prospects will turn into paying customers.
In the late 90’s I was Director of Sales for a software company that produced several
hundred leads per week by offering our prospects a free CD. The phones were ringing off
the hooks, our snail mail was delivered by the box load, and hundreds of emails poured
in. Our sales team spent untold hours following up on these leads. Unfortunately, almost
all of these inquiries had needs that were too weak to justify the purchase of our
products, and it became an effort in futility to try and develop these leads into paying
customers. The bulk of our revenue (over 75 percent) was produced by cold-calling into a
small handful of self-referencing target accounts who had extremely strong needs, but
had never responded to these mass marketing campaigns.
What’s the moral of this story? Like those fishbowls full of business cards at a trade
show give-away, be wary of leads that were generated by a free offer or a sexy marketing
message. Just because someone enters a drawing to win a free copy of your software
does not mean that they have a stronger desire to buy than someone who was too busy
to attend the trade show. As a matter of fact, the buyer who was back at the office working
may be a better prospect – it’s just that you will have to cold call this buyer to reach them.
Don’t become mesmerized by an ocean of incoming Web leads. That does not mean you
should not follow-up on these customers to learn about their situation and help develop
their needs - you certainly should. But save some of your selling time to search for the
type of customer that you know is likely to develop a strong need for your products or
services – even if they have never heard of your firm and are not yet aware of their need.
The only way to find these individuals is to proactively search for them – commonly
referred to as prospecting.
Telephone Prospecting
By far the most common way to ignite a buyer’s dormant needs is to prospect via the
telephone. It can also be one of the most frustrating ways to attempt to generate new
business, so you had better prepare yourself for a lot of rejection and for leaving dozens
of voicemails. But, if you can deal with that, it is one of the best ways to find prospects that
have not yet begun a search for your solution.
So, how do you go about creating need in a buyer when prospecting via the telephone?
Let’s begin by explaining what NOT to do, and that is to begin your call by launching into a
description of the features or capabilities of your product. Remember, this buyer is most
likely not yet looking for a solution. They don’t now anything about your product or
company. The goal of your first 20 to 30 seconds in your prospecting call is to arouse
interest or curiosity in the buyer, not to inform them that your product is the market leader
or that you have just released a brand new version of your product.
One of the most successful techniques for cold-calling is to describe a specific issue that
your product has been able to help your customers resolve. Alternatively, you can lead
with how your product has enhanced an aspect of your customer’s business. Describing
generic benefits (reduce costs, save time, increase sales) without tying them to an
industry specific issue is not nearly as effective as discussing specific concerns or
enhancements that are prevalent within the industry you are targeting.
After leading with an issue or enhancement that your product can help with, end your call
introduction with a compelling statement or question designed to entice the prospect to
engage you in conversation. Here are two simple examples of this type of cold-call
introduction:
Call Intro Example 1: CFR-21 Compliance Software for Biotech Industry
(Calling into the Compliance Manager)
“Hi John this is Greg Johnson with Acme Software and we work with Compliance
Managers who are concerned with the difficulty and high costs of achieving and
maintaining 21CFR compliance. We help our customers reduce compliance related-
costs by automating the audit-tracking process. I am curious what role you play in that
process …”
Call Intro Example 2: Targeted Email Campaign Software
(Calling into the Marketing Manager)
“Hi John, this is Greg Johnson with Acme Email Solutions. We help Auto dealerships
boost customer loyalty and attract new customers through the use of targeted email
campaigns. I am curious as to the type of email campaigns that you currently run, and
what your role is in these programs…”
Notice that neither of these cold-call introductions mentions a specific technical feature or
capability of the product. As a matter of fact, neither of them even mentions the product.
The call introductions are designed to arouse interest or curiosity in the buyer by
mentioning an issue or desired enhancement that this buyer may resonate with. It should
be an issue or enhancement that is likely to develop into a recognized need for your
product or service.
