It’s a cornerstone of Craig Proctor’s lead generation strategy — you must make every attempt to talk with leads on the phone. “Nothing replaces the call that you make,” he says. As effective as multi-channel follow-up might be, there’s no magic combination of email, text message, or voicemail that will get you to your prospects’ truth faster or more effectively than a phone call.
Years of cold-calling leads may have made you a little shy of dialing the phone. It’s important to remember that the leads you generate from your digital marketing campaigns are NOT cold leads. They’ve responded to your advertising and shown an interest in you. And you’ve already introduced yourself with the immediate fulfillment of your campaign benefit. You can also use text messaging to advise them you’re about to call, or to nudge them if they don’t pick up. So your phone call is not an unexpected interruption.
Set aside regular time blocks for your phone calls. Many agents set blocks of 30-60 minutes at various times of day, but the important thing is that you can consistently sit down at the times you schedule.
To build momentum, you might start by cherry-picking your best opportunities. Make calls to leads who have recently responded to your follow-up, and/or been tracked as visiting your website. You’ll be more top-of-mind with these people, and they’ll be more be willing to talk. But don’t neglect your other non-responsive leads! Try dedicating regular time to this group. A well-orchestrated follow-up campaign can warm them up and prepare them for a call.
Another barrier to making calls is inefficiency. Looking up and dialing each phone number is tedious. Use a telephony-connected CRM that automatically queues and dials leads, helping you power through your call list. Our EngageCRM system does this, and has the added benefit of displaying phone scripts, qualification questions & answers, and your personal notes on screen during each call.
Keep working on your phone technique! Your Craig Proctor Coach has plenty of advice for you on this. And if you’re using EngageCRM, you can record your calls and share the audio with them, to find ways to improve.
Want to learn more about effective phone call strategies using EngageCRM? Our team of experts has 23+ years of digital marketing experience, plus technology you can leverage to get more conversations with less effort. To learn more, click the green button below to get started with a free marketing assessment.
