Expert Tips to Slay your B2B Sales Calls

Lilah: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, depending on where you are in the world. And welcome to our conversation today. Today, I'm joined by Matthew hall, a senior sales expert. And we're going to be talking you through some expert tips to sell your B2B sales calls. So welcome, mat. Thank you so much for sparing the time to talk to us today.

Matthew: Hi, Lilah, Thanks for inviting me back again. I always find it really refreshing coming back to do like a talk like this because it keeps me in my own game because I have to do some research as well as think about what I do day today. So it's really, really good to come back on. So thank you very much for inviting me.

Lilah: No, the pleasure is ours. I know that from the previous webinars that you've done, we had some great feedback, so we're really excited to have you today and obviously share your experiences. And as you say, sometimes when we just stop to take stock, it actually enables us to sort of think about what we're doing every day as well. So I always find these conversations to be really inspiring as well. So, yeah, thank you so much for your time.

Matthew: I agree,

Lilah: Yeah. Right. So what I would say is obviously to the audience today is we have a number of questions that were sort of provided before and today's session that we're going to kind of run through. But if you have any questions as we go through, Matt has said that he's prepared to take live questions as we go. So you do feel free to pop those in the chatbox as and when as when they come up, and we'll try and address those obviously time permitting. So saying that Matt, then let's go to the first question that, you know, we've had come in and that is how do it's probably a really poignant one is how do we make a cold call not come across as a cold call, probably the base level of where to start? So what's your perspective?

Matthew: Thanks very much. So again, really, really interesting point because I really hope I don't come across as a cold call when I ring a business, and it made me sort of deeply think about it and starting from the very beginning, Lilah, I like to try and map out and map out my day well, and by doing so, what I do is I sort of plan the type of data that I want to call in the first place. So it adds a bit of value to that piece of data that I'm going to call. So I'll go off. I'll do some research about different industries. I'll research job titles that I want to speak to. I'll find out people's names and maybe try and get some direct phone numbers, and there are a few platforms out there that I am more than happy to share with people. So there's a platform that I use very well called Cognizant, which is a great platform to use to get contact data, and another very useful one is another product called Lusher, which again is another tool out there to use. And there are multiple other tools online that you can research to get things like names of people, as well as direct phone numbers to get these types of contacts to speak to. Those services I know cost money to get, so in some instances, in some businesses, I would actually go off and pay for those services myself and the reason why I put that in today's sort of talk about this question is that we really have to value the data that we have in the first place. And so if I'm willing to invest in a service or product to be able to get names and job titles and phone numbers, I think every call that I make, I want to ensure that I am excited, enthusiastic and also that I've done research on that business, so when I speak to them, I know about their sector. I know about what they do as a company. I've done my research. I've done my due diligence and so actually come across that I am an expert in their field. Again, thoughts as well, if someone asked me if this is a cold call. I cannot come across; I can't say to them. I'm not going to lie to them. That's what I'm not going to do. But what I want to say to them is like, no, this is not a cold call. Do you know what? I have researched your business. I have researched your competition, your industry, the clients that you're looking to work with. And I have a great value proposition to deliver to you. So no, this is not cold. I spent a long time spending time researching looking for your company, and this, for me, is actually a perfectly timed call for your organization. That's how I come across as a non-cold because I've spent time, I've spent effort. And for me, it's a timed and planned phone call at that point.

Lilah: So effectively, it might be the first time that you have communicated with that organization or with that individual, but the fact that you have put in so much effort upfront to understand who the contact is, understand their challenges, understand their sector, and really, then I guess it sounds to me like you're humanizing their engagement with whoever answers the phone to you to say, you know, well, it's not a cold call, because actually, you know, I've done a lot of research in your sector and I genuinely have something to talk to you about. Is that right? You're kind of humanizing that conversation rather than just being like, can you put me through to so-and-so?