You will know immediately if the buyer is curious by their response to your implied
question. In my experience, about one out of every four cold-call connections expresses
positive interest. In these cases, you probe to learn about the buyer’s situation and
issues they are facing, taking care to answer any questions they have about your
company or products.
However, what about the majority of your connections, the three out of four responses
which are not positive? You need to be prepared for these negative responses. The most
likely ones are “I am not interested” or “I am busy right now.” Have a scripted answer
ready for each of these scenarios, as well as any other responses that you are most
likely to receive.
If you have already gone through the Natural Buying Process™ exercise, then you are
aware that every individual involved in the buying process will resonate with different
issues. Be sure that your call introduction scripts are customized for each type of buyer
that you are calling (Buying Catalyst, End-user, Decision Maker, etc.) Here are the three
P’s of prospecting, which summarize the most critical factors which will lead to a
successful cold-calling campaign.
- Persistence – you will have to make many, many calls before you reach a live
person (from 5 to 15 dials per connect, on average.) You should be prepared to
leave a voicemail. The more calls you make, the greater chance you have to
make a live connection.
- Preparation – Have your call scripts and likely responses written down. They
should include specific concerns of buyers in your industry (not vague or generic
issues like cut costs or increase revenue.) Practice your call introduction scripts
with your peers before making any live calls.
- Positive – be prepared to deal positively with a negative response. After all, you
did interrupt someone’s busy day. Remaining positive and calm will allow you to
quickly diffuse any negative responses that you will encounter. I have found that
most people listen better after they have had a chance to say something – even if
it is a negative comment such as “I am really not interested.” You should have
your response to the most common negative statements scripted, so that you are
prepared to respond to them.
Additional articles and resources
How People Buy (article)
Understanding how your customers buy
is the first step in developing and
implementing a sales process and
tactics to help move your customers
through their buying process.
Natural Buying Process™
(template/exercise in PDF format)
This template will help you map out
and define the buying process that your
customers use when considering a
purchase of your products or services.
The Origins of a Sale (article)
Every sale originates from some
individual's desire to satisfy a need. But
how do these needs arise, and what can
salespeople do to generate additional
need for our products and services?
Igniting a Buyer's Needs (this article)
Igniting a buyer's needs via cold-calling
can be an exercise in futility. What do
you say in the first 15 seconds of a cold
call to get a prospect interested in
engaging with you?
Cold-Call/Voicemail Template
(template exercise in PDF format)
These cold-call and voicemail
templates are an invaluable tool for
improving your prospecting success.
Simply use these cold-call scripts and
apply the three P's of telephone
prospecting to get your prospects to
engage with you.
Effective Networking (article)
Every salesperson knows that
networking is a necessary activity to
achieve sales success. Read this
article and learn how to have fun and
generate more sales at your next
networking event.
How People Buy (article)
Understanding how your customers buy
is the first step in developing and
implementing a sales process and
tactics to help move your customers
through their buying process.
Natural Buying Process™
(template/exercise in PDF format)
This template will help you map out
and define the buying process that your
customers use when considering a
purchase of your products or services.
The Origins of a Sale (article)
Every sale originates from some
individual's desire to satisfy a need. But
how do these needs arise, and what can
salespeople do to generate additional
need for our products and services?
Igniting a Buyer's Needs (this article)
Igniting a buyer's needs via cold-calling
can be an exercise in futility. What do
you say in the first 15 seconds of a cold
call to get a prospect interested in
engaging with you?
Cold-Call/Voicemail Template
(template exercise in PDF format)
These cold-call and voicemail
templates are an invaluable tool for
improving your prospecting success.
Simply use these cold-call scripts and
apply the three P's of telephone
prospecting to get your prospects to
engage with you.
Effective Networking (article)
Every salesperson knows that
networking is a necessary activity to
achieve sales success. Read this
article and learn how to have fun and
generate more sales at your next
networking event.
