Strength of Message – One of the Keys to a Successful Cold Call Campaign

In a previous entry, I outlined the 3 keys to a successful cold call campaign. To review, successful cold call or lead generation campaigns can be traced back to 3 critical campaign pillars.

• List Quality
• Strength of Message
• Effective Delivery

In my first entry on this subject I focused on the importance of a quality list for a campaign to be successful. Today I will concentrate on the second pillar, Strength of Message. Once you know that you are targeting the correct contacts and the data is complete your next hurdle is to make sure your message will resonate with your target contacts.

Strength of Message

The best sales person in the world who is calling the most qualified list will still fail if he/she doesn’t deliver a message that resonates with the prospect.

What’s In It For Me? (WIIFM)

Frame your product or service's value in terms of the benefit your prospect will enjoy with a decision to do business with you. The more personal you can make the value the better. Look for ways to focus your value on how it will impact the individual you are speaking with, not just the organization they represent. This can be harder than you think. When I introduce this concept to sales people I am always surprised at how their first attempts often yield a self-centered message. These are smart sales people who understand why a customer-centric message will work better, yet they still struggle. Speaking to prospects in terms that are beneficial to their business and their personal responsibilities is worth extra effort.

Here are a couple examples to illustrate the point.

Sales Rep Centric Statement –

I would like to show you how our product saves you time and money.

This statement is framed in terms of what the sales rep wants to do, yet it is almost standard issue cold call material for sales people across all industries.

Customer Centric Statement –

Clients like XYZ and ABC have told us they experience issues with XXX. Using our products, they have been able to eliminate this problem.

This version centers on a likely business problem and how the prospect can solve it by using our help. It is about them and their challenges, not what we want.

There are also some other components to a strong message that are helpful.

1. Reference – The sooner you can mention the name of another business that trusts you as a provider/partner the better. This creates immediate credibility with a prospect and can buy you more time to share you message.
2. Use Data – Use objective data points to underline and reinforce your claims. These could include customer satisfaction ratings, % productivity increases, revenue increases or cost reduction figures. The more detailed the better.
3. Situational Intelligence – Know something about your prospect's business or industry and weave this into the conversation early. It will show you are an experienced professional and that you have done your homework. This will also allow you to build rapport with your contact.

In summary, the strength of message will focus on the prospect's needs and show that you understand their business and that you come to them as a credible and knowledgeable resource. No one can make cold calling more fun, but the more successful your campaign is the more tolerable the activity.