B2B Sales - Best way to spend a day.

BnB

I often find myself in a Town or an area with 5 or 6 hours to spare.

So for example, on Wednesday this week, I have a sales pitch in Cambridge @10 am and am not flying home till 7 or 8 o clock in the evening. So far I have been unsuccessful in getting a 2nd visit in the afternoon.

I would have a lot of potential customers in the area but havn't managed to get any other visit.

In general I would be targeting bigger companies... Minimum(ish) 250 employees... Usually Manufacturing... some services. Not pure office based busineses like banking / insurance etc.

I usually end up spending a lot of the day on the phone still chasing another visit but rarely if ever get one.

The only other thing I can think to do is travel around to companies in the area dropping in brochures, but that was something I used to do when selling the product in Ireland and I rarely (if ever) got anything back from it.

Has anyone any other ideas how I could spend the remainder of the day in the area. Specificially how I could use it to generate further leads.

Thanks in advance

Ush1

How long does your sales pitch take?

BnB

An hour - Maybe a bit more depending on questions etc. But I woudl be free from 12 noon at the latest.

Ideally, with good timing I could do 3 visits in a day but even 2 is ok.

mrawkward

On the road you should have prospects and appointments already set up. Get an earlier flight home...best use of such time! Rubbish sales prospecting scenario!

Big Nasty

Before you go google potential companies in the area you will be pitching and find out who the relevant contacts are. Contact same and try set up a meeting.

How long are you in sales?

Big Nasty

Big Nasty wrote: »

Before you go google potential companies in the area you will be pitching and find out who the relevant contacts are. Contact same and try set up a meeting.

How long are you in sales?

Or better yet, find them relevant person on Linkedin, - and best to have 2-3 people in the company that you could talk to in case your target is not there, in a meeting or whatever.

BnB

Hi - OP here. I appreciate the replies, but what I am looking for is after all that...

Yes - We are contacting companies and getting Leads from them - using a few methods including LinkedIn. Making the phone calls etc...

Ideally, we try and fill a day with 2 or 3 visits. But it sometimes happens that (like tomorrow) I just have one visit. Now - That visit is worth going to, so I don't mind - But I just want to use the rest of the day as best I can, and I am never sure how to do that.

Getting an early flight home is a cop out. It means by the time I have flown home and then driven home it is still 5 or 6 o clock so I am not going to be able to do much anyway. In other words - I waste half of the working day, when my potential clients are at their desks.

I often end up in the airport for 4 or 5 hours on the phone following up on previous visits, which isn't ideal, but it's better than doing nothing.

Ush1

BnB wrote: »

An hour - Maybe a bit more depending on questions etc. But I woudl be free from 12 noon at the latest.

Ideally, with good timing I could do 3 visits in a day but even 2 is ok.

Maybe try dropping in to clients in person and offering to take them for lunch?

Digital_Guy

If you normally arrange 2-3 visits for the same day, presumably in this case the other 1-2 clients dropped off somewhere along the line? Would you not try to reschedule the other client to a day where the other 1-2 clients are also available.

Maybe that is not always possible or feasible.

Why not contact new prospects from the airport as well, instead of or in addition to just following up on previous calls? You could also try dropping in on clients as the previous poster said - it might be that they are actually free after all or forgot you were visiting the area, etc.

Worst case scenario is they aren't there or won't meet with you (and this might be unlikely if they are open to your approach generally).

Trojan

Personally, I think I'd spend that time on content creation (blogs, podcast, even social media) with a view to building a larger audience and creating more inbound sales inquiries.

And within reason, networking is usually a good thing. The more you can network with existing and potential clients, the better.

mrawkward

That this thread garnered 10 posts is a fitting indictment of how slow/dead this forum has become. Well done to those who managed the end of life transition....

Gmaximum

OP - you have to look at what your selling and how you're qualifying your appointments. I've managed successful sales teams selling to both large enterprise and SME customers. Customer facing activity is vital to success in either sector but that doesn't have to mean sitting physically sitting in front of them.

