Page 13 – Peak Sales Recruiting: The #1 Sales Recruiters

B2B Cold Calling: 22 Tips to Elevate Your Skills in 2023

B2B cold calling in 2023 requires more skill and strategy than ever before. Considering that cold call conversion rates are currently hovering around 2%. But, done well, it still creates an impactful opportunity to connect with potential sales prospects in a focused way. This allows you to deliver a specific solution to their problem.

If you’re an executive looking to enhance your sales team’s cold calling strategy or a representative who’s ready to sharpen your skills — this guide will give you a comprehensive look at cold calling best practices and guidance on how to improve your B2B cold-calling for sales success.

22 Tips To Improve B2B Cold Calling

A successful sales call begins before you even pick up the phone. To connect with potential sales prospects later, you need to understand the broad audience you’re talking to and the individual you have on the phone.

1. Define Your Target Prospects

Research your target prospects to understand their industry and the most relevant pain points. Even if you think you know your audience well and talk to customers daily, this information is worth distilling, noting clearly, and refreshing yourself before you begin a batch of cold calls.

2. Genuinely Get to Know Who You’re Calling

To further personalize your approach and establish credibility, educate yourself in detail for each call. Cold calls are going out to people who haven’t expressed interest in your company or solution. But you can counterbalance some unfamiliarity by showing that you’ve done your homework and care about the company you’re calling. Find out how big a company is, what their product service offerings are, who key decision-makers are in their company, and start thinking about how your solution would uniquely support them.

3. Leverage Social, But Don’t Spam

Cold-calling strategies that ignore the power of social media for pre-call engagement are sure to fall flat in an online world. Warm up potential sales prospects by connecting with them on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter. Look for the channels your prospect is most active on, and engage with them there. While connecting, watch for pertinent information about your prospect’s priorities and interests.

Avoid this cold-calling mistake → Don’t spam, be social. When you engage with prospects, act like a real human interacting with another real human or company. Spamming a prospect with likes on their posts or leaving thoughtless comments will damage your connection. This can ruin your chances of warming up a cold prospect.

4. Give Each Prospect an Unparalleled Pitch

Take your research from ‘Stage 1’ and start to apply this information to your positioning and pitch. Note the benefits of your solution that will be most relevant to your prospect. Highlight ways that your company aligns with their way of doing business, their values, and their goals.

5. Forecast Objections So You Can Weather Them Later

Again leaning on the information you have about your prospect, anticipate their objections to purchasing your solution. Prepare your responses to those objections so you can confidently address them. Over time, you’ll build a bank of objections and responses so you’ll never miss a quality sales opportunity because of a lackluster response to a prospect’s objection.

6. Open Your Call With a Strategic Intro

You’ll have less than 30 seconds to make your first impression on a prospect and begin what could potentially be a successful sales call. It’s best to assume you have only a few seconds to make a compelling opening invitation and start the conversation. Create a statement that explains the clear benefit of your solution in a way that is attention-grabbing and piques curiosity.

Avoid this cold-calling mistake → Don’t rush your call prep. Any call worth making is worth planning for. There’s nothing worse than getting a qualified prospect on the phone and losing them because you stumbled over your introduction.

7. Put Connection First

If you were able to connect with the person on a social media platform — or that is where you found the lead — mention this on your call. You might add this mention before or after your opening statement. Make sure that what you bring up in conversation is relevant to your solution. Show your client that you took the time to get to know them before getting on the call.

8. Make Your Interruption Worth It

No one’s sitting around waiting for sales calls, so acknowledge your potential sales prospect’s busy schedule. Follow up your acknowledgment with a clear statement of how much time you need today. Whether that’s three or fifteen minutes, sharing this upfront shows respect. Prospects will feel more comfortable getting on the phone with you for follow-ups and won’t feel ‘roped in’ to a call they didn’t ask for when they can agree to the time commitment.

9. Keep it Colloquial

Conversational language will flow easily when you’re not using a sales script. Remember that the more natural, confident, and clear your speech is, the easier it is for your prospect to trust you. Building rapport through authentic interactions is the way to go.

10. Uplift Your Prospect With Positivity

Throughout your conversation, look for opportunities to affirm, acknowledge, and validate your prospect. Words that convey your enthusiasm for helping the prospect and show your optimistic outlook will help show that your service is genuine and solution-focused.

11. Invest Your Attention — And It’ll Pay You Dividends

In order to understand your prospect’s needs and challenges, you need to be equally engaged and receptive on your call. This means fully listening to your prospect when they’re answering your questions and sharing about themselves. Something they say during the call could influence the way you pitch your solution. You don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to tailor your conversation because you weren’t actively listening.

Avoid this cold-calling mistake → Don’t interject or cut off your prospect during your call. Use effective open-ended questions and encourage prospects to share their challenges.

12. The Entire Call is Part of the Pitch

Instead of thinking of your pitch being just the last quarter of your call, look at your entire call as part of your pitch. This shift in perspective will help you see opportunities for warming up your cold lead throughout your conversation so that when you make a clear offer, it doesn’t shock your prospect. They’ll be anticipating it and even asking for it.

13. Subtly Pitch With Social Proof

Incorporate social proof in your conversations by mentioning relevant industry recognition your company has received or partnerships you’re engaged in. This helps to establish credibility with your prospect.

14. Slide Into a Sale With Smooth Storytelling

Engage your prospects by sharing relevant success stories. Case studies and testimonials from notable clients illustrate how your solution has helped other businesses overcome similar challenges.

15. Give Value a Front Seat, Put Features in the Back

Instead of focusing on product features, expand your cold calling strategy to emphasize the value and benefits your solution offers. This includes addressing the pain points your prospects are likely experiencing.

16. Practice Proactive Objection Prevention

Before your call, you should have planned for possible objections and how to handle them. On your call, you can address these potential objections before they are even shared. Do this by proactively providing information and addressing concerns. Weave this information into your social proof and stories whenever possible to further strengthen your positioning and demonstrate real, applied expertise your prospect can trust.

17. Respect Your Prospects Boundaries

While a certain amount of professional persistence is required for successful sales via cold calling. You don’t want to push so far as to violate your prospect’s boundaries. Repeating this will not only ruin your chances of selling to your prospects but also damage your company’s reputation. When you encounter resistance or a potential sales prospect asks for more time to make their decision, be clear about how you will follow up while respecting their boundaries and preferences.

18. Always Review Lessons Learned After Each Call

When you have completed your call, it’s time to break down the lessons you learned to continue improving your cold-calling skills and results.

19. Let Every Lead Be a Learning Opportunity

Cold calling is a skill that only improves with practice. Practice can be messy and full of mistakes or it can be full of successes to celebrate. Either way, you can learn by seeking feedback, adapting your techniques, and staying updated with industry trends that can further inform your cold-calling approach.

20. Take a Third-Party Perspective on Your Calls

Take a step back from your call and try to analyze it from an objective outsider’s perspective. Look at only what was said, how you engaged on the call, and what the other person’s response was. The less personal you can make your review, the more powerful it will be. Take note of what made for successful sales calls and learn from unsuccessful ones to refine your strategy.

