B2B appointment setting - worst advice ever (09)

Should you research a company before B2B cold calling for a sales appointment or discovery call? Most sales reps and sales managers would say, of course. But on this episode I’ll offer a contrarian opinion and say that is the worst advice ever in b2b appointment setting land. I'll tell you why.

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Should you research a company before B2B cold calling for a sales appointment or discovery call? Most sales reps and sales managers would say, of course. But on this episode I’ll offer a contrarian opinion and say that is the worst advice ever in b2b appointment setting land and tell you why.

"Welcome to the Finding Business podcast, where every Sunday, in just five minutes, you'll learn something new to attract ideal clients and accounts. I'm your host, Scott Channell. For more episodes and information on services offered, visit scott channell with two T's, two N's, and two L's dot com. Now, onto today's episode."

So lets set the stage. You or your company are seeking more great clients and b2b cold calling to set appointments and discovery calls.

Let’s make some assumptions.
1. You are calling those most probable, to become good accounts. You know the difference between the high probability prospects, the mediocre and all the rest. And I mean really know the difference, not assume you know, you know.

2. You are working a half decent process, meaning you are using a well thought out sequence of calls, voicemails, emails, linkedin messages, whatever, calculated to book a meeting.
And third, your messaging is at least half decent. You are clear about what you do, why you are credible and the outcomes you deliver.

So assuming those things are true, should you research individual companies before you call? My answer would be a rock solid NO, And let me tell you why.

There is a time to research individual companies and there is a time to research the group of companies you will prospect.

Before you call, you want to make absolutely sure you are calling your highest probability group of prospects, so you research your buyers, you build a profile of them, and you study their most common needs and outcomes they seek.

You should research the group to be highly confident that you are calling the highest probability suspects and can appeal to their needs.

But do you research individual companies at this stage. No way. Three reasons.

The first is math. If you are calling your highest probability group with a decent process and script you are going to get a baseline result, lets say that is 5 meetings or 10 meetings a week.

If you decide to now research the individual companies before you call that will reduce your outreach time by about 50%, which means that RESEARCH needs to double your results just to break even. That never happens, never.

Second reason and I believe this strongly having booked more than 2,000 C-Level sales appointments before writing books on the topic. It is not what you know about the company which gets you the meeting or discovery call. It is what they think you might do for them that gets you the meeting or discovery call.

If your company has a track record of great success, increasing productivity and generating outcomes your clients want, you have recognizable names as accounts and great credibility, what is more likely to get you a meeting?

That information or some commonly known factoid off their website or some data feed you subscribe to that thousands of others get.

What is more likely to get you a meeting, Earning trust by effectively communicating your track record, value and common outcomes, or by parroting the same thing dozens of others will say to them that week?

Also, some factoid that is easily accessible and publicly available is highly unlikely to be a buying motivation. Your next best client doesn’t make public that their margins are shrinking, they are losing market share, that they have quality problems or that competitors are stealing their lunch money.

Research the groups of companies before you call. Research the individual companies once they book a meeting or discovery call.

Hope this got you thinking.
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Thanks for listening.