Prospecting in the Age of AI

At Bill Walton Sales Training, we interact with sales leaders in the Fortune 500 each week. Every single leader admits that they want to see more prospecting activity from their people. They see an overreliance on email and not enough use of the phone, social media and their own artifacts their sales enablement teams provide. But there's good news from the RAIN Group:

 - 60% of decision makers accept calls from new providers

 - 82% of decision makers are accepting meetings from new providers

The phone is proving effective again, yet most sales professionals avoid it. The phone provides immediate feedback and provides a deeper level of intimacy and personalization. I’ll never forget asking my sales manager about prospecting. I asked her one day, “Should I call or send an email first?” What she said next was sobering. “Do you want an answer from a prospect five minutes from now or two weeks from now?”  Her reply stopped me in my tracks.

Twenty years later, salespeople and their sales enablement groups are relying too often on automated email programs [think SPAM] and moderate phone follow-up. When they do pick up the phone, salespeople make the mistake of trying to sell their product vs. simply selling the first meeting. As soon as prospects hear “pitch,” they tune out or turn cynical and pushback on the rep. We'll be providing more insights into both phone and email prospecting and keep an eye out for our white paper on the topic - we are providing scripts and sample emails! Good selling everybody! - Coach

For more information or to connect with Bill Walton directly, please email Bill at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining.com