Matthew: Absolutely. Yeah. And actually, when they start then questioning things to me, I just come across that I know about it. Like, I'm fully aware of questions that they may actually come back to me with. And it's really, really worked for me, and I'd like to think I've been fairly successful here at lead forensics. And you know, and I've used this, this same type of planning in my mornings and in my afternoons to make all the sorts of calls I want to make. You know, there'll be times, don't get me wrong, there'll be times where I will go through data, and I will just call it for the first time because I've run out of planned names and job titles that I want to speak to. So there are times for that. But actually, if we think about planning our day successfully, that's really, really important because you will just sound like this is this is meant to happen. This call is meant to happen. And just as another thought as well, like if we do come across the decision-maker that we're about to speak to is busy, take that on board. Like if I was to ring you, you are a busy person, Lila. Yeah, and so if I was to ring you and I disturbed you in your day-to-day, and you say, look, I'm busy right now, understand that. Just take that, take it on board and say, look, not a problem. When's a good time to call back? Is there a good time, is there a bad time? I don't want this to happen again for you. I don't want to disturb you. Make a note and ensure that you call back at that dedicated time that you've been given. So your next call again is not cold. Hey, Lilah, you asked me to call back today. How are you? I still want to talk to you about this great value proposition for you. I've done a lot of research, and again, you haven't lost that piece of data. You've kept in good communication with the person you're trying to speak to. It's worked for me. It really has worked for me. So I hope it works for other people. Yeah, I really do.

Lilah: So you might not necessarily get very far on that first, very first call. But ultimately, if you can then start to build a bit of a rapport with that person who says, no, no, no, I'm busy, you know, I can't speak to you now. Effectively, as you say, the next time that you're calling is even if you didn't manage to convey your message or in that first call, that subsequent call is definitely not a cold call because you've already established some degree of relationship there. Is that right? So I actually don't just because you don't get to where you want to get to with that first call. It can actually be a gateway into the second call. Is that right?
Matthew: Yeah, you've got it. Spot on. And the good thing is because we've done our homework and we've made some notes about the time that we're going to call back, and we're still calling this section of data, which is to do with the industry that you've done research on and the types of decision-makers you want to speak to. Actually, that second call is even more so and more important because you've been told that this is a good time to speak to me. So it's really, really important, and it is important to make sure you do call back at that time because if you disturb that person once again and you call them at a time when they're busy again, you will just annoy that decision-maker. You will annoy them, and you will lose all value that you've built on, either buying that bit of data, getting a number, spending the time that you've done it, the research that you spent on it, you would have wasted all that time. So it's so key to keep your time management in order, get your data in order and make sure you do as the decision-makers ask of you.

Lilah: So it's about being respectful of the person that you're trying to connect with and engage with them on a human level that they are going to be busy. You know, your call might be interrupting them in the middle of something. They might be having a good day. They might be having a bad day. But ultimately, you're trying to be respectful of that time. But really, in order to build that rapport and kind of build that engagement for four subsequent conversations, correct?

Matthew: Yeah, absolutely. And again, if I just maybe focus this back over to you, like if I was selling like a marketing software and I managed to get in contact with you. If my marketing software could help you deliver a load of brand new sales leads for your sales team, and whether whatever my pitch was at 0 cost or this or a free this or I'm hoping you would either want an email or want to follow phone call, you would want something from me. Is that right?

Lilah: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Some sort of follow-up. Be helpful because I think when you can catch someone on the fly, it can be really difficult for them to appreciate what it is that you're actually saying, even if it is really helpful. So actually, the best engagement that I have is when people manage to get me on the phone, they're conveying their message, and then they're like, do you know what? Let me just fire you across some information now so that then I can look at that whilst I'm talking, because if I'm trying to digest all of that information whilst I've got 101 other things in my head that can be really difficult to do, even if it's a simple concept. So actually, I think you're right. If you can be following that up or even in real-time, have that ready to go, you've got a captive audience right there, correct?

Matthew: Absolutely, and again, if you've done your time and homework and due diligence before speaking to you, Lila would be similar to speaking to another sort of global head of marketing for another type of SaaS business. So I can just replicate this type of conversation time and time again. Not sound robotic, be excited, be enthusiastic. And actually, just because I know what your company does, what you're looking to achieve. I've done my research. I hopefully will come across as actually that I do value if I value what I'm trying to get across to you. Yeah, absolutely.

