Tip of the Week: Call 10
Everyone in sales will tell you that this job is all about relationships. Most people in marketing will tell you that your product and pitch are most important. Many managers will often tell you to do more, before understanding exactly what you are doing. The truth is, all of them are probably right at times. The funny thing I have found is that very rarely do you read about what is most important to the customer, probably because every customer, at different times, has different needs. To pinpoint what is most important to a customer changes throughout the day. It is rare that you create a single sentence that can describe that one thing that is most important to that individual. Over the years however, I believe I have found one element that is important to customers that doesn’t have to be a sales tactic. That one thing is staying in touch. I have stumbled on more connections and more pipeline than most would imagine by simply staying in touch!
When sales people ask me for tips or tricks I do during my workweek, I always share with them my Call 10 tip for staying in touch. Most of the time I get crazy looks and head shaking, often followed by one of these comments:
“Why would I do that if they aren’t my customer?” or “Do you realize how many accounts I have to cover, I can’t call another 10 people each week?!” or “I doubt that will bear much fruit on my next commission check.”
Each of those statements are so selfish. Your customer isn’t the top ranking contact in an account that your boss has assigned to you. Your customer is anyone that can benefit from your company’s products and services. Therefore, everyone you talk to in a sincere way might just get you to that person you have been trying to get a meeting with! It’s true and I have a few examples to share with you, but first let me explain what I do: I call 10 people each week that at one point was important to my business, my company, my partner ecosystem, or simply someone I used to work around. When I call these people, I NEVER talk about what I am up to, what I am selling, or what I need from them, I simply ask them how they are doing, connect on something that was previously important to them (hobby, accomplishment, anniversary, birthday, etc.) and always ask them if there is ANYTHING I can do for them. I often find no immediate connection for my current business situation or company, but what it always does for me is leaves the door open for a phone call or ask when I need it. Think about it, have you ever had someone reach out to you after not talking to them for 3 years with one of these comments or asks:
“Hey man, I see you are connected to ‘so-and-so’ on LinkedIn, would you make a warm introduction for me?” or “I wanted to let you know I am looking for my next challenging adventure, if ‘your company’ is looking for a strong solution seller let me know?” Or this is one I know customers hear all the time “Sir, we used to do quite a bit of business when I was over at Vendor ABC and now I am over at Vendor DEF. I would like to get out and let you know what we are doing to help customers.”
Since I know you have received one or more of those, you know what it feels like. Surprise, it feels the exact same way to customers and prospects too! To reach out and make a personal connection with 10 people from your network each week is not a big ask. I suspect you are one of those TOP 1% LinkedIn users anyway with over 500+ connections (that’s more than a year of calls, assuming you only take off 2 weeks a year). If you have a commute to work, that is only one call before you start working for the day and one call before you wrap it up each day.
Example #1 – A BIG WIN!
This individual was on my list and it actually started with a text message. “Hey, when can we catch up, it has been too long. Lunch or golf next week?” I received a fairly quick response for golf the following week, and the connection was set up! I did what I normally do on the phone, questions about them, connected over family, discussed their career progress (something important to this person), and asked what I could for them. The answer was simply “can’t think of anything”. The golf game was ultimately uneventful, but we still had a great round. Literally, while we were in the parking lot, they brought up that they were going to be making a number of big changes soon and down sizing my company’s product line significantly. I know he wasn’t in one of my accounts, but I reiterated that I was willing to help him if he needed it. He wasn’t sure, but thought a meeting with his rep might help, and I committed to making that connection. Long story short, that rep was swamped and asked if I wanted the account. Less than 4 weeks later, we have had 5 meetings with their leadership team and are about to close a $450K deal that most likely will set a multiyear direction for our partnership with a meeting next week that they titled “Discuss Future State”.
Example #2 – An Old Connection!
I have only changed companies 4 times in my adult life. Each time I vowed to stay in touch with everyone only to lose touch with everyone but my inner circle 6 months later. By the 1 year mark, I had probably lost touch with most of my inner circle as well. Who can blame me or all of them, we are extremely busy and focused people. I try hard to incorporate a lot of those people into my Call 10 lists. Not too long ago, it was getting around 6 months since I spoke with a person I used to work with who had moved on to a new company (I tend to manage close notes on contacts to keep track of their important topics). I reached out to her and bonded over old times. We talked about her new love interest and how things were going for her! As we were wrapping up, she asked how I was doing. That led to some personal updates and some information about a new role I just accepted covering some new accounts. She was eager to hear more and wanted to help. The funny thing was, she happened to be very instrumental in getting me two meetings that would have taken months and A LOT more effort to acquire without her. The key was this was never the reason I called. That wasn’t part of my agenda and I surely didn’t lead with “Hey, I see you are connected with so-and-so would you make a warm introduction for me?”
I can assure you that if you implement Call 10 starting this week, I suspect you will generate real pipeline before the week is over. That includes those of you that are reading this on Friday morning! Pick up the phone, send a text, or call someone you haven’t talked to in 6+ months and genuinely see how they are doing. Don’t reach out with an agenda, just check in on them. You will find pipeline and you will find deals to chase. One more thing, if you do it for a few years, your network will be VERY strong, and they will want to continue to help you out; as long as you don’t call them asking for that warm introduction!
Tell us your stories, share what action you took this week, and let us know what you think of this week’s tip!
Bobby