If you knocked on all the doors in your neighborhood, you’d learn a lot about the people who live around you.
Did you know that the same thing is true when you make cold calls to sales prospects?
Certainly, cold calling is primarily a prospecting tool. VSA makes telephone calls every day for our clients and we open doors to sales opportunities. Sometimes our clients ask us to gather specific information to qualify leads. But, even when we implement pure appointment generation campaigns, we gain valuable market intelligence for our clients.
Here are some examples of what we have learned:
Competitive information
Earlier this fall, an innovative VSA client decided to enter a new market. This client believed there would be little to no competition for their services.
But soon after VSA began making cold calls, we learned the truth. Companies were already using services similar to our client’s offering. In fact, the market was virtually 100% penetrated.
Importantly, though, there was no single dominant competitor in the market.
With this information, our client decided the challenge was to convince prospects that they are the best in the industry, and the dominant provider for the services they offer.
Target industries
Another area where clients can gain great knowledge through cold calling is identifying the ideal target industries.
Cold callers are in a unique position to learn which industries:
have “easy-to-reach” decision makers
have greatest interest in talking about our clients’ services
are willing to meet with new vendors
are willing to try out new or multiple providers
seek back-up providers on a regular basis
By calling hundreds of companies, cold callers can see industry behaviors that would not be visible by just talking to a few firms. We observe these trends to help clients focus on the best possible prospects.
Mailing lists
The most valuable information gained through cold calling is an excellent prospect list!
A targeted prospecting list created through cold calling contains specific information that is not generally available elsewhere.
Information can range from the decision maker’s name, to what product they are currently using. Here’s a list of frequently asked questions for mailing list development:
Decision maker name and title
Confirmation of the company name, address and telephone number
Whether the prospect is willing to meet
What competitive products/services they currently use
What kinds of needs they might have for a specific product/service
When they might consider making a specific purchase
Obtaining this kind of information is certainly challenging. But, a prospect list developed through cold calling is very targeted and can be used with great results in drip mailings and targeted prospecting campaigns over a long period.
Cold calling puts prospecting in high gear.
Most VSA clients hire us to create sales opportunities through cold calling. The value- added information we provide is often a surprise. By really listening to the market, cold callers can turn an ordinary calling campaign into a campaign that not only generates short term sales, but also produces long-term marketing and sales strategies.
VSA. Inc.
414 Station Avenue
Haddonfield, NJ 08033
856-429-5078
mailto:info@vsaprospecting.com info@vsaprospecting.com
vsaprospecting.com www.vsaprospecting.com
Valerie earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and her MBA from the Wharton School. Formerly a consultant with two national consulting firms, KPMG Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting, Valerie started her career in marketing management positions at American Express, Travelers and CIGNA. Valerie’s focus area is in direct marketing including call centers roles to support marketing campaigns, direct mail, direct response ads and strategy development. Valerie brings her bottom-line focus to VSA, where the firm’s goal is to achieve financial results for clients.
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