21. Know Where You’re At, Know Where You’re Going

Sales enablement tools and CRM systems will help you manage your metrics so you always know where you’re at and can set realistic stretch goals as you make progress. Stay organized and track everything you can in a clear and simple system so that your information is easy to access and apply to your future calls.

22. Raise Your Standards on Follow-Ups

Instead of sending generic follow-ups or ‘fire-hosing’ someone with information, take the time to personalize your follow-up emails or messages. Add a brief summary of your call and the next steps. Adding a few details that show this summary and the next steps for this prospect will help show your attentiveness and commitment to serving this prospect as a unique individual and company.

Avoid this cold-calling mistake → Follow up when and where you say you will. If you’ve previously connected with a prospect on social media, don’t use their comments section or DMs to spam them with additional, unsolicited follow-ups or information. Follow-ups are a chance for you to build trust and develop a relationship with your prospect.

Benefits of B2B Cold Calling

Despite recent technological advancements in the selling scene, cold calling is still a tried and true way to reach new customers. B2B cold calling is not only cost effective, but it is expected, as 50% of buyers prefer to be contacted via phone and 82% accept meetings from persistent cold calling. Additionally, B2B cold calling can help businesses with relationship building, marketing research, and scalability.

Top-performing sales representatives use most of these techniques without even thinking about them — they’re simply second nature from years of practice. Our network of excellent B2B sales representatives and candidates are ready to help your company today with cold-calling mastery and sales skills at the ready. Click here to contact us today and make a plan for sales success.

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About
Latest Posts

Ryan Thornton

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States With the Best & Worst Job Markets as Economy Strengthens

For the first time in a long time, there is cautious optimism about the U.S. economy. It is being fueled by a strong labor market. In May, 339,000 jobs were added – nearly double projections – and while that cooled to 209,000 new jobs in June, many experts are predicting a soft landing for the economy instead of a recession.

The number of open jobs sits at 9.8 million. At a time when quit rates are declining, this signifies that the labor market is strengthening, and companies are looking to expand and hire as many workers as they can. It also means job seekers have more choices and opportunities.

Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics sheds light on the country’s most in-demand sectors. Notably, most of the recent hires were in professional and business services (64,000); professional, scientific and technical services (43,000); government (56,000) and health care (52,000).

How to Find A Salesperson

In today’s competitive market, finding the right salesperson is crucial. As turnover rates among sales professionals hover around 20%, businesses must focus on effective recruitment and retention strategies. Let’s face it: businesses hate losing money. So when companies start shelling out $115,000 for every salesperson lost and replaced, C-Suite executives double down and focus their efforts on employee retention.

This status quo creates one big problem: businesses are constantly losing sales talent, unable to build a steady sales team and always in search of new, quality salespeople to replace the outgoing ones. Additionally, new businesses struggle to find available and committed salespeople due to their high mobility.

This blog post covers our strategy to find a salesperson — how to begin, where to look and what to do to keep them after you find them.

1. Create the Ideal Candidate Profile

Crafting the ideal candidate profile starts with the customer. Since your customers directly interface with the sales team, they should have a say on who gets hired. Using a feedback form (or any equivalent), nudge your customers to tell you the traits they value most in a salesperson.

From there, you can take over. Ask yourself and other stakeholders questions like:

What qualifications do we want in a candidate?
Will experience rank over qualifications?
Entry-level or experience?
Do we need someone to aggressively pursue new leads or gently nurture our existing ones?
Is geography a factor?

In other words, create your profile based on the sales task. You’ll notice we didn’t mention considering parameters like — goal-oriented, active listener, problem solver etc. Those things are just a ‘bland summary of the Boy Scout handbook.’

Odds are every sales candidate will say they are those things even when they’re not. Instead, shift the focus to your company’s sales tasks so it’ll be easier to build a custom candidate profile.

2. Write a Thorough Job Description

Since you’re searching for a unique salesperson, creating a distinct call sign to help them identify your business as a good place to thrive is necessary. How? Job descriptions.

You need them no matter where you find your sales candidates, not just job boards.

Job descriptions present your first opportunity to set the right expectations — your requirements, candidate responsibilities, company culture, and compensation structure.

Contrary to public opinion, job descriptions are best kept short and engaging. A one-pager is sufficient.

Top sales candidates look for keywords like ‘team leader’, ‘industry-specific experience,’ and ‘build customer relationships’, so be sure to include the right keyword blend in your job listing.

Here’s a good job description template you can work with.

Remember, if the job description isn’t good, the candidates who apply won’t be either.

3. Search in the Right Place

Good salespeople that match your specific requirements are not scarce if you know where to look — and there are several places to look.

Let’s go through those places together:

Your Network

Some say you’re never more than six people from meeting someone famous. They are absolutely right; fortunately for us, that dynamic operates the same way with salespeople.

Though generic, your professional and social network is indeed an ideal place to begin your search for top salespeople. Talk to your family, friends, and colleagues (past and present).

Don’t leave out salespeople who have already pitched or are still pitching a product to you. They’re worth hiring if they can get you to buy their product while working for someone else.

Networking events (for entry-level and senior roles)

Thousands of sales conferences are held annually, meaning thousands of salespeople are together in conference halls yearly, sipping drinks and eating low-fat pretzels.

That’s good news for you.

Look up events (sales conferences, trade shows and seminars) in your preferred area, then make an appearance. It’ll be like fishing in a small packed pond with a big net especially if they are already looking for you too.

That first bit is more suited to senior roles. If you want entry-level sales talent, redirect your search to look for college career fairs and alumni events.

Or, you can steal a page from the playbook of corporate R & D. Form a partnership with a university to set up an award or sponsor an event to get backstage access to teeming sales superstars.

Sales recruiting firms/agencies

If you’d rather skip the time-consuming process of finding great sales candidates, a sales recruiting firm is the way to go.

Sales recruiting firms are heavily connected. They know all the best salespeople and where to find them, even those who might be engaged elsewhere.

They’re about the best medium to find salespeople for any role in your company. Make sure to select the right recruiting firm.

Check the track record of the firm and ask about their process. Prioritize firms with exceptional reach and customer support.

Job boards

Job boards for salespeople are everywhere, listing a thousand sales jobs to ten thousand sales reps.

To be fair, job boards don’t always work. Many times, applications from these sites are less-than-satisfactory. However, you can still make lemonade from lemons by observing job descriptions and salary structures posted by your competitors. That insight can be instrumental.

One more thing to note on job boards:

Your ideal salesperson could be anywhere, including a current engagement with another company. They won’t be looking at a job board and are unlikely to see you. This is often the case when searching for a salesperson to fill a senior role. Now you know what to expect.

Other social media

Twitter, Facebook, and Slack communities are also good platforms to help you find top salespeople. Use hashtags to navigate your way on them.

4. Leverage the Network of Your Current Sales Team

If you already have a sales team, speak to them. Their knowledge and experience count more than you think.

