How quiet is your BDC? When you walk in the room, is there a cacophony of phone calls occurring or just clicking and scrolling? Do you see your salespeople spending way too long navigating around customer profiles in the CRM rather than making a call attempt? Sounds like they’re only waiting to take a swing at a home run pitch when they should just be trying to put the ball in play.
Swinging for the fences is never a bad thing, as that is where profit is made, but show me a baseball player that only tries to hit home runs and I’ll show you someone with a .213 batting average that strikes out with the bat on his shoulder more than he makes contact. In sales, you aren’t allowed taking innings off. Every prospect served up to you is a pitch you should be trying to make contact with. Observing BDC (and certainly salespeople) in front of their CRMs, they’re just reviewing customers over and over, looking to see which one they can knock out of the park, rather than someone they can simply make a connection with.
A home run, in this instance, is a sale. They’re deciding whether or not to even pick up the bat (read: phone) and take a swing (read: make a call) if they don’t think they’re going to be able to put it over the fence (read: sell them easily). Salespeople need to realize the simple importance of getting wood on the ball (read: making contact). Okay, if it isn’t obvious already, I’ll spell out the analogy.
- At-Bat: Working from your CRM
- The Pitch: A prospect
- Swinging at a Pitch: Calling the prospect
- Making Contact: Connecting with the customer
- A Single (Making it to First Base): Setting the appointment
- A Double (Making it to Second): Getting an appointment that is later confirmed.
- Stealing a Base: Manager calling to confirm the appointment, getting you closer to home plate.
- A Triple (Making it to Third): Having a customer show for their appointment
- A Home Run: Selling the customer
Are you training salespeople to look at every opportunity in their CRM as a chance to hit for the cycle? Do they understand that the more they take swings, the more chances they’re going to have to get on base? Do you allow them to only work those customers they perceive in their mind to be eventual sales, or do you explain to them that their job is to get around the bases, and not only take the at-bat when it could be a grand slam?
Make sure your team is taking batting practice regularly (read: role-play). Even the best athletes work to perfect their swing and get better at their craft. Get them comfortable with picking up the phone. Walking into a BDC or salesperson phone room should sound like endless swings at the plate, and not silence. The quieter your team in that room, the more you know they aren’t trying to make meaningful contact. No one will be a .300 hitter if they are unwilling to take as many at-bats as possible or are unwilling to practice when the game isn’t in session.
No team wins the World Series by only hitting homeruns. Get salespeople that do their best to put the ball in play as much as possible, and you’ll see far more people crossing the plate.