Lilah: And I know that we'll have people listening today where they'll be like, do you know what? I've got such a quota of callers to get through. I cannot possibly prep for every single one. So what would your advice be to those people in terms of, I guess, making the preparation efficient or how to prioritize, you know, your contacts? Anything like that, because I can understand if you're, you know, quoted on your number of dials that you do, for example, they're actually, you know, thinking that, Oh my god, I've got, Oh my gosh, I've got to prepare for every single one of those. That can be quite daunting, right? So what would your advice be there?

Matthew: Yeah, so bite-size chunks are always good. So there'll be a period of time that hopefully, you have some time in your morning to do some preparation, or maybe a time after lunch where you could do a bit more preparation. Something that I used to do was in the mornings, I would prepare a minimum of 50 calls, so I would look in my CRM. I would make sure I've got names, contacts, phone numbers, email addresses, and if I can, even job titles as well. Because what I'm looking to do then is make sure that I'm ringing batches of people within a similar industry, similar location, and similar job title. And actually, over periods of time, your data will become more and more cleansed. So, yes, it could be fairly daunting from the outset. But if you just think about this as a, you know, a month for two or three-month project for you actually over a period of time, what you'll find is your data will become more and more cleansed, and you'll become more and more successful because the data I'm about to call is ready to go. I know I'm ready and prepared for it. And actually, you don't become that unorganized salesperson that you're just ringing off the cuff, which really doesn't help. And if you come across that, you haven't got a clue what that person does, you haven't got a clue what that business does, or that's when it comes back to. How do I come across as not sounding like a cold call? Well, you will, you really will. You need to be prepared.

Lilah: Yeah, so it's all about that. That first impression on making that first impression count and not forgetting that every single person that you're calling isn't just a number, it's not just the next in your dial, you know, log or whatever. There is actually a person there actually an opportunity to engage if you can. What I'm hearing is that you kind of time block in terms of your preparation and your calling, and you organize your prospects so that you're calling similar types of people at the same time. So that you've got your pitch a home for the audience. So by being organized and time blocking, actually, then you're able to get yourself into the headspace that these aren't just a number after number, after number, that I'm dialing. These are all individual people, and I'm going to aim to build a rapport with them all. Is that right?

Matthew: That's absolutely spot on. Have you done it yourself, Lilah? You sound, you sound pretty professional at this.

Lilah: Yes, but maybe I'll be able to give it a go after this. We'll see. Let's move on to the next question is, so we've talked a little bit about making people kind of connect with people on a human level and building that kind of one-to-one connection. So what are your top tips for building a rapport during a sales call?

Matthew: Yeah, so this flows very nicely onto that first question that you just asked because it's all around doing your homework in the initial outlay. When you're looking at the data, you do need to sound enthusiastic and have like an element of the motivation behind yourself. Because if we can imagine if we're calling someone, it's been a long day. It's been a slog. I believe that you're going to come across that it's a cold call and that really that person may have received four or five calls that day anyway. And I don't believe you're going to get a chance at building any rapport or having any conversation with them. Things that I try to do if I know I've got a number of calls to make. And it's been a long day. And I'm trying to keep my motivation high. The bit of advice that I've got is that you just focus on the outcome rather than the task at hand every day. So actually, if I keep focusing on getting a second stage call button or trying to get a demonstration booked in or even an email address where I can upgrade this data set that I've got. Then actually, when it comes to rapport, I know that all I'm looking to do is just have a good, open, and honest conversation with someone. And I think that comes down to being genuine and authentic and never, ever come across as pushy to someone. So if someone says that they're pushy. Don't yeah, if I come across as being pushy, I'm not going to get anywhere. I'm not going to build rapport with that person. So I just need to make sure if someone's busy, just say not a problem. I know I've caught you at a bad time. Is there a good time that I could call you? I'd like to send you a bit of an email that will outline everything that we were going to speak about today. So when I do speak to you next week, whenever at least you've had a chance to look through this product service that we're offering and on the second call, rapport is built. You know, you're being genuine, and what you say, you followed it up as you promised. And actually, hopefully, that second call, as long as that email is well-tailored, maybe a video that's gone into it. That report is solid, and you should progress the call on that second one.

