Best Practices – Customized Processes

Developing the Most Efficient and Effective Way to Pursue Targets in Your Selling Environment

The Best Practices component of the ColdCalling101™ Solution focuses on the skills and techniques of telephone prospecting using our guiding methodology called The Appointment Making Formula™ (The Formula™ for short). The Best Practices component is fully integrated into our comprehensive approach, as it contains specially customized skills and techniques from the Art, and uses customized processes that are then supported by the Science of our Klpz software prospecting tool.

Why Every Company Needs to Develop their Best Practices

Best Practices is the development of a repeatable process which includes crucial Art components such as scripting, answers to commonly asked questions, counters to the most commonly heard conditioned responses and the process of how to pursue one target efficiently. This concept of a repeatable process also includes Science components such as defining the ideal pursuit plan. Best Practices must be easily repeatable and transferable to new sales prfessionals as they join the sales team.

Underpinning the ColdCalling101 Solution is a comprehensive set of skills, tools and processes that are applicable to a very wide range of prospecting situations. Each company is different and so the best way to achieve success inevitably varies from situation to situation. For this reason, a key feature of the program is that we develop and implement a customized approach for each company to reduce what is most times an inconsistent, self-directed process that more closely resembles thrashing than a well thought out strategy.

Best Practices define how an individual company can best address their particular telephone prospecting challenge, (even when begun with a face-to-face canvassing first step). A well thought out set of Best Practices provides the foundation for consistently setting more appointments with more qualified prospects in less time, and also provides the capability to sustain that increase over time.

Developing Customized Set of Best Practices

The practical reality of business today makes it difficult for most sales teams to carve out the time to do effective training, let alone the additional time needed to subsequently apply what is learned into a set of applicable customized Best Practices. Further, because new knowledge must be totally absorbed and internalized over time, subtleties of any methodology and new processes are many times missed in self-implementation projects.

For these reasons, the Prospector's Academy provides close-in expert support to every company in the program. This ensures the quick, efficient and professional development of customized Best Practices for each company. Development is led by an experienced consultant/trainer who has deep, practical experience in prospecting and sales and a keen understanding of the principles of the program. The consultant will be responsible for creating the actual Best Practices, integrating them into the program and then delivering it through the Total Immersion Training Program to ensure continuity.

A Total Solution for a Powerful Appointment Making Strategy

Our approach is to work alongside customers to develop the set of Best Practices that will then be taught and implemented in the Prospector's Academy. Caponi Performance Group utilizes a standard questionnaire to gather details of the company's current messaging and appointment setting strategy. We then develop a set of Standard Best Practices during interviews with key company employees.

The same consultant then incorporates the Best Practices into the course curriculum, student workbooks, Prospector's Handbook, Manager's Handbook and into the enabling technology, Klpz. The development of Best Practices also includes a parallel manager's track that teaches sales managers how to create a culture of accountability and sustainable prospecting.

The set of Best Practices included in a standard implementation of the Prospector's Academy includes everything needed to address one specific sales solution for one market. (Additional markets, and solution sets may be added.) Included in the Best Practices are:

• The definition of who are our best targets, where to find the best targets and who we want to meet with within those target companies
• Definition of the Life Cycle of a target from identification through removal from the list or successful sale
• Definition of the size of virtual territories (the number of targets that can be pursued) using Coldcalling101's Activity Calculator
• Strategy and tactics for the long term development of territories
• Who should be setting appointments: territory sales professionals, inside group, or outsourced group?
• Development of a management culture of managing by metrics and demanding accountability at all levels
• Development of the ideal pursuit plan in a Cold Call Cycle (how many times to call and the timing of those calls) and a Follow-up Cycle that coincides with the Life Cycle of a target
• Development of the ideal pursuit plan in a Cold Call Cycle (how many times to call and the timing of those calls) and a Follow-up Cycle that coincides with the Life Cycle of a target
• Development of Gatekeeper strategies
• Development of strategies and messaging for voicemails, emails and videos (for delivery in Klpz if employed)
• Development of strategies and messaging for voicemails, emails and videos (for delivery in Klpz if employed)
• Identification of the most common objections (conditioned responses) and questions heard
• Development of responses to the most common conditioned responses and questions heard
• Development of Bridge Questions used to get past the original no responses

Find Out More

A properly implemented program consisting of Art, Science and Best Practices for the process of appointment making always pays for itself within the very first buying cycle. What impact would a doubling or better of the number of Initial Appointments set by your sales team have on your business? Contact the Caponi Performance Group to learn more.