The sales profession, though unfairly, has always been associated with false positives or, if we’re being blunt, lying.

No one is better suited to differentiate between people of true substance and those with credentials as false as a politician’s promise.. Plus, your next hire probably shared a seat in college with someone currently on your team.

Ask for their input, and they’ll point you in the right direction.

If you don’t have an existing sales team, simply reach out to a sales recruiting expert willing to help. Sales recruiting firms and LinkedIn are good places to discover salespeople who will share valuable insights.

5. Prioritize Promising Candidates

Top-performing sales reps can be elusive. They’re sifting through multiple job offers simultaneously, so they can be undecided, choosy, or both.

If you feel strongly about a candidate’s potential to positively impact your business growth, reach out immediately.

6. Go Through Resumes With Intent

Online job openings are reported to attract 250+ resumes, so we’ll run through a few helpful tips to help you review them better and faster:

Look for resumes (and cover letters) with a personal touch. This is especially important in the post-generative AI era.
Be open-minded about sales background and experience. Although experience in selling software is not the same as selling hospital machines, it doesn’t necessarily mean a candidate won’t succeed if given a chance.
Check for tangible results. Don’t be swayed by resumes that claim to have had ‘huge success’ without proof. Pay more attention to a resume that says ‘exceeded my sales target by 15% developing X strategy.’

250+ resumes won’t survive this process — and that’s a good thing. This process is admittedly tedious but the results are worth it.

7. Make the Most of a Screening Call

During this phase, your job is to become familiar with the potential sales candidates. Ideally, you’d want to know more about their qualifications, basic expectations, and whether or not they fit the company culture.

A short phone call or video of 15-30 minutes feels appropriate for a screening call. You might ask questions like:

Tell me briefly about your sales experience
What are your short-term career goals?
What are your salary expectations?
What’s your favourite sales strategy?

If you have any concerns after reviewing the resume, now’s the best time to review them.

One more thing, a screening should be informal. That might be the best way to establish a genuine connection since everyone’s on edge during formal interviews.

8. Ask the Right Questions in the Final Interview

Interviews are really about questions. Ask the right questions, and you’ll find the right salesperson.

We can’t tell you what the right interview questions are for your company (unless we know more), but you can’t go wrong with asking questions that help you understand a candidate’s approach to tackling sales tasks.

Once the interview is complete, ask your hiring team these questions:

Does the candidate have the ability to be vulnerable and honest about shortcomings?
Do they set learning intentions for themselves and strive to become more successful?
Do they have a good approach to customer service?
Do they have experience upselling customers?
Can they thrive in a competitive environment?

9. Keep Communication Open

The interview may be complete, but there’s still work to do. It’s no good going through all that stress only to lose a top candidate to a competitor.

Keep conversing with the promising candidates if you’re still deciding or sorting through administrative red tape. Tell them they’re on your mind and will be contacted once a final decision is made.

10. Negotiate. Hire. Onboard.

Top salespeople will negotiate their pay. Negotiating is practically habitual to them, and you might even be bothered if they don’t try to get you to pay more.

Make a hiring decision based on sound logic and good judgment.

Finally, patiently review short-term and long-term company goals, office policies, and other important information with the new hire(s).

Recap

To find successful salespeople, do these things:

Mold your target candidate profile
Write detailed job descriptions
Search your network
Attend networking events (senior roles) and college career fairs (young talent)
Leverage LinkedIn and other social media platforms
Don’t rely heavily on job boards
Hire a sales recruiting firm
Ask your sales team for advice
Search for non-generic salesperson roles
Review resumes
Screen candidates
Conduct immersive interviews
Follow-up on promising candidates
Negotiate pay. Hire and onboard.

Leave the Search to Peak

Finding the right salesperson can be a daunting task. It requires tact, expertise, and a bucket load of research. But that doesn’t have to be your burden.

At Peak Sales Recruiting, we know the best sales talent and are constantly discovering more. We can help you find and recruit your next sales superstar without hiccups.

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Eliot Burdett

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What You’re Missing When You Hire Based on Resumes Alone

Candidate resumes can be a great starting point for hiring, but they rarely tell the most important parts of a professional’s story. In sales, a candidate’s sales DNA almost always beats the resume. We encourage you to look beyond it.

What is Sales DNA?

Sales DNA is all about how someone approaches their role and performs their job. Sales DNA includes the traits that someone naturally embodies and qualities they have learned to develop over time.

Should We Throw Out The Resume Entirely?

In short, no. If you enter your hiring process with a clear hiring strategy, you will likely start by screening resumes for specific skills or experience. Let’s say you’re hiring a VP of sales. You certainly don’t want to interview or hire someone with only marketing experience.

Why Isn’t a Resume Enough?

When you overemphasize the qualifications someone displays on their resume, you considerably narrow the pool of talent you can draw from. This puts you at a disadvantage and eliminates potentially optimal candidates.

What Should You Look for Beyond the Resume?

The top traits of high-performers include ambition, competitiveness, confidence, and resilience. These traits are intangible but are strong indicators of tangible success. Sales representatives with these traits are able to capitalize on opportunities that average salespeople miss.

Let us help you spot the Sales DNA in your job candidates. Contact us today to get started with our recruitment specialists!

Austin’s Sales Hiring Landscape

Austin TX Sales Hiring Landscape In 2022

Austin is a growing city that offers an attractive lifestyle and opportunities for salespeople and businesses looking for growth. SpaceX and Oracle relocated their corporate headquarters to the city in recent years. These moves enhance Austin’s appeal to salespeople and growing companies. Let’s take a closer look at typical Austin sales salaries next.

Sales Salaries In Austin, TX

The following list shows the range of salaries available for salespeople at all levels in Austin, TX. These salaries come from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics as of May 2021. Round them up higher to reflect the impact of inflation.

Advertising Sales Agents: $60,270
Insurance Sales Agents: $65,160
Parts Salespersons: $39,100
First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers: $84,450
Real Estate Brokers:
Real Estate Sales Agents: $64,240
Sales Engineers: $124,340
Sales Managers: $145,420
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel: $63,010
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products: $95,220
Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents: $79,990

Many of these positions put a person above the city’s per capita income of $47,161, and some even put a person above the region’s median household income of $86,530. There’s never been a better time to build a sales career in the capital of Texas.

Major Employers In Austin

As one of Texas’s best-known cities, Austin has boomed. As a result, the city is home to a growing list of primary corporate and regional headquarters. Some major companies with a significant presence in Austin include the following.

Technology Companies:

AMD
Apple
BigCommerce
Dell
Facebook
IBM
National Instruments
NXP Semiconductors
Oracle

Finance

Charles Schwab
Dimensional Fund Advisors
Texas Mutual Insurance
Visa

Retail

eBay
Home Depot
Yeti

The appeal of Austin isn’t limited to large established companies either. Many other employers are scaling up their presence in the city.

Companies Are Adding Hundreds of New Jobs In Austin

From 2020 to 2022, Austin has continued attracting many companies and employers. According to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, the following companies have added over 100 jobs in the Austin area in 2022.