Lilah: I must say that I do love it when if I've had a call come in and I've not been able to take it if I didn't get a follow-up email with like you say, a little video message or something like that, it does. It does create a sense of humanity to it. And then I'm like, oh, I feel a bit bad now that I didn't take that call because that's genuinely a person. You can't forget that when you're talking to people on the phone, right? So do you quite like those video communications afterward?

Matthew: Yeah, nice. And just as another thought, like if every call that I went onto, I was thinking, I'm going to book my demonstration or I'm going to make a sale. I know that I'm going to get more nos throughout the day than I am yeses. That's just the numbers game. So I've just taught myself to get small victories in all the calls that I make. And actually, then if I go onto that call thinking, look, my my, the worst outcome that I can get from this call is getting someone's email address. If that's the worst outcome, actually, every call, I can go unsatisfied because that's the outcome minimum that I'm going to get from it. So I just believe that you're then not going to go onto your next call feeling downhearted, or you're going to feel frustrated, or your day is not going the way that you want to. So, in fact, your tonality and your enthusiasm will remain high because you can get to the end of your day going. You know what? I made 100 calls today or 50 calls, or whether your target is, and you say, you know, out of 50, I manage to upgrade 40 bits of my data. It was a good day. And I've remained enthusiastic, and that rapport will. It will sound authentic. Absolutely Yeah.

Lilah: And how do you walk that line in terms of rapport, because obviously, if you were to go into a call and be so enthusiastic that you were sort of bouncing off the walls and that sort of thing, and actually the person is really not responsive to that. There's like this fine line that you have to walk right between being, you know, disengaged. It's another call and so overly enthusiastic that actually, then the person that you're talking to is not interested, either. So how do you walk that line, and how do you control that enthusiasm to kind of resonate with the person that you're speaking with?

Matthew: OK so another little thought here, and hopefully, people listening today would have the ability to listen back to their calls by using cool recording software or whatever they have access to and actually just listen to what you're saying and what the person that you're speaking to is saying and how they come across. And just listen to what, again, what positive outcomes look like. And also what a negative outcome looks like to see if your enthusiasm is over the top on them now. Lyla will be making hundreds of calls in a day, so I believe that we should be changing our tone. We should be changing our pitch. We should be trying these things out to find out what works for us and what doesn't. And actually, by just reflecting at the end of every day and going, you know what? I can look back at all the calls that I made. And I can see this one was a success, and this one was a success. And then I can go, wow, what happened on that call? Like, why was that call so good? Have a listen to it. I see. Have a listen. See why it was so good. See what I said. See how I said it. I mimic it. Give that another go and see if it's successful again. And I am speaking to humans. OK, so this is the other thing. So, in fact, the tonality I give to one person could be very, very different to the next person because, again, I don't know what your day's been like. I don't know whether you've had a great day or you've just come off a terrible call. You just had some bad news, like it's we're all human beings, and we need to make sure that we go on with that mindset. So it's not going to work on every call. It is a numbers game. We just need to make sure that we keep some enthusiasm throughout our day. And if we let the figures make the change in us, if we make bad figures change our tonality, we won't be as victorious as we could be. That's for sure.

Lilah: I think that listening back to your calls and trying to identify the calls that you are successful on and the calls that you weren't successful on is a really good tool in any salesperson's toolkit, right? Because we can think we're coming across in a certain way. But actually, when you listen back to it, it might be there. As you say, you missed a cue from someone, or it might be that actually, your tone was off. Or, you know, if you've just come off of a, you know, another call that was maybe, you know, quite stressful that might come across in your tone of voice. So by being able to listen back to yourself and analyze what went well and what didn't go well is a really great way of ensuring that kind of continuous improvement, right?

