The CRAP Report

Oh man – we’ve all made them right?  Mistakes?  I can think of some mistakes I’ve made in my life and am glad I’ve learned from them.  No mistake, though, will be greater than what I call 2002’s Worst Job Move Ever.  I needed a job and took the first one that was offered to me from the- medical-technology-company-that-shall-remain-nameless.  This was a bad move all around for me.  For starters, it was business casual all the time.  Oh, except for Fridays when I could wear black jeans.  Yes, you read that right, black jeans.  Who wore black jeans in 2002?  My ex-boss, that’s who.  He made the determination as to what “casual Fridays” would be like, and black jeans were the only option.  Next, there was the travel.  I’m not a fan of flying – I’m not all John Madden about it, but I don’t like it.  I was told, at most, I’d travel 4 times a year.  Well, after 3 trips in 2 months, I realized I’d been duped.  We all make mistakes, but not all of us learn from them.  I’d like to talk with you about some teleprospecting mistakes and how your BDR’s can learn from them.

If you’re managing a team of in-house BDR’s, or maybe you’ve contracted with an organization to manage your teleprospecting efforts, then you know that, like most of life, lead generation has its ups and downs.  There are moments when you sit in and listen to calls with a green rep and you’re cheering for them because they’re qualifying a prospect with the dexterity of a seasoned vet.  On the other hand though, there are those moments when you sit in and listen to calls with a seasoned vet, and for some reason they’re not “feeling it” and they sound like they’ve never picked up a phone before.  In shadowing in on calls with BDR’s, I often see three common mistakes that they typically make: 

1. Expecting no one to pick up the phone.
2. Not being prepared.
3. Letting an opportunity to talk go.

Don’t kid yourself about this first one – we’ve ALL been there.  If you’ve ever made a teleprospecting call, you know that hardly anyone ever picks up the phone.  The mistake, though, is expecting no one to pick up the phone.  What happens when you fall into that rut is that you start to work on auto-pilot.  Last time I checked, but humans aren’t 747’s; we’re not meant to run on auto-pilot.  We get dazed and we become almost zombified (without the horrible disease) and start to just “smile and dial.”  You forget to hit “0-#” when you get the voicemail.  You miss an opportunity to find a new decision maker and instead just focus on hitting an activity goal.  We don’t pay attention to what we’re doing because hey, no one is going to pick up anyways.  It’s almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy, almost like willing the person we’re calling to ignore us.  BDR’s need to shake themselves out of that rut.  They need to get up, stretch, or take a break.  If you work with me, you’re probably talking about movies or something like that.  Regardless, you’ve got to help your reps to not fall into this rut.  This mistake can be costly because there is no time to be mindless while mining for qualified sales opportunities.

Not being prepared is another big mistake BDR’s make.  I’ve blogged at great lengths (here and here) about pre-call planning, and if its done, it will help your BDR’s (and mine) from falling in this trap.  It is not fun to be on the shadowing end of a BDR who is not prepared to speak with a prospect when that prospect has picked up the phone.  The “ums” and “uhs” alone are enough to make you cringe, but how many times can you say to a prospect, “that’s a great question.  I’ll get back to you on that,” before the prospect just disregards you altogether?  Not being prepared has cost you that one potential opportunity.  Help your BDR’s by holding quick project meetings with them, just to make sure they’re up on the product or service that they’re calling on.  Obviously you meet with your employees on a regular basis, but make this meeting more about preparedness.  Task your BDR to create their own “sales card” that has everything they need to know about what they’re calling on and then make one yourself; see who’s is better and make a competition out of it.  The thing here is that our BDR’s can never be too prepared.  Since they’ve never spoken with EVERY one of their prospects, someone always has the potential to bring up a question that they’ve never come across.  Help your BDR’s to be like the Boy Scouts – to be prepared.

Lastly, I’d have to say the MOST cringe-worthy mistake a BDR can make is letting an opportunity to talk go.  Sometimes with more rookie-level BDR’s, they’re too self conscious about what they perceive to be “bothering” someone.  If a prospect picks up the phone and the tone in their voice is one of quickness or they’re short, I’ve been with reps who just ask for a better time to talk.  I want to say, “Yeah, you just HAD it, and you’re not going to get it again!”  Help your BDR’s by role playing difficult situations with them.  Get them used to hearing someone be quick with them on the phone.  Sometimes a prospect is quick because they have to be, because they’re busy.  Sure, there are times when a brisk prospect just doesn’t want to talk, and they never would have been an opportunity there, but work with your BDR’s (or your vendors) to help them understand the difference between the two.  Make reps call those prospects back, too.  If a prospect has blown your rep off the line with something they didn’t know how to respond back with, make them call the prospect back immediately with you there feeding them the answer.  Regardless of what you do, help your BDR’s to make every moment that they have with a prospect on the phone count.

How about you?  What mistakes have you made in your teleprospecting career or have your reps made and how have you corrected them?