3 types of Prospects

If you’ve spent any time Cold Calling you will know that there are more than 3 types of prospects. In reality there are only 3 I care about. No’s, yes’s and the fence sitters. Two of those three are stable and historical averages can tell you what to expect. The fence sitters are where money is made and high performers separate themselves from the average performers.

These are the three categories I mentally assign to a prospect on our first call. This is based on tonality, engagement and the general flow of our conversation:

1. The “no prospects.” These prospects are going to be a no. Plain and simple. Nothing you say or do will get these prospects to agree to a demo/appointment. They are also the most plentiful. They are the hay in the haystack. They will come up with lame excuses as to why it’s a no. Something like, “you called me from out of town. Not interested.” These prospects are my favorite. They are easy to identify and weed themselves out. A quick no (after being challenged) is music to my ears. The more of these you can eliminate the sooner you will get to your yes prospects.
2. The “yes prospects”. These prospects are going to be a yes 90% of the time. They like saying yes, learning new things, making you happy etc… These prospects are softballs and it’s your game to lose. Many times they will hear you out, ask intelligent questions and agree to a demo or follow up. “The fish that jumps into the boat.” We can count on these, we know they’re out there, but they are the needle in the haystack of #1’s. These are the prospects that you called at just the right time. Maybe their current contract is coming to a close, they are actively shopping or they’re just in a great mood.
3. The “fence sitters.” These prospects aren’t really sure where they fall. They can be swayed one way or the other. Many will error on the side of a no as a knee jerk reaction, but they aren’t opposed to saying yes. These prospects are where cold calling becomes an art form. We can count on the no’s, we can count on the yes’s (with a large enough sample size), but converting the fence sitters is what separates you from average.

How can we convert the fence sitters? I found that by intelligently challenging them you can peak their interest and push a percentage of them onto the yes side of the fence. I’m not talking, “The Challenger Sale.” That’s a great book, but a little in depth for a newly minted BDR/SDR. All we are looking to do is to peak there interest just enough to get them agree to a demo.

Challenge Often

Once you are engaged with the prospect and you are through the introduction you move into the discovery phase. Once in discovery your goal is to ask pointed, open ended questions. The idea is to coerce them into divulging more than you asked for (specifically a pain point that you can solve). If you can get them talking, they will have a dopamine release and feel good about the conversation. People like talking about themselves. Do not interrupt this process when it happens. Use it to gather your thoughts and actively listen to what they are saying.

On a cold call they are more likely to give you short, sometimes bogus answers like, “We do it in house, all set, not interested, you’re too expensive, we don’t have a budget etc…” it’s at this point where you find out which of the three types of prospect you are dealing with. The best part, you can (and should) challenge each type. They all have the potential to react favorably.

If they are a no person, simply ask them why. You may be surprised to find out they worked with a similar vendor in the past and had a bad experience. You may find that they were reluctantly out into their position and plan on doing as little as possible. Who knows what you will find, but it should get them talking and distracted from why they just gave you a no.

If they are a yes person then great! You likely won’t get many objections and will get more questions about the product. At this point, don’t become an obstacle. Sherpa them to the answer. A demo.

If they are a fence sitter then they are likely giving you a lot of maybes and “I’m really Busy’s.” I like to offer demos as a way to save time, to get all of the information and I phrase it like it’s the logical next step.

Two Word Tracks to Try

For the prospect who is too busy for a demo:

“John, it sounds like you have a lot going on, it also sounds like we might be what you are looking for. Typically, the best use of everyone’s time is to give you a quick demo of our product and pricing. Do you have 20 minutes for that?”

If they don’t have 20 minutes to get more information, they aren’t going to buy anything from you. That is when I cut them loose.

For the prospect who is qualified, but won’t commit. Try the take away:

“I don’t want to get the cart before the horse. I don’t know if we’re going to be a good fit for you. I can give you an overview of our platform with pricing that way you have the information.”

This will give them the feeling that you aren’t the desperate telemarketer that you are. This also takes the demo off of a pedestal and makes it easier for them to say yes.

I hope these are helpful to you. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I have had success as a BDR and there is minimal content available for people like me. The only people creating quality content for cold calling are 60 years old and have built an empire out of public speaking. Not what I’m looking for. If you did find this helpful, feel free to share it with anyone who may benefit from it.