Thanks for the A2A Gerry Cryer!
So, this is a recent incident that happened at Cloudlead (B2B sales data company). We were having a discussion about a high-value account who came to us initially but wouldn’t respond to our emails or calls since then.
“We’ve tried emailing and I’ve left a voicemail, we can’t get through” exclaimed our VP of sales Salman Siddiq. This was an enterprise account and a high-value contract so this was no joke.
There we all were, staring at each other, marketing looking at sales and vice versa. It was that typical situation, we’ve all faced it. Marketing suggested we try an ABM approach and target multiple people in the company with multi-channel targeting. We would basically go aggressive.
Before we had the chance to do that, Salman decided to use our own data to source a verified direct dial. His strategy was to call the lead off-work hours -a risk he was willing to take. Previously, the decision makers had told him that they would need a week to decide but did not get back on the agreed date. So the conversation went something like this(do note for confidentiality reasons I’ve named the prospect “Martin”):
Salman: “Hey Martin, how’re you doing?”
Martin: “I’m good, who’s speaking?”
Salman: “We spoke over the phone and we’ve emailed each other a few times, I lost touch with you this past week. I’m calling from Cloudlead, we were discussing how we can provide you with value-add in terms of the data.”
Martin: “Yes! I recall, how did you get my work cell number? You know I’m not in office right now.”
Salman: “Well this is exactly what we do, I told you that our data is verified so when we eat our own dog food, we get results like these, your sales team would experience the same. I do apologize for calling you during such hours, I just wanted to make sure we’re still on your “list of possible solutions” - to be upfront that’s what this call is about.”
Martin: “Wow, this is really impressive Salman. I must say that this is the first time I’ve received a call like this, I was shocked but you’ve got my attention man. I’ll tell you what, we’re having a meeting on this first thing tomorrow. Cloudlead is still an option for us.”
Salman: “So, I don’t want to take up more of your time. Just want to quickly confirm if you liked our sample?”
Martin: “You know what Salman, your call actually reminded me that your sample was in fact great. Good job on the follow up I think I can vouch for you guys tomorrow, and we’ll take it from there.”
Salman: “Wow, that’s amazing Martin, really thankful that you appreciated this and I’m looking forward to hearing from you tomorrow. Have a great day, let’s talk soon!”
Martin: “Sure Salman, enjoyed our chat. talk soon.”
We were still doubting the verdict because a deal is not done until its signed off. Next week, however, we DID sign on the dotted line. It was an unorthodox strategy(something I can’t say would work definitely and for every prospect). But it worked for us.
Point to consider here is that sales is truly an experimentation game. Keep innovating, testing and then improving your process. Feel free to visit my Quora profile to find answers to key questions on how data can help you with B2B sales.
So this was my experience and I thought I’d share it openly on Quora here, hope you enjoyed it!