By all means I'd encourage a sales person who's territory is a large urban area to set X number of appointments per week as they're easy to travel between and to and from,

In your case I'd look at how technology can help you - can you use a video conferencing application to talk face to face with a prospect. This saves a huge amount of travel and cost and may make it easier to actually get appointments. Don't use free resources such as Skype as they'll be poor quality, look at WebEx, Gotomeeting or BlueJeans etc

Could you look at using an outsourced lead generation company. There are some really good ones (particularity in the UK) who work specifically on high value ticket items

BnB

Digital_Guy wrote: »

If you normally arrange 2-3 visits for the same day, presumably in this case the other 1-2 clients dropped off somewhere along the line? Would you not try to reschedule the other client to a day where the other 1-2 clients are also available.

Maybe that is not always possible or feasible.

Normally, what I do is, I would work on getting a key visit in any area. A Key visit is a visit with a decent prospect (decent size and serious about potentially buying). Once I have that, I will then try and fit some other visits around it. The Other visits may be decent as well or they may be smaller/not as interested.

If a Key visit re-schedules, I'll move everyone else to work around them. But I will very rarely re-schedule a key visit themselves. Even if it means traveling for a day just to meet them on their own.

Trojan wrote: »

Personally, I think I'd spend that time on content creation (blogs, podcast, even social media) with a view to building a larger audience and creating more inbound sales inquiries.

And within reason, networking is usually a good thing. The more you can network with existing and potential clients, the better.

RE the inbound sales - I agree, but we have finally taken on someone else in the company to work on that full time - And they are doing it much better than I ever was.

Good point RE the networking and not something I had considered doing. I have about 30 customers in the UK now and I could probably start doing a few courtesy / networking calls into them. Once they are setup, it is an annual fee and usually they are working with our customer service staff so I generally lose touch with them. So the odd call to them might be a good idea.

BnB

Gmaximum wrote: »

OP - you have to look at what your selling and how you're qualifying your appointments. I've managed successful sales teams selling to both large enterprise and SME customers. Customer facing activity is vital to success in either sector but that doesn't have to mean sitting physically sitting in front of them.

By all means I'd encourage a sales person who's territory is a large urban area to set X number of appointments per week as they're easy to travel between and to and from,

In your case I'd look at how technology can help you - can you use a video conferencing application to talk face to face with a prospect. This saves a huge amount of travel and cost and may make it easier to actually get appointments. Don't use free resources such as Skype as they'll be poor quality, look at WebEx, Gotomeeting or BlueJeans etc

Could you look at using an outsourced lead generation company. There are some really good ones (particularity in the UK) who work specifically on high value ticket items

Hi G - You were posting the same time as me I think.

We already use Webex for some of our smaller potentials and I would do a few of them a week as well as some old fashioned a visits - But for potentially bigger ones, I like to get a face to face meeting if at all possible.

RE Outsourced Lead Generation - I have flirted with the idea, without actually trying it out. I have the impression (unqualified) that there are a lot of cowboys in this buisness. Are there any compinies that you have worked with in the past that you would reccomend ?

Gmaximum

BnB wrote: »

Hi G - You were posting the same time as me I think.

We already use Webex for some of our smaller potentials and I would do a few of them a week as well as some old fashioned a visits - But for potentially bigger ones, I like to get a face to face meeting if at all possible.

RE Outsourced Lead Generation - I have flirted with the idea, without actually trying it out. I have the impression (unqualified) that there are a lot of cowboys in this buisness. Are there any compinies that you have worked with in the past that you would reccomend ?

Looks like I was

How are those face to face meeting qualified? Personally I think its a waste spending most of your day travelling to a single sales call that isn't already well down the road in terms of getting to a sale or else there's a clearly defined action that you can both agree on at the end i.e. "Mr Customer if I can demonstrate that my product/service can save a business like yours x% over 3 years will you agree to moving forward with a formal proposal or getting budgetary approval etc. A loose arrangement to do an introductory call can be great for someone who's a little bored or just fishing for info

I've had good experiences with Internal Results (based in Ireland) and Prospect Research in the UK.

Do you sell product or services for a larger brand? Very often they will have specific lead generation programmes available to their partners

Mrs OBumble

Could you look for any business networking events in the area that day, which you could attend? I know it's not ideal - but it's a step above cold calling. Any business-networking or industry organisations which you could pay a visit to?

pedroeibar1

There are some blunt questions that should be asked.

Why not do your homework properly first, instead of finding yourself raggedy-assed in a foreign city after just one sales call?

