Soft Touch Dispels Suspicion
To set that outbound lead, you need to take a soft approach. Don’t establish rigid time frames. Tell the prospect that your representative will be in the neighborhood on such?and?such an evening and ask would it be OK if he or she stopped by at 8:00?
Also ask if it’s likely that the two parties will be home for the entire evening because your rep has a number of calls and may be running late. Don’t lay out all sorts of terms and conditions; it’s not appropriate. You know there’s some level of interest. Now it’s up to your salesperson to determine the extent of that interest and to develop it to the point of urgency.
The selling process is also going to be different with an outbound lead. The prospect who called your office already has some idea of the investment value of the project. Your outbound prospect likely has little or no awareness of that. You need to emphasize the investment value of the project as well as the stability and integrity of your company. If the prospect is calling you, he or she already assumes you’re reputable. Whereas if you are contacting the homeowner, your company’s reputation needs to be established and confirmed.
Offer a strong discount ? 15% or 20% is the sweet spot ? in exchange for them allowing your company to showcase their home and your product.
Different Lead, Different Metric
When times were good, the inbound leads flowed in and companies grew dependent on them and developed cultures and systems around them. A recessionary climate means we have to get off our duffs and go out and knock on doors. But that’s just the beginning.
In addition, it’s necessary to understand that the metrics that apply to inbound leads don’t apply to outbound leads. You’re not going to set the same number of appointments or demo at the same rate because the level of interest isn’t the same. But 50% of 100 inquiries is 50 confirmed appointments. Is that not worth something?
And what happens if the people aren’t home? If you set the lead the right way, it will probably be because they forgot the appointment or had to run out for some reason. Have your representative leave a Sorry We Missed You door hanger, then call back.
Say your rep arrives and just one of the parties is home: Measure, build rapport, and set a second appointment. Don’t denounce them as amputees because they weren’t there waiting at the kitchen table with the coffee brewed. You’ve taken one step. You’re one step closer to the sale. That’s how to see it.
Why do so many companies confirm both their inbound and outbound inquiries with the same script and approach them with the same selling system? I can’t answer that question. What I firmly believe is that we should treat these prospects differently depending on the way we came in contact with them in the first place. Click here to watch a brief video where I discuss this phenomenon in greater detail.
For more information on how to properly handle and convert inbound and outbound leads, call me. I look forward to hearing from you.
?Sales and marketing consultant Tony Hoty has been a home improvement company salesperson and owner. Visit his website or call him at 888.447.3969.