It can be difficult to get prospects on the phone when B2B cold calling. Either the person you are trying to reach does not answer the phone, or you simply don’t know who to call.
In this video, we outline a methodology for entering and navigating the organization of a business you are trying to sell to.
Two key concepts to keep in mind when B2B cold calling are vertical movement and horizontal movement.
Vertical Organizational Movement
Most of the time, when you are B2B cold calling, you will have a specific individual or position in mind. For example, you might be trying to reach the Director of IT.
With that process in place, you may find yourself in a situation where you call the Director of IT and cannot reach them. A mistake that we can often make at this point is to move on to the next account and call the next Director of IT.
But you don’t need to stop there. You can implement a process of vertical movement inside the target organization. This involves moving up and down within the organization, reaching out to individuals above and below your target prospect.
You can try the VP of IT or the IT Manager. Try to reach someone, find an opportunity to access the account, and start the dialogue.
Horizontal Organizational Movement
Whether or not you find a way into the organization when you perform vertical movement, when you are B2B cold calling, you do not need to stop there. You can also navigate an organization with horizontal movement, which involves moving laterally to other departments.
For example, you may be primarily trying to reach the IT department, but the products you sell also affect operations.
If you have trouble getting into IT or would like more information or to build a larger coalition, you could move horizontally by also calling into operations.
Getting the prospect on the phone is one of the biggest challenges with B2B prospecting. By reaching out to different individuals in the target department and then other departments, you can greatly improve your ability to get someone on the phone, opening up opportunities to get into accounts.
SalesScripter can provide tools and technology to support your B2B cold calling.
