Like many organizations, Billtrust has a direct sales force that does a fair amount of cold calling (i.e. calling a lot of companies, speaking with a lot of people, trying to see if there is a fit for our solution). As the CEO, I'm also the recipient of a lot of inbound cold calls. What follows is my personal experience of what to do, and not to do.
The Bad
- Don't call me and offer to send a few investment ideas my way, no obligation. I know this game. You tell half the people to go long a stock, the other half to short it. The stock is likely to move one direction and you look like a genius to 1/2 the people. Not to me.
- Don't call and tell me it's not a sales call. I'd actually prefer you to be honest. If you lie out of the gate, no chance I'm talking to you.
- Don't call and leave a voice mail with your name and number, but no company name. This doesn't make me curious, it makes me feel like you're trying to trick me into calling you back.
- Don't call and ask me to listen to a five minute recording which will then be followed by a survey. The NRA has been calling me every day for a week wondering if I'm worried that the United Nations is trying to take American's guns away. Uh, frankly I'm not too worried about that.
- If you do get me on the phone, don't talk for five minutes without pause. Did you really call to hear yourself talk for that long?
The Good
- Good - Instantly tell me your name, the company you're with, and the purpose of your call.
- Better - tell me about companies like mine that use your product and services and the benefits they get
- Best - do your research on Billtrust and call with an intelligent synopsis of why Billtrust needs what you've got.
- Bestest - find somebody I know and ask for an email introduction. If you can convince someone I know to introduce you, I'll always take your call. I might not buy, but I'll certainly listen.
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