Sales is a tough racket. When you think historically about the sales profession, it has always been a numbers game. The more doors you knock on, calls you make, and emails you send, the greater the chance of success. New-school selling has taken advantage of technology to accelerate, optimize, and empower reps to do more, be more, and achieve more.
To put it simply, if you are using a desk/cell phone to make all your calls you are living in the selling “stone age.”
Here’s the deal: virtually no one answers the phone. No problem, just leave a voicemail. Even fewer prospects call you back. Based on research conducted by TOPO, it takes on average 18 calls to connect with one prospect and of those who do not answer, only 1% ever call you back. The average rep makes close to 47 calls per day. I am no mathematician but that gives each rep 2.6 conversations per day. Not exactly setting them up for success.
Time to change the odds. There are two schools of thought:
1. Make more calls (less personal and targeted, but does lend itself to more conversations)
2. Use technology to get the edge on prospects. (Increase conversations without increasing quantity)
Salesloft has opted for option 2 with our recent LocalDial release in our V2 of the Cadence Power Dialer. LocalDial; is an intelligent dialer solution allowing users to make calls to prospects matching the area code of the number they are calling from to that of the prospect. From speaking with our customers and industry leaders, we know that far more prospects answer calls when coming from a local number than those coming from out of area numbers.
But how effective is Salesloft LocalDial?
Based on research conducted by Hello Operator, published by Software Advice, People are 4x more likely to answer the phone when the number is local. The study, which surveyed 2,310 randomly selected within the United States, only 7% of the people surveyed said that they are likely to answer an unknown number. However, that number catapults to 27.5% when the call comes from a local area code!
What does this mean for your sales team?
You can increase conversations without increasing volume by taking advantage of technology. Using Salesloft LocalDial and coupled with sniper like precision with our Timezone feature gives users the advantage needed to beat the odds.
Stop living in the Stone Age and start taking advantage of technology to accelerate efficiency, maximize performance, and increase conversations. Don’t take my word for it, grab a free trial.
