In B-to-B, Think Before You Call
In B-to-B, Think Before You Call
When the economy goes south, many business-to-business firms immediately head to the phone without any real solid plan.
“There’s a remarkable sameness to the campaigns, and there’s a desperation you can hear in the callers’ voices,” says Michael Brown, president of Business to Business By Phone, Austin, TX.
This is a mistake for several reasons, he says. For one, cold calling just isn’t working anymore.
“The phone is so personal,” he notes. “I firmly believe the phone still has a place in B-to-B, just later in the cycle.”
And when would that be? Try after you’ve made contact with the prospect online, where the majority of B-to-B purchase considerations now begin. Brown recommends personalized e-mail, rather than blasts, to connect with the right person.
Of course, finding that right person is more challenging than ever, he acknowledges. Many of the decision makers businesses reached by phone a year ago are no longer at the same job, or have different responsibilities in their organizations now.
“And a lot of people just don’t want to answer the phone anymore,” says Brown, noting that many people don’t want to make any commitments, even to something with no financial cost.
When you do get someone on the phone, state the purpose of the call at the outset — the real purpose. For example, it’s wrong to tell someone that you are doing a survey — and then turn the call into a sales pitch based on the prospect’s answers.
“Many companies just don’t want to tell it like it is,” says Brown.