Matthew: Yeah, really good thought. Actually, I haven't tried this before, but this is a thought from what you've just said there, Lilah. I'm just thinking through if I was to go back and listen to all the good calls that I'd made, and I saved them down. And maybe these are ones that I managed to book a demonstration on the first call, or I just had a very, very positive outcome from it, and I save those types of cool down. That would be a very good resource for me the moment I have a bad one-to-one with my manager, and I wasn't being successful. And I feel cross or angry or down, or I feel that, oh, I've got to slog this afternoon, and I just need to motivate myself very quickly by having that little bit of ammunition to listen to first. I might just set my mindset of where I need to go and how I need to put my tonality into these calls, and how that would help me build rapport on those first calls. Because if I come across a robotic board, it's just no. 99 of 100 calls today. I can't believe it. It's like the end of the day. If I come across like that, then I'm not going to build that rapport. And as the question says at the beginning, top tips for building rapport, enthusiasm, excitement, enjoyment, you know, just enjoyment of your job. You have. You have to enjoy what you're doing. You have to as much as sometimes it can be a slog like motivate yourself. Think of your goals. Think about why you're there. Yeah, it's very important.

Lilah: Yeah, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. Mindset is everything. What about? So obviously, I have a big team, for example, and so I use Camelia as a kind of concept of being a chameleon to liaise with all my different team members. Does that come into your mind when you're talking to people to kind of adjust your language according to what you're getting back from, the person that you're speaking to? Is language mirroring a benefit? Or is that a bit cringy on a call? How what's your perspective on adjusting your stance according to what you're getting back from the prospect?

Matthew: I think that there is an element that you do need to. But again, from my own success in calls, I still like to be quite genuine in who I am as a person, rather than just mimicking someone because there's probably only a certain amount of time you can keep that up. Yes, so actually, and you know, I want to try and have a personality that I can use time and time again rather than, oh, was I supposed to be like on this call or was I supposed to be like this on another call? And actually, if I can find that middle ground where I'm just, I sound positive. I sound knowledgeable and calm, and ready to have this conversation with the person that I'm speaking to. I then. I don't need to mirror as much as probably maybe we think we need to. I think there's an element that we do need to, for sure, but also we just need to be authentic in how we're saying it to people, that's for sure.

Lilah: No, so you try and stay you authentically and have people buy into you as an individual rather than becoming that kind of chameleon. So I think that's nice, actually, like you say, being, you know, authentic to who you are. You know, it is a nice approach to take.

Matthew: Yeah, I would say it's worked. It's worked for me. Yes, and all this cold calling that we need to do, try different things like try and be that chameleon and try and be the authentic version of you and see what works like. Absolutely see what works. Make a note of it. What works for you? What doesn't work? Make a note. You know, we're in it for the long slog, so we may as well make sure that we're doing it successfully, successfully, or, you know, the best way that we can. So definitely make a note of what works well.

Lilah: Absolutely, and so just moving on to the next question then. So it kind of segues quite nicely. So how do you make a good first impression? We might have already touched on it a little bit, but is there anything else that you'd like to add to that?

Matthew: Yeah, so what I'd like to do? Yeah, to do with things like the data, and I know we've mentioned this in that first question, but. Also, expanding upon it a bit further is. I need to make sure, again, that I've got detailed notes about the company or the industry that I'm calling and maybe have some ammunition ready for you of businesses that you've had success within that industry or location that you're calling. Because if I want to give a good impression, I just want to make sure I come across knowledgeable about that business within that 15 or 20 seconds that I may have in that first conversation with them. Good impression. Don't lie. Don't be scripted. And listen to what the person is saying, like, I'm trying to have a conversation with someone, and I will do my utmost to just sound human and just sound genuine in that message that I'm trying to deliver to them that actually my product or service that I want to share with you like I absolutely want to share with you because I know this product or service that I'm offering can genuinely change your business. It genuinely can. And it's actually my fault. Suppose I don't get that message across. It's not their fault. It's my fault. I've had my chance. I just have to make sure that I sound enthusiastic and genuine, and I have to deliver this message. Again, I think it's very, very good to have a first impression, but also have a great second impression. So like, if they ask you to call back, make sure you do, make sure it's timely because again, you will come across honest and genuine and that you have a day mapped out and you have certain times to call people. And this is the right time that you ask me to call you back. I can assure you that it is done. Yeah.

Lilah: And in terms of that, then so. You mentioned there about getting your message across. And so we call that your value proposition. Let's first start with what is the value proposition in case anybody doesn't know that? And then how do you convey that value proposition in a succinct way so that people just don't turn off in your cause?

