5 Killer Ways to Justify Your Sales Call & Generate Demand

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s when I hear sales reps calling under the guise of “just calling to check in,” or “just calling to say hi.” Sales reps take note: if you don’t give your prospects a clear, justifiable reason for calling, the conversation is over before it started. In order to keep a call going down the path to closing, you need to give a prospect a reason for why you’re calling.

Can that reason be, “I’m calling to sell you ?” If your value prop can be digested in seconds, perhaps. But most B2B deals require some degree of demand generation to close deals. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that it’s a lot easier to close a deal when a prospect is actively researching your offerings.

But where does this leave reps who are tasked with prospecting or following up with leads that have gone cold? My advice is this: come up with a justification for calling a prospect that simultaneously generates demand for what you’re selling. Here’s how!

Know Your Prospects!

When possible, know your prospects better than you know your Aunt Ethel. When I get a call from a sales rep who clearly doesn’t understand my job functions and pain points, it is rarely a long conversation. Obviously time is a factor, so tools like LinkedIn and Data.com are great platforms for quickly gathering data about your prospects. If your company has already done business with a prospect, then searching through their communications history in your CRM is a must.

Come Up with a Feasible Reason for Calling

Once you have some idea of a prospect’s industry and job functions, it isn’t difficult to devise a reason for your call. Want some help? Here are 5 “reasons” you can use to justify your sales call.

A Promotion/Coupon

A time-sensitive promotion can be a fantastic way to generate demand for a product. And it provides you with a valid reason for calling them at a specific time. After all, you’re telling them about the offer to “save them costs.”

An eBook/Whitepaper/Analyst Report

It’s no secret that most successful brands these days operate like publishers. If you have capable writers and designers creating killer content for you, it can not only be used to generate inbound leads, but also leveraged to start a sales conversations. The caveat here is that the content has to be quite relevant to your lead, or else they are going to see you as the equivalent of the guy who leaves dry cleaning coupons on cars.

Webinars

Getting leads to sign up for webinars is traditionally a function of marketing. However, when a prospect is high-value and qualified, it can be a good use of sales time to try to ensure that they sign up for a targeted webinar.

New Products/Product Updates

Did your company just release a new product or roll out product update? If so, this is one of the best excuses to try to reach out to new leads or leads that have gone cold. New products can even offer an incentive to reach out to existing customers with upselling/cross-selling opportunities.

Events

If your company is going to be at a conference or event, asking a prospect if they are likewise going to be attending the event can be a viable pretext for calling. If they are going to be at the event, it can be a great opportunity to set up an appointment. And even if they aren’t, it can be a decent launchpad for a sales conversation.

To learn more about Revenue.io’s Intelligent Dialer for Salesforce, or to see a demo, contact Revenue.io Sales.