BAE Systems: 100 jobs
Cognizant: 300 jobs
GoStudent: 130 jobs
Kroger: 161 jobs
Roku: 100 jobs
TCS Mechanical: 444 jobs
Wise: 225 jobs

Over $5 Billion Invested in Austin Startups

In addition to these well-established companies, Austin is also becoming a thriving destination for entrepreneurs and startups. TechCrunch said investors supplied over $5 billion in funding to the city’s startup companies in 2021. That is a major increased compared to 2016, when investors supplied $940 million in funding to the city’s startup businesses.

Several of the city’s startups have achieved a $1 billion valuation, like Iodine Software, Workrise, and ZenBusiness. In addition, a growing number of Texas-focused investment firms are focused on growing companies in the city. If these trends continue, the Austin area is bound to continue to grow.

High Demand For Salespeople In Austin

Employer demand for sales talent remains strong in Austin, TX. As of the fall of 2022, there are approximately 25,000 open sales positions in the Austin area on LinkedIn. Approximately 13,000 of these sales positions are remote, suggesting a significant openness to flexible working in the Austin area.

Employers seeking sales talent in Austin include larger businesses (e.g., Adobe, US Bank, Salesforce) and many smaller businesses. The city is powerful as a technology hub, but that is just one aspect of the city’s appeal.

What Does Austin Offer For Salespeople and Companies?

In addition to the opportunity to earn a great income, Austin has a great deal to offer professionals and their families. Let’s look at the city’s culture, health, and education.

Austin’s Culture

With its unofficial motto, Keep Austin Weird, the city has something to offer almost everybody. History buffs will enjoy visiting the LBJ Presidential Museum and Library dedicated to the life and career of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th US President. Austin is also important to the George Washington Carver Museum and the Mexican American Cultural Center.

The city’s culture goes beyond the heritage. Those interested in cutting-edge culture and technology will look forward to the city’s annual SXSW Festival.

Austin is also well known for its live music scene. Major Austin music festivals include Austin City Limits Music Festival, the Austin Celtic Festival, and the Urban Music Festival. The city is also well known for homegrown musical talents like Janis Joplin, Spoon, and Willie Nelson.

Austin’s Health and Education

As the state capital, it should be no surprise that Austin has excellent health and education institutions. In addition to making the city highly livable, these institutions also represent opportunities for the right salesperson.

K-12 Education In Austin, Texas

Austin is rightly proud of the quality of its schools. The area has many exceptional high schools like the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA), Chaparral Star Academy, and the Richards School for Young Women Leaders. In addition, the city also has well-regarded public elementary schools like Allison Elementary and Andrews Elementary, which have an 11:1 student-to-teacher ratio.

Families seeking private education have plenty of choices in Austin as well. The Texas state capital is home to the Magellan International School, which offers the International Baccalaureate program and Spanish immersion. Located just outside of Austin, the Austin Waldorf School offers kindergarten to grade twelve education and the opportunity to learn multiple foreign languages. Further, the Griffin School in Austin is an excellent choice for students seeking small class sizes as they prepare for college.

Higher Education

Students in Austin have access to multiple four-year institutions and two-year colleges. The city’s best-known college is the University of Texas at Austin, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees. In addition, students have the opportunity to attend Austin Community Colege, Central Texas College, and Texas State University.

Health

Austin has excellent healthcare facilities offering a wide range of care. The region is home to approximately fifty hospitals, including specialized facilities like the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas. Austin’s healthcare providers include for-profit and non-profit organizations, giving patients and healthcare professionals many choices. The future is bright for Austin health care, thanks to the recently opened Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin. The Dell Medical School enrolled its inaugural class in 2016.

Austin’s Future Prospects

For employers and salespeople, Austin’s future growth prospects are up-and-coming. A recent estimate found that Austin’s population may surpass San Antonio by 2040. If that estimate comes true, the Autin metropolitan area will have a population of 3.3 million in less than twenty years. This growth would make Austin similar to California’s San Diego area.

Multiple factors drive Austin’s growth potential. The city is a growing magnet for venture capital investment. In addition, major companies like Oracle and SpaceX are growing their presence in the city. It’s not just dollars and cents that make Austin attractive, either. The city’s crime rate is significantly below the US average. As of 2019, Austin’s violent crime rate was 75% of the US average. Further, the city has an average annual temperature of 69.3 Fahrenheit and less than one inch of snowfall per year.

Do You Want To Start or Grow Your Austin Sales Team?

Hiring sales talent in Austin is easier when you have the proper support. Learn more about Peak’s Austin office and contact us today.

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The 5 Key Players Needed to Successfully Scale Your Sales Team.

About
Latest Posts

Ryan Thornton

Latest posts by Ryan Thornton (see all)

3 Ways Your Employees Will Sabotage Hitting Year End Targets – December 27, 2023
7 Ways to Hit Your Year End Target With Ease – December 20, 2023
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Boston’s Sales Hiring Landscape

Boston Sales Recruiters

Are you looking for sales talent in Boston and the New England region? Peak has expertise in recruiting sales professionals in B2B, technology, and industrial companies. The first step to effectively recruiting sales representatives in Boston is understanding expectations.

Sales Salaries In Boston, MA: Market Expectations

Competing effectively for sales talent in Boston starts with understanding the market’s expectations. The following data comes from a May 2021 survey conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Boston region. Remember that heightened inflation in 2020-2022 has impacted the market in interpreting this salary information.

Advertising Sales Agents: $73,920
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products: $122,430
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel: $84,400
Sales Engineers: $114,450
Retail Salespersons: $36,240
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products: $88,210

Boston has an average household income of $76,298, so the sales profession offers excellent opportunities to thrive.

Boston Sales Recruiting Success Stories

Peak has successfully helped multiple Boston companies grow faster with sales recruitment.

Ritchie Bros

Founded in 1958, Richie Bros helps businesses buy and sell heavy equipment, trucks, and other industrial goods. Tim Keane, sales director at Richie Bros, says, “Peak’s process found us great candidates that fit our requirements. We made a great hire who’s continuing to perform.

Uponor

In business for over one hundred years, Uponor offers plumbing and related products for homes and commercial buildings. “Peak doesn’t waste your time. They quickly send you fully vetted candidates who meet your requirements,” says Jennifer Gies, human resources manager at Uponor.

Avast

Avast is best known for its antivirus software and offers some of the world’s most popular security software. Tina Moon, human resources at Avast, says, “we chose Peak because they proved they understood the external marketing and had an established network.”

The Largest Boston Employers

Peak’s expertise in the Boston job market extends to understanding the region’s major employers. Many of the best professionals, including sales pros, are already working at these large companies. The Boston job market is, therefore, significantly influenced by the decisions of these large organizations.

Over forty companies employ more than one thousand people in the Boston area. These significant employers account for over one in five (i.e., 21%) of the city’s jobs.