Why it takes ONE HOUR to make a sales pitch. (How many people here would entertain any vendor for one hour? My product is highly complicated/technical, my pitch is max 15 minutes but even if the prospect gets ‘into it’, it’s long over within an hour!)

How much pre-appointment research has been done – like why only one potential customer in an area that size? Have you even checked if the potential customer good for the amount of credit involved?

Suggestions like “take an earlier flight home” show a lack of travel experience – the cost of changing a ticket to a later flight is the same – or more – as the original ticket cost.

Videoconferencing for a sales presentation is a daft idea. You need face-to-face.

Using an out-sourced lead provider is a non-starter – they do not work, some Indian punter in a call centre in Birmingham has no idea of what you are proposing /selling. Out of sheer desperation to get the caller off the line the target will agree to a visit from the vendor – and then blow the sales guy out - or not even be there to meet him! (Marketing Depts love outsourced lead generation because it gives them a bigger budget, more 'information' and allows them to tick boxes and say they are helping sales staff.)Do your own groundwork, you are best at it.

The simple answer is - you stay at home and do your homework properly; then you finalise appointments, then you travel. Start by creating a list of likely & creditworthy customers, then making a 'geographic' shortlist and then using the phone. ‘Hi Mr.Prospect, I’ve a product that your competitor X is using very successfully, I’ll be in your area the week after next, would love to see you and show you what it does, it’ll take 15-20 minutes max, what days/times would be most suitable to meet you? Right, that's great, thank-you, I’ll firm up on a time & date as soon I’ve my schedule finalised.’ Background prep first and then, only then, buy the ticket. Prospects know you are foreign, they will allow for a bit of flexibility on the appointment-making process.

As for what you should do with time to spare in a dull airport – you should sit on a hard plastic chair with a cup of tepid coffee and tell yourself loudly ‘I will never, ever, allow myself to be in this stupid money & time wasting position again’ and then start thinking how to change / plan for your next trip.

I think corporate blogs and social media waffle are ubiquitous, highly over-rated because so many of them are badly written, clichéd, inane and I have yet to see a really good one!

There is a lot to be said for just sitting and thinking.

Gmaximum

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

There are some blunt questions that should be asked.

Videoconferencing for a sales presentation is a daft idea. You need face-to-face.

Using an out-sourced lead provider is a non-starter – they do not work, some Indian punter in a call centre in Birmingham has no idea of what you are proposing /selling. Out of sheer desperation to get the caller off the line the target will agree to a visit from the vendor – and then blow the sales guy out - or not even be there to meet him! (Marketing Depts love outsourced lead generation because it gives them a bigger budget, more 'information' and allows them to tick boxes and say they are helping sales staff.)Do your own groundwork, you are best at it.

.

I'd hardly say video conferencing is a daft idea, when used appropriately and properly it is a fantastic tool. Video is also a tool which is used regularly in larger organisations which makes it easier to get a prospect on board with a meeting over video

As I said in a previous post there are a number of outsourced providers who are excellent at providing qualified leads, the majority of them use other tools in conjunction with the actual cold calling. Getting to the right people in a large organisation is a skill in itself. Some people are great at it but can't do the face to face and vice versa. Of course there are people who do both all the OP is looking for is help

Digital_Guy

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

There are some blunt questions that should be asked.

Why not do your homework properly first, instead of finding yourself raggedy-assed in a foreign city after just one sales call?

Why it takes ONE HOUR to make a sales pitch. (How many people here would entertain any vendor for one hour? My product is highly complicated/technical, my pitch is max 15 minutes but even if the prospect gets ‘into it’, it’s long over within an hour!)

How much pre-appointment research has been done – like why only one potential customer in an area that size? Have you even checked if the potential customer good for the amount of credit involved?

Suggestions like “take an earlier flight home” show a lack of travel experience – the cost of changing a ticket to a later flight is the same – or more – as the original ticket cost.

Videoconferencing for a sales presentation is a daft idea. You need face-to-face.

Using an out-sourced lead provider is a non-starter – they do not work, some Indian punter in a call centre in Birmingham has no idea of what you are proposing /selling. Out of sheer desperation to get the caller off the line the target will agree to a visit from the vendor – and then blow the sales guy out - or not even be there to meet him! (Marketing Depts love outsourced lead generation because it gives them a bigger budget, more 'information' and allows them to tick boxes and say they are helping sales staff.)Do your own groundwork, you are best at it.