Matthew: OK. I went off and did a bit of research, Lilah, to try and find the best interpretation of this I could, and the best I found was from the Harvard Business School. Now there are three points to a value proposition from Harvard's point of view. Number one, which customers are you going to serve? Number two, what needs are you going to meet? And number three, what relative price will provide acceptable value for customers and acceptable profitability for the customer? So I've broken these three down, and we'll spend a bit of time looking into which customers you are going to serve? Again, it comes down to all these questions today. It comes down to choosing who you're going to call. Ensuring you've got a reason why that you're doing it. Understand what that company does. I make sure that you include—all the information, you know, within that first call. So look, I understand that I've done some research on this business. I understand what you do as a company. I know who you're looking to try and reach out. And the product and service that I'm offering today will tick that box on that first stage of the Harvard Business School. What is a value proposition? Does that make sense, Lilah?

Lilah: It does, and it's quite a lot to convey in the few seconds that you might have. So well, what would it be in terms of trying to? It's like an elevator pitch, isn't it? So how can people put together their elevator pitch to convey all of those really important points really, really quickly in a concise way that the person that you're speaking to is going to understand it?

Matthew: So preparation is the first thing. And I think this has been quite vital in I'd say My success is by grouping companies that you're going to speak to because this value that you're going to present to one business. To be honest, I wouldn't have time to put together a valuable piece in every call that I made to a different industry, to a different business if everything was one industry, one call a different industry, second call, a different industry, third call. I have to batch my value propositions and businesses that I speak to because what I'm going to do is I'm going to do some research on the business. I'm going to look at their existing client base. I'm not going to ensure that I then start talking about businesses similar to them that they could be working with, but they don't. But with my software, they can. And that's all down to like if I want to be very, very. Um, if I want to be super productive with the volume of data that I've got, in fact, the time that I spend in my mornings is super, supercritical, know it's super crucial. Sorry, not critical. It's super crucial because I know I will then have to make fewer calls to deliver this value proposition and get better outcomes from it.

Lilah: And in terms of that, so typically when we were writing a value proposition or an elevator pitch, just if anyone is looking at what is my value proposition, we generally think it needs to be conveyed in two sentences no more than that. So if you're jotting it out and they're not super long sentences with lots and lots of comments like normal, normal-sized sentences, and then practice, practice, practice. So it becomes natural, really. If you can't convey your value prop within two sentences, it's taking you too long to convey that across to your audience. So if anyone is thinking, oh, I need to get my value proposition sorted, try and jot it down within two sentences and then practice saying it out loud so that everyone can hear you. You can hear yourself. But if you take too long, if you stumble over your words, all of that sort of thing, then you're only going to come across for when you're actually on those calls. So a value proposition is really short, isn't it?

Matthew: It really is. And something that I see time and time again in the office in the mornings is people will be practicing this with some of their colleagues. They'll be practicing this in the morning before they get on the call. So they're not, then ruining some of their data by their first call. They stumble, you know, they've already done, they've made their stumbles, they've made their mistakes before they've started ringing this valuable data that we talked about on the first question that we spent time and effort researching. In fact, they've already practiced. They're ready to go. And on that second part of it, Lilah, we talk about the needs that we're going to meet for this organization. What needs are you going to meet? Well, again, this is down to questioning, and there's a whole different topic on questioning and how we should question to a decision making when we speak to them. And also what types of questions, what role is the decision-maker got? Like, there's loads and loads of like great cool stuff out there that you can start reading about questioning. But the one thing again that I've learned about is. I will find their needs by asking them good questions there needs. I've tried before to try and find their needs on their website, but generally speaking, their needs won't be on their websites. They won't be saying we're in need of more sales at the moment. That's not how our website works as a website. It's more like this is our product, this is our service. This is what we offer. Not that we could do with more sales leads at the moment. So questioning is important on that first call because we're going to find out if they had a successful 2020 one or not. Has COVID hit them? Have they had lower sales inquiries? And again, I can then use that as part of my value proposition to show them how to embed our software, our product, our service into their business, and how it will help overcome that need that they have at the moment.