Massachusetts General Hospital (health care): 11,415 employees
Fidelity Investments (finance): 8,000 employees
BankBoston (finance): 5,429 employees
Liberty Mutual (insurance): 4,657 employees
Gilette Company (personal care products): 3,404 employees
Boston Globe (newspaper and media company): 2,250 employees
American Airlines (Airline): 1,600 employees

In addition to large companies, Boston is home to more than 1,000 startup companies. In 2021, Boston-based life sciences company Ginkgo Bioworks went public. Toast, a startup software company focused on the software industry, went public in 2021 and raised hundreds of millions of dollars in funding. These success stories show what ambitious companies can achieve in Boston.

The region also has a pipeline of growing startup companies thanks to support from investors and major companies. The region’s long-established startup accelerators include the Boston Founder Institute, Greentown Labs, and Harvard Innovation Labs. In 2022, Intel announced that it expanded its early-stage acceleration program for startup companies to Boston.

Companies Investing In The Boston Region

Boston’s growing economy makes it an attractive place to build your sales team. The following companies have recently invested substantially in the region.

Amazon. The e-commerce firm announced opening an office with 3,000 employees in Boston in 2021.
Boston Sword and Tuna. The seafood company opened a new 50,000-foot facility in the region in 2020.
Prodrive Technologies. Based in the Netherlands, the technology business opened a new facility in the Boston region focused on manufacturing and R&D in 2020.
Law Firms Expanding In Boston. Multiple law firms, including Akin Gump, Allen & Overy, Barnes & Thornburg, and Fox Rothschild have recently expanded their presence in Boston.

These expansion efforts mean more business opportunities for Boston sales professionals. Work with Peak today to find the right sales talent for your growth goals.

State of The Sales Profession In Boston

Demand for sales professionals in the Boston region remains high. More than five thousand full-time sales job positions are available in Boston. Roughly 10% of these positions are remote. More employers are offering hybrid positions. Industries currently hiring for sales positions in Boston include financial services, technology, pharmaceuticals, home goods, and many other industries.

Boston’s Growth Prospects

As one of the largest cities in New England, Boston is projected to grow substantially in the 2020s. By 2030, the city’s population is expected to grow to 710,000, a substantial increase from the current population of 654,000. In particular, East Boston, Dorchester, the Seaport, and the Southend are expected to grow the most. That’s not all; the Boston region is expected to add 50,000 new jobs by 2030. This growth means more opportunities for salespeople and growing companies throughout Massachusetts.

Experiencing The Boston Lifestyle

Boston is an attractive place to live because of its history, connection to New England, and outstanding health and education. Founded in 1630, Boston is one of the oldest cities in the US. The city’s famous Freedom Trial offers a unique way to experience America’s early history and museums. While proud of its past, Boston is also noted for its innovation, especially in health science.

Higher education is one of Boston’s greatest strengths. Nearby, Cambridge is home to two world-class universities: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. In addition, the city itself is home to more than a dozen universities and colleges, including Boston University, Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts Boston, and the New England Conservatory. As a place to grow and learn, it’s tough to beat Boston.

Want To Recruit Boston Sales Talent?

Hiring sales talent in Boston is easier when you have the proper support. Learn more about Peak’s Boston office and contact us today. Peak has expertise in recruiting industrial, B2B, and technology sales talent at all experience levels.

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Ryan Thornton

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Selling to Government 101

Government departments and entities represent one of the most significant sales opportunities. In fiscal 2021, the US federal government spent about $637 billion on contracts. It’s not all going to defense either – $250 billion in contract spending came from civilian agencies. When you add in state and local government procurement spending, it’s no surprise that some businesses have dedicated government or public sector sales teams.

Step 1: Assess whether government sales fit with your sales strategy first.

If your company’s sales force is accustomed to working with small businesses, enterprises, or consumers, adjusting to government customers is a significant change. Before you invest the time and effort required to succeed in government sales, assess if this opportunity is relevant to your department with the following self-assessment questions.

Is your company based in the United States?

While not a formal requirement in every case, US-based companies often have an advantage in selling to the US government. There is a similar “home team” advantage for other levels of government (e.g., it’s probably easier to sell to the California government if your company has a presence in the Golden State).

Are you comfortable with increasing your sales cycle time in the short term?

The government procurement process is known for its relatively slow speed. It’s not uncommon for purchases to take months. In addition, there is often significant upfront work effort required to search, analyze and respond to RFPs (i.e., requests for proposals).

Does your company have the administrative capacity for government customers?

The number of forms, reports and other administrators involved in serving public sector buyers is considerable. Think carefully about how you will handle this burden. If this workload falls on the sales team, their productivity will fall.

At this point, it should be clear that selling to government buyers is no good quick fit for a revenue shortfall. However, a patient sales force has the potential to earn significant returns. If you’re committed to further exploring the government sales opportunity, let’s continue.

Step 2: Understand the different types of government buyers

While government buyers have some similarities in mindset and process, there are significant nuances. Let’s consider a few ways to look at potential government buyers.

Level of government

The national government represents the largest sales opportunity. The federal government may be the most complex opportunity. A significant portion of federal spending on contractors goes to defense spending.
State. The following US state governments have an annual budget over $100 billion: California, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Texas, Washington, Oregon, and Florida. Whether you’re concerned with infrastructure projects, education, or healthcare, the states represent a significant opportunity.
Local. There are tens of thousands of local government entities in the US including large cities and counties. These governments need technology, employees, training, and many other services.

Specialized government agencies

It’s also helpful to consider if a particular government entity has specialized rules, regulations, or goals that may impact its buying process.

Defense. The Defense department is the largest buyer of goods and services. Despite the challenges associated with defense sales, Amazon and Google have faced struggles from their employees related to their defense work.
Regulatory Agencies. The US has over 80 active nuclear power plants, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulates these. Such organizations may have technical concerns regarding risk management and safety.
Travel and Logistics. Whether you look at airports or ports, these heavily used facilities all need support from vendors.

Step 3: Research the sales process.

There are formal and informal strategies to prepare your sales team for the sales process. Use both of these methods to give your sales team the best advantage.

Formal research.

Government websites offer a wealth of information to educate vendors on business opportunities and the selling process. As a starting point, visit SAM.gov. This federal website is an excellent resource – you can also sign up to receive updates.

Informal research.

Simply meeting the formal requirements is not enough to succeed. Informal research is your opportunity to use your networking skills to find out more. Set a goal to speak with 5-10 companies that are currently successfully selling to government agencies.

Your sales team’s effort in researching how government buyers work will pay off in the next step.

Step 4: Complete the proposal

In this step, your sales team will prepare a detailed response to the government’s requirements. Attention to detail is critically important because government procurement documents are highly detailed. When you first start government sales, it may take multiple proposals and presentations to make progress.

The insights you discover through networking will also help you to identify which opportunities are worth your time.

Step 5: Manage and grow the account

In government sales, there is considerable upfront investment in time and effort to win a contract. Once you have the account, it’s vital to look for ways to grow the account over time. Fortunately, you can use the same growth strategies that you would use for most more prominent organizations.

