Doing outreach qualifying calls to new prospects?
List-building is especially helpful when you reach the gate-keepers.
I politely say "sorry, I dialed the wrong number", but flag for call back after hours to reach owners who usually work late.
Exceptions are gate-keepers for high-level exec --- especially the larger organizations. These gate-keepers usually worthwhile.
Try list-building your prospects into three categories:
A. reachable prospects during day
B. reachable prospects after hours
C. reachable only during day and only via gate-keeper
C above I generally avoid--- more productive to work A and B.
Voice mail or leaving messages with gate-keepers I have found ineffective on first calls to new prospects.
Q: What goals are realistic for outreach qualifying calls?
A: Forget phone prospecting for appointments.
Effective lead generation and list building are about qualifying prospects for future contacts.
You are calling to get information -- NOT to book an appointment!
That means finding out if your prospect qualifies being added to the front end of your sales funnel.
Picture a crowded room.
Your goal: find the folks interested --- more or less --- in what you offer.
How to do it? Ask for a show of hands.
There, that's the goal of your cold call ---
finding the right prospects
separating them from the crowd
qualifying their interest level
My goodness --- now you have three goals!
Recommended reading:
100 Best Business Development Books of All Time
Forbes: New Rules for Prospecting In The Age of The Customer
Also: Harvard Business Review reports on benefits of cold call lead development.
From Harvard Business School On-line: This On-line learning course sounds interesting