If you think you can execute a successful sales development program on email cadence alone, you’re wrong. In today’s SaaS-level of cold calling, Sales Development Reps need to become creative sales conversation machines in order to hit their monthly quota.
High performing teams use a combination of phone and email to have conversations with their prospects, and the Salesloft team is no different. With the Salesloft dialer, custom built around the sales development process for maximum effectiveness and efficiency, finding that sales conversation formula for success becomes a whole lot easier.
Now, taking a sales conversation — originally built on the old-school idea of quick banter and agile salesmanship — and turning it into a formula may sound like it’s ruining the magic. But take this sales conversation map for example:
With just a few simple discovery questions, a rep can take an otherwise cold call and turn it into a warm sales conversation with a purpose. And having a purpose-driven relationship with your prospects is going to be key in furthering that relationship.
Here are a few more sales conversation tips to live by:
1. If you get the prospect on the phone, state your name and the reason for your call.
“Hi {{first_name}}, Sean here with Salesloft. The reason for my call today is to talk about your phone and email outreach process.”
Straight and to-the-point, this introduction leaves little room for the prospect on the receiving end to doubt your purpose for calling.
2. Ask for permission to have some of the prospect’s time to ask a few questions.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few quick questions allowing you to determine whether we can be helpful?”
A simple concept, but asking for permission is a simple courtesy that every person can respect. Time is valuable to each and every one of us, so don’t assume that your prospect is going to give it freely.
3. If you get permission, ask targeted questions that relate to the industry, your prospect’s company, and their role within the sales team.
“I’m betting you have someone on your team that is consistently exceeding expectations. Do they have a process they follow to convert prospects to appointments?”
Back to the purpose-driven sales conversation: don’t waste that time you were just granted by asking the wrong questions. Get into the nitty gritty and discover those pain points as quickly as you can.
4. Now, repeat their answers and summarize their pain points, making sure to ask if you’ve accurately understood their needs.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you told me you use marketing automation to send your emails, and that if you could change anything, it would be to have better tracking and analytics on your emails and phone calls. Am I correct in this statement?”
This practice is otherwise known as active listening. Clarification and confirmation. After you’ve heard the prospect’s issues, clarify them and confirm them to prove that you are invested in their issues and are here to help.
5. Pitch the benefits of your product succinctly, aimed at solving their problems.
“Salesloft is the simplest way on the internet to convert prospects to qualified appointments, using analytics to improve your phone and email outreach. Based on what you told me, I believe this would be of value to you. Do you agree?”
By connecting with the prospect and letting them that you understand their frustration, you will remind them that you’re a human being on the other end of the line. Empathize with their situation, but do so in a positive way that helps provide ideas for a solution.
6. Close with an offer to schedule the prospect with an expert in the field who could walk them through the details.
“I would love to set you up with an outreach expert who can more deeply understand your needs and give you a high level overview of a solution catered to you. Do you agree this would make sense?”
Once you’ve sold the prospect on the next step, make an appointment and set it right then and there. Making vague statements about future conversations and leaving the follow up to chance will only cause all of your hard work from the last few minutes to go down the drain.
SDRs have enough on their plate trying to hit quota through all of the different channels available. Our goal is to give them the best environment to focus on what they’re here to do: build positive sales relationships. And with the modern sales development technology available, increasing your number of positive sales conversations — without sacrificing quality — is now possible.
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Want to get a more comprehensive look at how we tackle the execution phase of sales development? Download the second section of our Sales Development Playbook: Executing and get ramped up today!