The simple answer is - you stay at home and do your homework properly; then you finalise appointments, then you travel. Start by creating a list of likely & creditworthy customers, then making a 'geographic' shortlist and then using the phone. ‘Hi Mr.Prospect, I’ve a product that your competitor X is using very successfully, I’ll be in your area the week after next, would love to see you and show you what it does, it’ll take 15-20 minutes max, what days/times would be most suitable to meet you? Right, that's great, thank-you, I’ll firm up on a time & date as soon I’ve my schedule finalised.’ Background prep first and then, only then, buy the ticket. Prospects know you are foreign, they will allow for a bit of flexibility on the appointment-making process.

As for what you should do with time to spare in a dull airport – you should sit on a hard plastic chair with a cup of tepid coffee and tell yourself loudly ‘I will never, ever, allow myself to be in this stupid money & time wasting position again’ and then start thinking how to change / plan for your next trip.

I think corporate blogs and social media waffle are ubiquitous, highly over-rated because so many of them are badly written, clichéd, inane and I have yet to see a really good one!

There is a lot to be said for just sitting and thinking.

By daft, do you mean 'excellent'?! The quality of some video conferencing these days means that it's the next best thing to being in the same room as someone. Do you propose that the OP travel to the UK for every sales presentation instead?

Digital_Guy

BnB wrote: »

Normally, what I do is, I would work on getting a key visit in any area. A Key visit is a visit with a decent prospect (decent size and serious about potentially buying). Once I have that, I will then try and fit some other visits around it. The Other visits may be decent as well or they may be smaller/not as interested.

If a Key visit re-schedules, I'll move everyone else to work around them. But I will very rarely re-schedule a key visit themselves. Even if it means traveling for a day just to meet them on their own.

Hmm I see. I actually thought that the visit where you travel would be to seal the deal more or less - I've never worked in sales as such but a 'decent prospect' should still be at the phone / videoconferencing stage for me. Otherwise you are investing quite a lot of time and effort into someone who is still just a good prospect.

I'd be keeping the overseas travel to those who are ready to sign, or who just want the reassurance of your presence (to address questions in person, etc.), before they do.

pedroeibar1

Digital_Guy wrote: »

By daft, do you mean 'excellent'?! The quality of some video conferencing these days means that it's the next best thing to being in the same room as someone. Do you propose that the OP travel to the UK for every sales presentation instead?

By 'daft' I mean senseless, stupid, or foolish. Daft, from the Old English daefft meaning ‘weak’.
Video conferencing is a useful tool but it is a second choice AFTER personal presence for almost everything, even for internal meetings. I’ve been using video conferencing since the days when it was necessary to have a Geisco line to make it work.


Stop and think about it – the OP has to find a customer, find the right guy, find a VC facility and ‘hope’ then that his prospect not only has a VC set-up but access to it. The idea of using it for initial sales contacts is inappropriate (unless of course you are in the business of selling/promoting the stuff!).


And yes, I do mean that the OP should travel to the UK (and further) to develop sales. That is why I advocated doing homework properly. Even to th eextent of doing a credit report first - no point in travelling to a prospect who wants to meet you if credit cannot be granted. Too many times the punter is looking for a new supplier because he has run out of credit with many others!

BnB

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

By 'daft' I mean senseless, stupid, or foolish. Daft, from the Old English daefft meaning ‘weak’.
Video conferencing is a useful tool but it is a second choice AFTER personal presence for almost everything, even for internal meetings. I’ve been using video conferencing since the days when it was necessary to have a Geisco line to make it work.


Stop and think about it – the OP has to find a customer, find the right guy, find a VC facility and ‘hope’ then that his prospect not only has a VC set-up but access to it. The idea of using it for initial sales contacts is inappropriate (unless of course you are in the business of selling/promoting the stuff!).


And yes, I do mean that the OP should travel to the UK (and further) to develop sales. That is why I advocated doing homework properly. Even to th eextent of doing a credit report first - no point in travelling to a prospect who wants to meet you if credit cannot be granted. Too many times the punter is looking for a new supplier because he has run out of credit with many others!

