Struggling to connect with your dream clients in an era dominated by AI-powered prospecting? Here’s how to stand out and secure those vital meetings.
If a single sales organization uses AI for prospecting, it won’t cause much harm unless it has a massive sales force. If a second sales organization follows suit, you and I won’t notice much more difficulty in reaching our clients and prospects. But as more sales teams automate their prospecting, it will become increasingly challenging to connect with your contacts.
If you’ve ever made cold calls for four hours in a day, you’ve probably noticed that many, if not most, of your contacts don’t answer their phones. When you try to leave a voicemail, their mailbox is often full. This could be because they intentionally leave their voicemail full to avoid receiving more messages, or because their voicemail is automatically forwarded to their email. In an article from last year, I called this the "the coming apocalypse of cold outreach." It seems the apocalypse is here.
Now, imagine thousands of sales organizations using technology to make calls and send emails to their prospective clients. This scenario will likely make it much harder for you to reach your dream clients, as they won’t even see your messages.
Innovative Strategies to Overcome the Cold Outreach Apocalypse
Let your competitors use AI and other technologies to damage their reputation while we get creative and reimagine prospecting. You can use several B2B sales prospecting strategies to book a meeting, and you’ll likely need multiple ways to communicate with your prospective clients.
- LinkedIn Introductions: After the apocalypse of cold outreach, some of us will recognize the value of asking contacts for an introduction to someone else, with the possibility of reciprocating by offering an introduction to a client who trusts you. You’ll find more people doing this to avoid a cold call or cold email.
- Client Referrals: Most of your competitors fail to ask for referrals. However, if you’ve done good work for your client, you can ask for a referral to a company that might need similar improvements. Here’s the trick: When you acquire a new client, ask them if you can request a referral once you’ve delivered the promised results. As soon as you confirm that you’ve met your promise, ask for a referral.
- Cold Calls: You might think of a cold call as simply picking up the phone, but a true cold call would involve walking into your prospective client’s office and asking to see the person responsible for the results you can improve. This is what many of us in Gen X were taught to do. For example, if you visited one client, you’d also walk into the companies on either side and across the street. To prove your effort, you’d collect a business card.
- Snail Mail: If you have something important to say, writing a letter ensures your contact receives your message. One reason we use insight-based sales methodologies is that they create value, especially if you can tease trends and share what others are doing to improve their strategic outcomes.
- Networking Events: In the future, we might see more people attending networking events to trade introductions. Because these events are designed for networking, you’ll have an easier time securing new contacts who may take your call because they trust the salesperson who introduced you.
- Industry Conferences: If your sales force is organized by industry verticals, attending a conference can help you make new contacts. If you lack the budget for the conference, hanging around the hotel bar allows you to listen, learn about their concerns, and make a few connections.
- FedEx: Recently, someone sent me a FedEx package with a pitch for an investment. Everyone opens a FedEx envelope. This is the easy part, so the content inside is more important. If it were me, I’d stuff the envelope with something substantial enough to intrigue the recipient to take your call.
- Your Business Card: I once acquired a large client by calling every contact that might grant me a meeting. I sent a thank-you note to each of the 14 people after they rejected my attempts. When they finally had a serious problem, they called me. When I sat down with them, they handed me back the dozens of business cards I had included in the thank-you notes.
Navigating Technology Overload in B2B Sales Prospecting
As B2B sales continues to prioritize technology over relationships, you can expect it to become more difficult to get your contact to answer your call. You can also expect your email to be deleted on sight. Even if you’re currently succeeding, it may be time to start weaving these sales prospecting methods into your approach, giving you the chance to discover what works best for you and your clients when it comes to connecting and securing a first meeting.
If you want to improve your sales results, you can access 80 hours of modern B2B sales training and the strategies you need to succeed in B2B sales now by visiting this link. You’ll also be invited to a bi-weekly coaching session.
Do good work and experiment with new strategies to book that first meeting. I’ll see you tomorrow!
