Most discovery call and sales appointment setting programs fail.
If you do what most people do, if you succumb to common thoughts about what is the “right thing” to do, you and your team will fail.
Why would you expect to do what everyone else does and get drastically different results?
Be Different From Most. Be Similar To The Best.
True story. Might sound a bit harsh but this is the way you must think.
When I was doing my very first appointment setting project, there were a lot of opinions as to what might work. This project was calling companies with 1,000 or more employees and booking a meeting with either the CEO or an Executive Level VP. Four “experts” had come and gone before me, and nothing worked. The company had a great close rate when they could get in the door. But their get in the door efforts were costly with only sporadic success.
That company was filled with really smart hard working people, that were falling short when it came to setting appointments. They were top notch in their industry and did a great job for their clients. But, when it came to b2b sales prospecting and setting appointments with buyers and decision-makers, not so great. They were lousy at it for years before I arrived. Unless something changed, they would still be lousy at it a year in the future. The group had a ton of ideas, but nothing got much traction.
Knuckleheads
This may sound harsh, and maybe a bit jerk-like, but one of the most important decisions I made was not to listen to my well-meaning co-workers. They were trying hard for years but were mediocre or worse. Why would I take advice from them?
I thought to myself, “why listen to these prospecting knuckleheads?”
I knew the answer was to do something different than what most did.
The reality was that they had tried very hard for years to open more doors at high levels within companies, even hiring four “experts” to help them, but nothing clicked, and it was holding the company back.
When I started, I wasn’t sure what to do, but I knew what not to do. Don’t listen to my well-meaning co-workers. Despite their best efforts, they had been choosing the wrong behaviors and would continue to do so.
If you are going to model your struggling co-workers and blindly accept what most say, you will fail. Do what most do, get the results that most get.
What works works
So I went on a quest to discover what worked. I sought out those that had been successful and studied their methods. I did what those that were already successful did. Period. No exceptions.
Be determined to do what works. It doesn’t matter if you like it, feel comfortable with it or if your co-workers, friends or sewing circle like it or think it is a good idea.
It may be more comfortable to fall in line with the great unwashed, but you will never be an above average lead generator/discovery call setter.
You must clarify your own beliefs about what drives appointment setting and act accordingly.
Align your behaviors with the behaviors of those that are successful at doing what you want to do. Without variations, excuses or rationalizations as to why you won’t.
You don’t feel comfortable with
something. It does not matter.
You feel something sounds salesy. Irrelevant.
Your co-workers don’t think it is a good idea. Forget those knuckleheads.
You think you might annoy someone. You are an idiot.
Find out what
works. Do what works without exception.
Don’t do what most do, do what the best do.
