Lead generation is a process.
At times you can break your rules.
But break your rules too often, you don’t have a process. You are winging it and results will plummet.
In my early days of cold call appointment setting, I was working for a client who sold employee relocation services. I called very big companies that moved employees all over the world. The white whale of the industry was GE at the time. They made more than 2,000 moves a year, and it was “impossible” to get a meeting with them. I heard it again and again.
Bottom line, I booked that meeting with GE. I did it by varying significantly from my winning process. I purposely, strategically, said swear words on the phone. I made a risky bet, and I won.
However, far more results are earned by sticking with your system when times are tough. I could relate many more examples of reps getting consistent results by sticking with their system even though there were stretches of frustration and boredom.
For a personal example, I had a client a few years ago who targeted very large oil companies for a specialized environmental service. The top 50-100 oil companies were by far the best targets. We had tried a few callers, and things weren’t working so even though my calling days had long been over, I offered to jump in.
Bottom line, got Troy 8 meetings within top levels of the largest oil companies in the US for projects worth many millions.
In that case, what got results was sticking with the system. When I was bored, didn’t want to make the next call, wanted to poke my eyes out rather than navigate through another corporate phone tree, heard “no” multiple times, believed it useless to keep going, gagged at the thought of leaving the same voicemail again and again, I just kept saying to myself “Scott, work the system, work the system.” I did, and the results came in.
In the oil company example, it would not have been a winning system to swear at the decision-makers when they picked up the phone, as I did to get the GE meeting. And if I had succumbed to boredom, frustration, or panic and varied my process I would not have booked 8 meetings for Troy; I would have been lucky to book 2 or 3.
In the GE example, I gambled and won taking a chance on strategies for that 1 target that would have been disastrous if used consistently on others.
When you are working your system, you are in the high probability zone. Work your system consistently for best productivity overall.
Having your team working a system, having a company culture ingrained with the right way to prospect, handle a discovery call, move a prospect through a sales pipeline, and ultimately close the deal means that your team is working in the high-probability zone. It is your duty as a company owner, VP sales, or manager to know the difference between a system that works best overall versus gambling, guessing, and winging it.
When you use behaviors outside of your system, you are placing riskier bets and it is a lower probability zone.
Do so only when rewards justify the risk.
Understand that if you deviate from your system too often, you don’t have a system.
You are winging it.
Good luck with that.
