Plan Your Sales Prospecting
4 Tips to turn your “Cold” Calls to “Warm” Calls
Is cold calling dead? No! Unless you define cold calling as pulling a list from out of the clear blue sky and just working your way down the line dialing for dollars. There is no reason for that with all the data and tools we have today to pull more targeted and qualified lists. Can we call it “warm” calling or something else? I’m tired of defending what my call center does day in and day out. We generate leads and set qualified appointments all quite efficiently because we have a pre-call process down to a science.
We enjoy leading our hotel partners through the following pre-call process because it makes for a stronger outcome and a happier hotel partner! The breakdown on a lead generation or appointment-setting campaign happens when the pre-work is rushed or a list is forced through that does not make sense for the hotel. A targeted approach is still not going to get you a 100% success rate, but it gets you a lot closer a lot faster.
Here’s the approach we take:
1. Define & understand past successes
We always seem to want what we don’t have. I can buy size 2 clothing all I want, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to fit this carb lovin, wine drinkin, desk jockey rear into a size 2. I’m much more successful at…MY size. You can source a wedding planner contact list, too, but it doesn’t mean that someone is actually going to think you’re a good fit for a wedding if you have a 200 square foot board room…and that’s it! OK…so that example is a little extreme. But, you get the picture. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Embrace your successes and roll with it. I get a lot of calls from hotels wanting help with business development, but they refuse to recognize who they are not, and continue to beat their head against the wall trying every which way to get business from a segment that just doesn’t want to do business with them.
2. Look at emerging markets
Not only do we want to recognize our past successes, but don’t ignore emerging markets IF they make sense for your hotel. Usually with emerging markets there is some economic indicator showing that these make sense to target. Maybe the emerging markets are similar to your successes? Very likely.
3. Determine what your target decision-maker looks like
From #1 and #2 we can start to figure out what a typical decision-maker looks like and where they might be found. Maybe you’ve been successful with small association board meetings, as that is a good fit for your hotel in terms of room block and meeting space sizes. After studying where those association meetings have come from, you determine 85% of the decision-makers happen to be from within the Northeast Region of the US.
4. Determine your list source & drill down to get target customers that most closely resemble your success stories or relevant emerging markets
The list you choose must have the ability to drill down far enough to maximize your time. When I was a new sales manager, I used to just pull a list out of the sky, but would spend hours of wasted time pouring over the contacts and looking them up online or in our existing database to make sure it made sense to call them. It was a huge time suck. Placing calls on a list you’ve already qualified and drilled down based on key target criteria eliminates the need to take 20-30 minutes or more between each call to research. Yes…you will still most likely get some wrong numbers and clients with no needs or interest. It is the nature of the beast when prospecting. At that point you need to trust in your pre-work and the list you’ve pulled and work through the list. If you see the close rate is really poor (below 3%), then re-evaluate the criteria for pulling the list and adjust accordingly.