Hi OP here

I appreciate your comments but I believe you are way off the mark with regard to video conferencing. Finding a VC "Facility" and "Equipment" is just having a laptop and an Internet Connection. All my potential customers have both as I am selling Software as a Service generally to Corporate Customers.

Face to Face is great and I do like to do it but Video Conferencing works great for partly qualified leads (who you are not ready to commit to traveling to see yet) and leads who are just too far away to make it practical to visit unless they are a huge lead (the States).

The Credit part wouldn't be relevent to me. Again, I'm selling to bigger companies. I wouldn't really be dealing with (or at least I certainly wouldn't be flying over to see) the type/size of company that is going to have Credit Problems. Also, as it is Software as a Service, if they are not paying we can just cut them off - but we have never had to do that.

RE your previous post - The one hour sales pitch - very little I can do to change that. Putting in our software in generally a system change for the customer and they often get a few people together to discuss etc. My actual "Pitch" is about 20 mins, if I went through it uninterrupted, but I am very very rarely out of it in an hour.

RE "I think corporate blogs and social media waffle are ubiquitous, highly over-rated because so many of them are badly written, clichéd, inane and I have yet to see a really good one!"...

.. I completely agree - The people I sell to are fairly black and white - They are working in a fairly boring sector - Not sure if boring is the right word - But it is very workish i.e. You would never sit down to read something about it at your leisure. And the people I sell to aren't interested in the BS - They just want to see black and white - What does it do and how can it help me. So rather than focusing on blogs etc we are focusing on making sure our site shows our product in its best light.

I spent a good bit of time working through Linkedin on groups etc, but I eventually came to the conclusion that the only people who were active on it and were responding to me, were people who were trying to sell me something themselves.

Digital_Guy

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

By 'daft' I mean senseless, stupid, or foolish. Daft, from the Old English daefft meaning ‘weak’.
Video conferencing is a useful tool but it is a second choice AFTER personal presence for almost everything, even for internal meetings. I’ve been using video conferencing since the days when it was necessary to have a Geisco line to make it work.


Stop and think about it – the OP has to find a customer, find the right guy, find a VC facility and ‘hope’ then that his prospect not only has a VC set-up but access to it. The idea of using it for initial sales contacts is inappropriate (unless of course you are in the business of selling/promoting the stuff!).


And yes, I do mean that the OP should travel to the UK (and further) to develop sales. That is why I advocated doing homework properly. Even to th eextent of doing a credit report first - no point in travelling to a prospect who wants to meet you if credit cannot be granted. Too many times the punter is looking for a new supplier because he has run out of credit with many others!

Meetings over VC is such a common occurrence these days - people are as familiar with it as sitting at their desks in the morning. How would anyone have a face to face meeting for every meeting? It's not realistic or feasible. If the OP has a prospect in Norway, should he jump on a flight the following week? Or not go because he doesn't have any other prospects there? It would be clearly ridiculous to go unless he is much further along the funnel with the client.

VC is more than fine and commonplace for the initial stages - face to face meetings are for when someone showing real promise needs extra attention to move things forward, or for when you are about to seal the deal.

Graham

Digital_Guy wrote: »

Meetings over VC is such a common occurrence these days

in some industries.

It would be unwise to assume it's the norm everywhere.

Digital_Guy

Graham wrote: »

in some industries.

It would be unwise to assume it's the norm everywhere.

True - I am in the tech industry myself. I don't know about other industries but I'm talking in the context of this scenario where the OP is selling SAAS to corporate customers, so...

Regardless it's a great way to make contact, especially if you are working to reach customers globally, and it's obviously not possible to visit in person all the time.

Walter2016

mrawkward wrote: »

That this thread garnered 10 posts is a fitting indictment of how slow/dead this forum has become. Well done to those who managed the end of life transition....

Probably because the following is the style of post that gets thrown at people

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Why not do your homework properly first, instead of finding yourself raggedy-assed in a foreign city after just one sales call?

Why it takes ONE HOUR to make a sales pitch. (How many people here would entertain any vendor for one hour? My product is highly complicated/technical, my pitch is max 15 minutes but even if the prospect gets ‘into it’, it’s long over within an hour!)

