B2B cold calling is like any other lead generation skill: No matter how talented the business development rep, there are always potential areas for improvement.
And there’s no better way to figure out exactly what those areas of improvement are than by listening back to the sales calls. Hearing what was said, what wasn’t said, how it was said, and the overall flow of the conversation can go a long way toward ensuring that the next call an individual rep makes will be stronger and more effective than previous calls, increasing the overall success rate.
At VSA, our Business Development Representatives undergo extensive training before beginning a cold calling campaign on behalf of our clients. This includes learning general cold calling best practices, as well as program-specific training. The BDRs closely review the client’s offering, pain points, learn the phone script and common objections, and hear directly from the client, giving them ample opportunities to ask questions and prepare for the conversations with prospects, having a good understanding of the overall value proposition.
But the coaching, training, and learning don’t end once the calling begins. Our Program Managers and Quality & Training team are continuously helping our BDRs hone their phone skills and sales process. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this is by listening back to call recordings.
Whether it’s a productive call that results in scheduling an appointment with a qualified decision maker, or a brief call that ends in an abrupt hang-up by the gatekeeper, you can learn something of value from almost every call that’s made.
Here are eight of the most important things the VSA team looks for when reviewing our BDRs’ phone calls to prospects during a lead generation or appointment-setting campaign:
1. The greeting
It’s difficult to win over a prospect during the first few seconds of a cold call, but it’s easy to lose them. Stumbling over your greeting, not introducing yourself clearly enough, sounding too “salesy” right off the bat are all recipes for disaster.
While certain greetings are proven to be more effective than others, it’s crucial that the caller is comfortable from the very start of the conversation. Listening back to the calls allows us to identify when callers do not sound natural. Perhaps changing a word or two in the greeting, or even the inflexion of the sentence, is all that’s needed to help them feel more at ease.
2. The caller’s confidence
Even if the caller delivers the greeting confidently, it won’t mean much if their voice doesn’t maintain that level of conviction throughout the conversation. VSA’s BDRs are an extension of our clients’ own sales teams, so it’s vital that we deliver their message with self-assurance.
A lack of confidence is one of the easiest things to notice when listening back to calls. The remedy is spending extra training time with the BDR, helping them grow more familiar with the clients’ offering and the intricacies of the program.
3. Objection handling
You can spend hours preparing for specific objections, but until you’re forced to immediately react to one during a cold call, you never know how equipped you are to handle them. Objection handling is one of the most important parts of a cold call conversation, in part because so many prospects’ initial inclination when confronted by a stranger on the phone is to say “not interested,” regardless of the reason for the call.
By listening to how specific BDRs respond to objections from a potential customer, we can offer tips for handling them better the next time. Also, listening to the call might reveal objections the client didn’t anticipate in the first place, which allows us to add program-specific rebuttals to the script.
4. Callers’ personal touches
Some clients insist that our BDRs stick to the calling script verbatim. Many others are fine if our callers inject some of their own personality into the conversation, as long as the overall message remains intact.
But not all ad-libs are equal. Occasionally, a caller will veer too far from the scripted conversation, potentially detracting from the purpose of the call. It’s important to strike a balance between allowing a caller’s personality to emerge and staying on-point with the messaging, and listening back to calls helps our BDRs find that middle ground.
5. The flow of the script
Sometimes a sentence will read perfectly fine on the computer screen, but sound somewhat awkward when spoken. Maybe it’s something as simple as back-to-back words that don’t go together phonetically. Or a specific word that, for whatever reason, trips up the BDRs every time they say it.
These moments are easy to spot when listening back to calls, and, most importantly, easy to fix. With one current client, a BDR changed a single word on her own, and we noticed it made for a better-flowing script. We proceeded to share the change with the other BDRs on that program.
6. Patterns of behavior
In some cases, a BDR might be making the same minor mistake on every call, without even realizing they’re doing it. For example, during a recent listening session, we noticed that one BDR was using the word “please” twice in the same sentence. While certainly not a dealbreaker, it could be just enough to betray a lack of confidence.
Identifying and correcting these types of minor miscues won’t make or break a program’s overall conversion rate, but they can help a BDR sound more comfortable and self-assured, ultimately leading to more scheduled appointments.
7. Omitted details
The goal of any appointment-scheduling campaign is, of course, to book the appointment, but the conversation shouldn’t end when the prospect says “yes.” First, the BDR needs to do everything possible to make sure they actually show up for the meeting. This includes confirming the time and date of the appointment (including time zone) and the best contact information, providing the name of the sales rep they’ll be speaking with, and any other relevant details that will increase the probability of a productive meeting.
A BDR may be inadvertently forgetting one or more of these details every time they schedule a meeting, but listening to the calls makes it easy to pinpoint these omissions.
8. Technical issues of any sort
In today’s remote world, every employee’s work environment is different, which means key communication factors such as internet speed and WiFi signal strength can vary widely. This can result in some telephone conversations sounding as crisp as two people speaking in the same room, while others may be plagued by delays, glitches, or volume issues.
In some cases, a BDR might not be aware of any technical problems, which makes listening to the calls that much more important.
Conclusion
Whether they’re an experienced caller or a relative newcomer, VSA’s Business Development Representatives are always open to finding ways to increase their productivity, cold calling techniques, and set more appointments for our clients. And one of the best ways to accomplish this is by listening to calls, hearing themselves and their colleagues, and working closely with our Program Managers and training team.
Over the years, we’ve found we can learn just as much from listening to a successful cold call as an unsuccessful one. Regardless of the outcome, there’s almost always knowledge to be gleaned from a cold call.
If you’d like to learn more about how VSA can help your company fill your sales pipeline and grow your business, give us a call. This is one phone conversation we promise we won’t critique!