Here are some ways to grow a government account over time.

Software companies commonly use this sales strategy. You start by selling licenses to a single department. Once that department succeeds, look for ways to expand.
Monitor Political Priorities. Long-term success in government sales requires paying attention to politics. For example, recent legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 focuses on climate change, among other points. Acting quickly to take advantage of new programs like this is essential.
Become a thought leader in government. Over the long term, seek out ways to get in front of more government buyers at events. For example, look at the Illinois Digital Government Summit speakers (i.e., leaders from Amazon, Google, and government agencies). Developing speaker presentation ideas and pitching your company to event organizers is one of the best ways to leverage your current government accounts and win more business.

How To Put Your Government Sales Program On The Fast Track

Developing competence in government sales takes time. One way to achieve results faster is to bring in sales talent with a successful track record in government sales. Contact Peak Sales Recruiting today to discuss your sales growth goals. Peak’s success in helping businesses focused on the government sector includes helping GovSpend recruit four successful Account Executives.

Please visit our Blog section for further information.

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Kyle Fletcher

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How to Sell Price Increases To Overcome Inflation

High inflation rates have been a reality for over a year. Whether you look at food, fuel, or other costs, the price of everything is going up. Central banks are doing what they can to combat the problem. In the meantime, salespeople have a unique capability to combat inflation: selling price increases.

Why Price Increases Are Powerful

Let’s imagine two companies selling similar products, like home air conditioning units. At first, they both make a gross profit of $250 per unit. When high inflation hit in 2021-22, suddenly, those profit margins shrank to $200. Higher prices for other supplies cause the shrinkage the companies have to pay for, like office goods, computers, and vehicles. One company implemented higher prices and raised its profit margin per unit sold to $275. The other company decides to do nothing hoping inflation will go away.

At the end of the year, the company that raised its prices enjoyed several benefits. First of all, they have a far better profit for the year. That means they can spend more on bonuses and improve customer service standards. If their competitor takes no action for another year, the competitive advantage will continue growing.

Why Don’t Salespeople Focus on Price Increases?

The business value of successfully raising your prices is powerful. Despite those benefits, very few salespeople are eager to pursue price increases. There are a few reasons for that. Sales incentives typically favor winning new accounts, so time spent attempting to get a price increase may feel wasted. Further, salespeople may not see the value or rationale for a price increase. When a salesperson is not sold on the purpose of price increases, they are unlikely to act.

Finally, proposing a price increase usually feels uncomfortable. This discomfort is partially irrational. Yet it is also partially grounded in risk. If you raise your prices, you might anger customers who may seek out other options. Left untreated, the unwillingness to administer moderate price increases erodes profitability over time and makes it tough to remain competitive.

Selling Price Increases Step By Step

The path to successfully selling price increases as a salesperson is fraught with dangers. Use this guidance to minimize the risks.

Step 1: Get Clarity On Pricing Decisions

Pricing decisions work a bit differently in every organization. Some salespeople, for example, have the discretion to offer discounts to retain customers or close a sale. Increasing prices may be a different matter altogether. Ask management about increasing prices significantly if your company has not updated prices in over a year.

Once you find the pricing decision maker internally at the company, ask them about pricing plans. Selling a price increase tends to be most successful when the salesperson has substantial preparation time. Proactively engaging with management early is essential. In all likelihood, you may discover that managers were already thinking about pricing changes.

Step 2: Review Your Pricing For Increase Opportunities

Assuming you have multiple products and services to sell, it is wise to customize your price increase decisions. For instance, increasing prices on a product that sells at a low volume will not help the bottom line much. In addition, consider whether contract-based pricing may constrain how and when your prices are changed.

Your mission in this step is to find two to three opportunities for price increases. Start with your products and services and then identify specific customers second.

Step 3: Get The Price Increase Quick Win

Typically increasing prices is relatively challenging, but there is one exception to this rule of thumb: new customers. Unlike your current customer base, new customers have little or no knowledge of your historical pricing. Therefore, do yourself a favor and increase prices for brand new customers first.

Implementing this step will help to support your case for other price increases – stay tuned for details in the following steps.

Step 4: Create Price Increase Campaigns For Current Customers

The following approach suits companies selling high-value products to businesses or institutional customers. In this setting, a salesperson may have a book of accounts that she regularly works with. These longer-term relationships give you the understanding you need to present a price increase.

To build your price increase campaign, use the following steps:

Identify Wins

Start by finding wins for each customer you serve. This could be something like consistently delivering your service by the deadline. Or you might have taken extraordinary steps to meet a customer’s special requests. In each case, list the wins you’ve delivered for the customer.

Find and Fix Problems

Poor customer service is one of the fastest ways to fail in a price increase conversation. If a customer has pending issues or unresolved complaints, price increases may fall on deaf ears. Search your email archives, check your customer relationship management (CRM), and ask your customer service colleagues for support. Fixing problems will tip the odds of a price increase in your favor.

Design Your Price Increase Presentation

This step is vital if your price increases are substantial. If your prices are significantly more than inflation, creating a presentation and meeting with your customer is essential. The next part of the process explains this presentation further,

Step 5: Develop and deliver the price increase presentation

Presenting a price increase successfully requires knowledge of the account’s history and your plans. Use the following prompts to build the price increase presentation.

Review The Account

Set the stage by reviewing your history of performance for the customer. Leverage the wins and customer service improvements identified in previous steps here.

Present The Price Increase

In this stage, describe the price increase for the specific products and services that apply to the customer. In general, it is wise to give 30 days or more notice to the customer before the price increase takes effect.

State The Reasons For The Price Change

In this section, briefly explain the rationale for the price increase. You can reference the high level of customer service, planned improvements you will be offering (e.g., a new feature that will be released soon), and macroeconomic factors (e.g., cost of labor and supplies increasing).

The customer may want to negotiate the price increase, especially if it is significant. For larger accounts, considering a negotiated increase – like 7% instead of the 11% you planned – may be worthwhile. You may accept a minor increase but mention that prices will be reviewed again in 12 months because all of your new customers are already paying the higher price.

The Fastest Path To Price Increase Profitability

Increasing prices for current customers is possible, but many people find it challenging to do. The best way to grow your business with higher prices is to focus on new customers. Peak can help you find successful salespeople to join your organization. Just imagine you added two-star salespeople in the next 90 days, and they added a dozen accounts at your newly increased prices. That bottom line improvement could change everything for your company!

Contact Peak today to discuss your sales talent needs today – it’s one of the fastest ways to beat inflation!

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About
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Kyle Fletcher

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The 12 Best Sales Books For New Salespeople

As a new salesperson, you have the opportunity to thrive in one of the world’s most rewarding professions. Finding success in sales takes focus, discipline, and the right knowledge. Read one book a month for the next year, and you’ll be equipped with the critical knowledge and strategies required to succeed.

Books On Sales Fundamentals

These first few books give you a crash course experience in sales. Each book offers a different perspective on sales and illustrates those principles with various stories and research. Exposing yourself to various sales techniques and ideas is one of the best ways to discover new perspectives.

1. SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham

SPIN Selling is one of the most famous research-driven sales books ever published. The author studied many successful salespeople to identify the specific techniques and methods. The book’s methodology is particularly well suited to B2B sales and those who like a process-driven approach to selling.

2. To Sell Is Human by Dan Pink

In contrast to Rackham’s approach, Dan Pink’s best-selling sales book differs. Pink argues that almost all jobs involve selling in some form. The book offers fresh air to people with an unfounded negative perception of the sales profession. In addition, Pink offers several interesting sales techniques drawn from history, science, and theatre to help connect with buyers.

3. Sell It Like Serhant: How to Sell More, Earn More, and Become the Ultimate Sales Machine by Ryan Serhant

Ryan Serhant is best known as one of the most famous real estate brokers in New York City. He started his real estate selling career in 2008, right after the financial crisis. While Serhant’s book and stories focus on real estate sales, the principles apply to other types of sales. If you are looking for an accessible and entertaining introduction to sales, Sell It Like Serhant is a great pick.

4. The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies by Chet Holmes

If you aim to get promoted in your sales career, Holmes’s book is a must-read. He covers fundamentals like time management and sales techniques. He also covers ways to manage employees. The book is famous for the value of pig-headed discipline and determination in sales.

Books To Develop Specific Sales Skills

The first set of books serves as your general foundation for learning about sales. This book set goes deeper by covering some of the most critical selling skills. While reading these books is no replacement for practice, they can considerably speed up your learning process.

5. Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount

Prospecting is the starting point of every sale. Yet many newer salespeople struggle to pick up the phone and send emails or other messages to people they don’t know. Blount offers practical tips, advice, and inspiration to help you start making sales calls, week in and week out. In particular, the book is excellent at providing direction for phone prospecting.

If you (or your sales manager!) expect you to make cold calls to get sales opportunities, “Fanatical Prospecting” is your guide.

6. Cold Email Manifesto by Alex Berman and Robert Indries

Does making fifty, a hundred, or even more daily sales calls make you uncomfortable? In that case, all hope is not lost – there are other ways to set up sales meetings. This short book, published in 2022, reveals the specific techniques for sending cold emails and setting meetings for B2B sales. The authors run a marketing agency, X27, that sells lead generation services based on sending cold emails.

7. Objections: The Ultimate Guide for Mastering The Art and Science of Getting Past No by Jeb Blount

The last two books will help you get in front of potential customers. As the conversation progresses, you will face objections like “your price is too high!” This book will help develop answers to common objections in sales. In particular, the book provides excellent guidance in understanding the different types of objections: prospecting objections, red herrings, micro-commitments objections, and buying commitment objectives. This book is an excellent intermediate read to lift your close sales rates over time.

8. How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Do you ever wish everyday conversation came with a manual? Carnegie’s classic book has been in print for decades for a good reason. It gives you proven strategies to start and develop relationships. Don’t let the book’s older language or examples put you off. The principles in this book have stood the test of time. For example, Carnegie explains how to become a better listener, which is essential to developing customer connections.

Strategy & Personal Productivity Books

This final book recommendations section moves beyond core sales and gives you a broader perspective. The strategy books will help you to understand executives and your role in the company. The personal productivity books will equip you with the techniques to ensure you get the most out of your work time.

9. Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman

As a salesperson, you may not see or understand every aspect of a business. To better understand how all of the parts of a business work together, read Traction. This book defined the “Entrepreneurial Operating System” (i.e., EOS). It breaks down the business into six essential components: vision, data, process, traction, issues, and people.

Understanding the EOS framework can help you sell better as a salesperson. For example, look for ways to connect your solution to data, processes, and issues. By showing that your solution can improve several aspects of a business, you’re more likely to gain a hearing.

Tip:

Reading “Traction” is an excellent fit for salespeople who want a broad perspective and aspire to management.

What if the company leadership perspective isn’t a good fit for you? In that case, look at the author’s book aimed at individual employees instead: What the Heck Is EOS?: A Complete Guide for Employees in Companies Running on EOS by Gino Wickman.

10. 3HAG WAY: The Strategic Execution System that ensures your strategy is not a Wild-Ass-Guess! by Shannon Byrne Susko

Many salespeople are tightly focused on short-term goals like meeting their quarterly or annual sales goals. To get a broader perspective, read the “3HAG Way.” This book is all about setting achievable ambitious three-year goals. For example, your company might have a three-year goal to own a specific market segment. This short book is worth your time because it will broaden your perspective. You will also have better conversations with company leaders already thinking about next year.

11. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

If there were a superior productivity and personal organization book, it would be Getting Things Done. If you struggle to stay organized with your sales tasks like follow-up, developing proposals, and projects, this book can help you. You will get busier over time as you implement the insights from other books in this post. Use Getting Things Done to make you don’t lose track of anything.

12. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Distractions are all around us. The temptation to squander our time on social media, conversation, and other activities is ever-present. Newport’s book is the antidote. He argues that pursuing deep work – intense focus on your most challenging tasks – for just a few hours per day can change everything. Newport is an author and professor, so it will take some creativity to adapt the principles to sales. For example, your deep work might consist of prospecting, sales appointments, and proposals. Use

Developing Sales Talent Through Books And Training Takes Time: Need A Faster Solution?

Investing the time to read even just a dozen books can have a life-changing effect on a salesperson. However, it can take several quarters or even longer read and fully apply all of the insights in these books. What if you need to raise sales productivity more quickly? Reach out to Peak Sales today to explore how to recruit high-performing salespeople. We have proven methods to identify successful, highly developed, and flourishing sales professionals. Why not let us bring them to your organization?

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About
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Kyle Fletcher

Latest posts by Kyle Fletcher (see all)

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Selling During A Recession: What You Need To Know

Rising interest rates, the highest inflation rate in decades, and war in Europe…

These are just some signs that a recession may be on the horizon. Despite these worrying developments, selling during a recession is possible. Use these strategies to position yourself to succeed in the next recession.

Step 1: Change your relationship with the business news

The first step to selling successfully in a recession is to change how you view the news. Start by understanding the impact of the negativity bias on media outlets.

Ever come across the news saying: “if it bleeds, it leads”? The phrase, which first appeared in print in 1989, describes a tendency in journalism to focus on the violent, depressing and negative. If you’ve ever wondered why the media focuses on crime, war, and other negative reasons, negativity bias is a crucial reason.

The negativity bias is the human tendency to scan the environment for threats regularly. In an evolutionary sense, this predisposition served us well in the past. Yet, the negative emphasis of much news reporting is unhelpful to sales professionals.

Think about how you feel when you read articles about unemployment, people struggling to pay their bills, and shortages. You probably start to feel worried about your future. At best, spending a lot of time-consuming negative news coverage distracts you from your work. At worst? Consuming significant amounts of negative news coverage will leave you feeling sad, discouraged, or stressed out.