How much pre-appointment research has been done – like why only one potential customer in an area that size? Have you even checked if the potential customer good for the amount of credit involved?

For the OP, Cambridge is a lovely city as are many towns on the back roads to Stansted including Sawbridgeworth. Sometimes its nice to just relax and get a vibe for an area - it can form part of conversation with your local customer at some stage.

I used to be in a similar situation, but more with key European cities and head offices of retail groups. We had policy of just one customer per day as meetings could go for two hours or 6 hours - you didn't know until the day. Though you'd find the Danish were quick whilst the Italians & Spanish really took their time.

to the poster pedroiebar, unless you know what the OP is selling you cannot make any assumption as to the time it takes or other specific aspects to the customer. In my case one customer would be worth well over 500k a year to the company I used to work for - well worth dedicating a day to without distraction.

VC'ing is great for meetings, but in my experience, after the first presentation and getting to know someone. Just like the phone and email, people can still easily go through the motions on a video conference. You build a much more tangible profile of a person (or they will of you) face to face. And much of the time business is done because rapport has been created, or the buyer takes a liking to you for whatever reason. Bottom line is I would be certain conversion rates are far higher face to face.
Outsourcing leads is only good for mass telesales where you can burn through a hundred to get one conversion.

Andy_Black

I do lots of Skype calls with prospects, and once you're there it's very easy to jump onto a screenshare. I find it handy, but your mileage may vary of course.

pedroeibar1

mrawkward wrote: »

That this thread garnered 10 posts is a fitting indictment of how slow/dead this forum has become. …

Walter2016 wrote: »

Probably because the following is the style of post that gets thrown at people …

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

There are some blunt questions that should be asked.
Why not do your homework properly first, instead of finding yourself raggedy-assed in a foreign city after just one sales call? Etc …

The problem with this forum is not with blunt responses, it is that some really stupid comments/suggestions are made. My post prompted the OP to be more open with detail which, given his sector, does change some things, like selling a tech product by tech means to tech buyers. Try calling Ahold, or Carrefour or Sainsbury’s telling them you want to set up a video call with their meat buyer and see how successful you would be.

Walter2016 wrote: »

…For the OP, Cambridge is a lovely city as are many towns on the back roads to Stansted including Sawbridgeworth. Sometimes its nice to just relax and get a vibe for an area - …

“Well Walt, how did your sales trip to Cambridge go?”
“Great, Boss, actually I had only one call to make, I didn’t know what to do and when I posted on Boards for advice a guy replied saying I should’ve done more homework and be better prepared the next time, so to fill in the time before my return flight I went for a walk and took some lovely photographs. Great vibe in that place.”
“You did what Walt?!!!!”

@OP – I see your point in being able to turn off your service for non-payment, but how about pre-delivery costs (e.g. sales/set-up costs, development, tweaking product for a specific customer?). If a firm goes into examinership/receivership/administration (depending on jurisdiction) you might not have the luxury of turning off your service should you want to get some of your debt back. The long lead-up to the eventual Brexit decision is going to have a huge impact on corporate solvency in the UK. I certainly would not be blasé about credit control. Lots of big firms have gone and will continue to go to the wall.

BnB

OP Here again -

RE Credit Control, you'll have to take my word for it, it's just not an issue. We invoice at the start of the contract. If a cuctomer goes wallop during the sales process - so be it. But it is very very unlikely - Also, it is very unlikely that if it did happen, we would have been able to predict it.

RE - The origional question - Just to give a bit of feedback - I origionally used to end up spending the day on the phone, still trying to chase down the 2nd visit (which I never get). Last week I decided in the end, to identify a few major industrial centres. Then I put together a decent brochure/pack to drop into reception (cold) for the department manager I want to deal with. I had hoped to drop 20 brochures to potential clients but in the end with traffic and my morning meeting taking longer than expected, I only dropped in 11.

I had set a goal in my head that if I heard back from 1 customer from 20 brochure drops, I would be happy. Then today, I actually got an e-mail from one of the 11 I dropped who sounds very interested and is part of a major multi-national - So I am well pleased with it.

pedroeibar1

If you are doing the above, I'd actually get the name of the dept manager and handwrite a note to him, saying you will contact him by phone in a few days. Then I would phone him within a couple of days. Keep the initative, that way you improve your chances considerably.