The CRAP Report

Alrighty, well – here we are:  The last installment of my comparison of lead generation and the classic movie The Breakfast Club.  Last Wednesday I began my tour through the Saturday morning detention crew with Andrew Clark.  Andrew, being the athlete of the group, represents the scope of a sales opportunity, because as an athlete is susceptible to pains, so the business profile should be full of them.  Last Thursday, Claire Standish, the princess, correlated with budget, and last Friday, John Bender, the tough guy of the group, represents the tough people you have to sell to, the decision makers.  Yesterday I spoke about Brian Johnson, the brainy kid of the group and his relationship to a lead’s timeframe.  Today, we finish up with the isolated member of The Breakfast Club, Allison Reynolds.

Allison Reynolds, played by Ally Sheedy, wasn’t even supposed to BE in detention that day.  She was there because she had nothing else to do.  She spent the majority of the first half of the movie in silence.  The other characters would try and talk with her, and she would just put her head down on her table.  I believe that the elusive Allison Reynolds is therefore analogous with the last portion of a FULLY qualified sales opportunity, one of the toughest pieces to nail down, and that is the actual appointment.

I’ve sat in with many BDR’s who have had their conversations with prospects end with things like, “Well, why don’t you just have a rep follow up with me at their convenience.”  Well you know what happens after that, right?  That prospect will never pick up the phone when the sales rep calls back.  If you’ve got an inside team generating sales leads for you, or you’ve outsourced that process, ask your sales team which lead they prefer getting:  The one with the appointment or the one without?  Wait a sec – don’t bother asking.    

Can you really consider a lead fully qualified if it doesn’t have an appointment booked for a sales rep?  I don’t think so.  The word “full” denotes being complete.  A lead must have with an appointment in order for it to be totally qualified.  Now, I’ll throw a side note in:  I have worked with MANY a client who wanted us to pass over opportunities that have not been fully qualified by that standard; that is their choice, though, as they’re the customer. 

The actual booking of the conference call, face to face meeting, or whatever you want to categorize it as, depending on how good your BDR is, isn’t always the most difficult thing to obtain.  If you’re BDR is good and has built a rapport with their prospect, setting up that next natural step can be easy.  If the BDR is shaky on the technology their representing, or if they’re nervous to go for the close, booking an appointment is going to be very tough.  I’d also, then, ask you this:  Who’s training your BDR’s to close their deals, which is the appointment after all.  Make no mistake, lead generation and sales prospecting has its own close and its own sale, and that IS the appointment.  If you don’t have quality training for your BDR’s to close, you’ve got some work to do then.

The mysterious Allison Reynolds is so much like the hard to pin sales prospecting appointment.  They’re both hard to get a read on up front, but after a bit of prodding, both come out of their shells for the right people.

(okay…someone cue the Simple Minds music…)