The solution is to change your approach to consuming the news. Specifically, we recommend going on a low-news diet. In a recessionary environment, the quantity of negative economic news is likely to skyrocket. However, very little of this information is actionable. By only consuming news information directly relevant to your sales goals, you’ll save time and minimize the chance of distraction.

Action Step: Set up Google Alerts for your top 10 current customers and 10 target accounts.

By focusing your news consumption on specific companies relevant to your sales goals, you will free up time and free up energy. To set up your Google News alerts, you will get information about companies and people that matter to your sales work.

Advanced Tip: Break Your Morning News Habit

Some of you may have the habit of starting your work day by reading the news. In that case, it will take more effort to change your habits. Instead, shift your focus to reading a good sales or business book. We’ve published a guide to our favorite sales and business books here.

Step 2: Deepen relationships with customer relationships

The first step was about changing unhelpful habits. This step focuses your attention on how you deal with customers. Most salespeople are trained and incentivized to focus on landing new accounts. Let the sales commission compensation program and management direction guide your emphasis is perfectly natural.

In an economic downturn, your customers will likely be affected in various ways. Some will be directly hit by declining revenue, supply chain problems, and worse. Other customers may suffer indirectly – like experiencing feelings of fear, doubt, and uncertainty. Sometimes, your customers may be under pressure to cut costs like doing business with your company!

To protect your company’s current and prospects, now is the time to deepen your relationships with customers. At a minimum, set aside a few hours each week over the next quarter to reinforce your key relationships.

Action Steps

Use these tips to deepen your customer relationships:

1) Check-in with customer service for any open issues with your customers.

Nobody likes to feel ignored or unimportant! Yet, that is the exact feeling your customers are likely to experience when their requests and complaints go unanswered. Start by checking internally with your customer service colleagues about your top customers. If there are open issues, do what you can to escalate these issues and get them solved.

2) Reach out to customers to find out what’s new

Over the last few years, many people have changed jobs and found new opportunities. Avoid assuming that the data you have in your CRM from 2020 or 2019 is still current. On your next call with customers, find out about your customer’s work context. Do they have a new boss? Has there been a reorganization? Are there new executives? New policies that might affect purchases?

3) Express your gratitude to customers

There is a new generation of scientific research exploring the power of gratitude. Researchers at Berkeley found that gratitude exercises – including writing letters of thanks – can improve mental health and help people avoid toxic thoughts. In that spirit, set yourself a goal to write thank you notes to your top 10 or 20 customers. To really stand out, consider sending a card in the mail. Few people send cards so it is a great way to stand out and be remembered.

Step 3: Evolve your sales techniques for the downturn

The final strategy is to evolve your selling techniques to respond to downturn scenarios. The specific implementation of this strategy will vary depending on what you sell and your customers. The following principles will help you to get started in fine tuning your approach.

Action Steps

1) Spend more effort understanding your customer’s worries and concerns

Understanding your customer is a longstanding principle. The change here is one of emphasis. In an economic downturn, potential customers may be preoccupied with negative news. For example, they may have seen a colleague at their organization lose their job due to layoffs. Taking the time to understand these concerns in greater depth before making a pitch is an effective way to show you care.

2) Look for recession-friendly benefits in what you sell

Even in a recession, the economy keeps running! Even during the depths of the Great Recession of 2008-2009, trillions of dollars of purchases were made in the United States. With that in mind, remind yourself that there are still plenty of sales to be made. One way to unlock more potential sales lies in finding recession friendly benefits like cost savings and risk reduction.

For inspiration, read through your company’s case studies and talk to your own past customers about what they liked most about your product.

3) Raise your sales activity levels

In tough times, sales cycles tend to get longer. For example, a B2B sale may now require multiple people to approve it, including executives. Given these kinds of changes, it is vital to double down on what you can control as a salesperson: your daily activity. Set yourself a goal to increase your sales activity (e.g. cold calls, referral requests, cold emails) by at least 5% to keep your pipeline healthy.

Economic Downturns: A Great Opportunity To Find New Sales Talent

Mass layoffs have already hit multiple firms in the technology industry. While those job losses are tragic, there is an upside. Recruiting new sales people to join your organization now is easier. Work with Peak to discover how we can help your organization get salespeople with a proven track record today.

Visit our blog section for more Insights!

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Ryan Thornton

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State	Overall Ranking	Overall Z Score
Louisiana	1	0.851
South Carolina	2	0.748
Florida	3	0.709
Virginia	4	0.647
Idaho	5	0.644
Georgia	6	0.636
Alabama	7	0.591
Kentucky	8	0.569
Arkansas	9	0.459
Delaware	10	0.374
Texas	11	0.372
Utah	12	0.325
West Virginia	13	0.314
Nebraska	14	0.297
South Dakota	15	0.284
Wyoming	16	0.213
North Dakota	17	0.196
New Mexico	18	0.178
Oklahoma	19	0.174
Minnesota	20	0.171
North Carolina	21	0.165
Iowa	22	0.112
Vermont	23	0.094
Mississippi	24	0.033
Indiana	25	0.022
Wisconsin	26	0.010
Montana	27	-0.014
Maine	28	-0.029
Missouri	29	-0.050
Tennessee	30	-0.054
Kansas	31	-0.059
Arizona	32	-0.091
Colorado	33	-0.103
Ohio	34	-0.137
Maryland	35	-0.142
Pennsylvania	36	-0.199
District of Columbia	37	-0.232
New Hampshire	38	-0.240
Oregon	39	-0.244
Hawaii	40	-0.260
Connecticut	41	-0.329
Alaska	42	-0.460
Massachusetts	43	-0.471
New Jersey	44	-0.485
Nevada	45	-0.504
Illinois	46	-0.528
Michigan	47	-0.653
Washington	48	-0.660
Rhode Island	49	-0.840
New York	50	-1.019
California	51	-1.228

22 Tips To Improve B2B Cold Calling

1. Define Your Target Prospects

2. Genuinely Get to Know Who You’re Calling

3. Leverage Social, But Don’t Spam

4. Give Each Prospect an Unparalleled Pitch

5. Forecast Objections So You Can Weather Them Later

6. Open Your Call With a Strategic Intro

7. Put Connection First

8. Make Your Interruption Worth It

9. Keep it Colloquial

10. Uplift Your Prospect With Positivity

11. Invest Your Attention — And It’ll Pay You Dividends

12. The Entire Call is Part of the Pitch

13. Subtly Pitch With Social Proof

14. Slide Into a Sale With Smooth Storytelling

15. Give Value a Front Seat, Put Features in the Back

16. Practice Proactive Objection Prevention

17. Respect Your Prospects Boundaries

18. Always Review Lessons Learned After Each Call

19. Let Every Lead Be a Learning Opportunity

20. Take a Third-Party Perspective on Your Calls

21. Know Where You’re At, Know Where You’re Going

22. Raise Your Standards on Follow-Ups

Benefits of B2B Cold Calling

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Sales recruiting firms/agencies

Job boards

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6. Go Through Resumes With Intent

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9. Keep Communication Open

10. Negotiate. Hire. Onboard.

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