The summer months are a perfect time to hit the beach, visit a favorite vacation spot, barbecue with family and friends, or perhaps just relax with a good book.
No matter how you spend the dog days of July and August, make it something you genuinely enjoy doing. Nobody should have to fake having fun. If your smiles aren’t authentic, you’re doing something wrong.
It’s the same thing in business. If you’re not “keeping it real” with your prospects and customers, if you’re using certain marketing automation tools or strategies that minimize the human connection, you’re not being authentic. And your target prospects will notice.
We’ve all been there. How many times have you tried to respond to a person on the other end of a telephone call, only to realize you’re talking to a machine or pre-recorded voice? How aggravating is that?
When you make your prospecting calls, are you pretending to speak to your targets through some sort of automated voice system, or are you having an actual human-to-human conversation, with back-and-forth interaction, moments of spontaneity, and genuine curiosity about their challenges and needs?
Renowned sales guru and best-selling author Jeffrey Gitomer, who recently spoke at the Sales 3.0 Conference attended by members of VSA’s leadership team, puts it very succinctly in a blog post on his website: “The authenticity of the sale is in the salesperson.”
That’s true at the start of the sales process, as well, which is why VSA strives to be authentic with every lead generation and appointment-setting call we make on our client’s behalf. Here are five of the ways we do it:
1. Experienced and highly trained BDRs
The average tenure of VSA’s Business Development Representatives is five years, more than twice the industry norm of 1.8 years, per a 2021 Bridge Group report. Almost all of our BDRs have ample experience calling within multiple B2B industries, often involving complex purchasing decisions.
This experience, along with continuous coaching and support from our Quality & Training Department, ensures that our BDRs are always prepared to engage with decision-makers on the phone, no matter what direction a call might take. While we utilize prepared messaging for all our lead generation programs, our BDRs are adept at knowing when to deviate from the script and how to inject their own personalities into the conversation.
2. A balance of technology and the human touch
VSA is always looking for new ways to provide the best possible service for our clients, and that often involves implementing the latest and greatest technology. But these tools can never be a replacement for genuine human connections.
An automated dialer plagued by clicks or beeps or any sort of hesitation before the conversation begins is a surefire recipe for a hang-up, especially when busy senior-level decision-makers are involved. If you’re not ready to talk when your prospect picks up the phone, they’re unlikely to wait to hear what you have to say.
VSA makes sure this isn’t an issue. Our tech stack allows us to deliver more than twice as many dials as the average B2B call center, but just the capability to make more calls isn’t enough. When it comes time for the actual conversation, we’ve always got a human voice ready to go.
3. Always be listening
There’s nothing wrong with reading from a script, but not if it means sounding robotic or failing to properly acknowledge the person on the other end of the line. The most authentic prospecting and sales calls often involve questions, answers, and an exchange of information.
If you don’t know what challenges your prospects are facing, you won’t know if your offering is a good fit. If you don’t know their role in the organization, you won’t know if you’re even talking to the right person.
By truly listening to what prospects have to say, you not only come across as authentic, but you’re also much better prepared for any follow-up conversations.
4. Put yourself in their shoes
Just because you’re calling corporate VIPs and other high-level decision-makers, it doesn’t mean you don’t have anything in common. There are certain stressors all people in the business world can relate to. Time, for example, is an invaluable commodity no matter what your role is. When somebody takes a few moments of their day to answer your call, it’s important to let them know you appreciate it.
By acknowledging we’re an interruption at the start of the call, VSA’s BDRs show the prospect that we’re empathetic to how busy they are, which immediately establishes a level of authenticity.
This also applies to cold emails we send out on prospects’ behalf. Most people aren’t going to read long, generic emails, especially from an unfamiliar sender, which is why we keep our prospecting emails short and to the point, often not much longer than a text message. If it’s not something we’d take the time to read ourselves, why should we expect anybody else to read it?
5. Own what you do
The word “authentic” does not appear in VSA’s list of core values, but it’s implied in each and every one, most notably, “We own what we do.”
There’s nothing more authentic than taking accountability for your actions, and this mindset exists at VSA from the top down. If a program isn’t meeting a client’s expectations (or our own), we take steps to analyze the data and identify the problem, then collaborate closely with the client and work internally to find a solution.
Whether it’s updating the calling list, revising the messaging, or providing our BDRs with added training, our culture of transparency and constant communication ensures that no issue goes unaddressed for long.
Conclusion
These days, it’s easy to sniff out inauthenticity. Buyers have more access to information than ever before, and most aren’t going to sit through clichéd sales pitches, pre-recorded messages, or spurious claims. In the words of Pete Prowitt, a longtime SaaS sales leader, “today’s buyers expect candid and transparent conversations.”
VSA has been having these types of authentic conversations for 21 years, which has been crucial to helping our clients fill their pipelines and meet their sales goals.
If you’re looking to find new ways to generate leads and engage with prospects this summer (and beyond), give us a call. We promise we’ll always keep it real.