Lilah: And I think there's a really interesting point in there is that no one actually wants to hear what you want to sell, right? You want to sell it, but no one actually wants to hear that. So what you need to do in your value prop is rather than selling your product or service, whatever it happens to be is to actually consider what challenges or problems are you going to solve for the person? Because actually, by putting their buyer first message, you're going to resonate so much faster. So I guess a lot of people, you know, most people already know this. But in case you don't know or want to hear what you want to sell and flip it around, is there anything else you want to add to that piece?

Matthew: No, no. To be honest, that's absolutely the nail on the head. And again, another great book out there is it's a book called Spin Selling, and I'd recommend that to so many people. You could use that in any part of a cold call to a demonstration or even down to results where you find out what situation that company is in at the moment and if they've got any problems and how you can help overcome them, you know, rather than just saying, oh, it's always the best, or this is the best, and it's like, it's really cheap at the moment, it's all this like, they've heard that a million. They've heard that a million times on the phone. And actually, just to be genuine with that person, say, look. If myself, I could do anything like what do you need at the moment? How can we support you in your growth? How can we support you in your account management? How can we support you in retaining your client base? Like, let's really actually start digging with those sorts of conversations, those sorts of questions.

Lilah: Yeah, Yeah. Yeah, so I think, as you say, it's putting that buyer first in terms of what they need. I tell you, what annoys me the most is when people come on a sales call with me and say, what are you trying to achieve this year, Lilah? And I'm like, well, I'm busy. I know what I need to achieve. I don't need to tell you that. So you have to contextualize those types of conversations because I do think there's maybe some sales training out there that encourages you to ask those questions upfront, but I definitely think that they need to be contextualized. First of all, you can't just open with what your challenge is for this year, Lilah, because I mean, I have no reason to tell you, right? So and it's just wasting my time up until that point. You have to build some sense of rapport before you go in for the kill on those things, right?

Matthew: Absolutely, And I think again, this falls very nicely into these previous questions that we've had. How how do we build good rapport? How do we make a good impression like we have to do all these things, all these things, before we can start posing questions like that? Absolutely, we do. And again, that mindset of I may not be able to get this on the first call. It may be the second or even the third call. Like, we're building this report all the time that the person that we're speaking to feels like that. They're more than happy to share that with you because the trust has been built. And that third part of that value proposition in regards to this what relative price will provide acceptable value for customers and acceptable profitability for the customer? And again, this is all down to a bit of homework. Like so many websites out there these days, you can find out what they are selling how much they're selling it for. So if someone is selling widgets at a pound each, Lilah and my products £1000, I know they've got to sell a minimum of 1,000 widgets before my software becomes a no-brainer. So knowing the types of cost that they will be selling their product at will help me to then have a good conversation with someone about what sort of value that they're be looking to buy into Lead Forensics. So it's very, very crucial to know about products and services that they're offering, the types of cost that are involved in that because sometimes that's the only bit of information we can go at when it comes down to it. Hopefully, at some point, we can find out about lost business and how much it would cost to lose a company, all these other things. So we can build more value. But from the initial outset, we can get a lot of information from someone's website to be able to find out the value and the cost behind their products and services that they offer.

Lilah: Well, in an easy way of doing that without necessarily needing to know all the ins and outs of the exact pricing structures that they have is just to consider. Are they high volume that low ticket kind of price point or are they low volume, but are high ticket price point or are they combination of both? Most businesses will fit into one camp or the other, and straightaway; you can consider your positioning from a pricing perspective. If even if you just know that is they have a high volume, low ticket value or are they high ticket value and low volume, right?

Matthew: Yeah, I absolutely agree.

Lilah: Yeah yeah, good. Good good. I'm going to skip over this question because I think we've already answered this one. And what I'll do is if I just move on to, you know, an offer for everyone who has joined us today and everybody listening. And that is, we would like to give you the chance to use try Lead Forensics for free. If you haven't already kind of identified in the call so far, identify your website visitors. So we can tell you which businesses are visiting your website. We'd like to give you the opportunity to try that on your website—free, no catch, no commitment, no credit card details, all of that for two weeks. And then, you can see exactly which businesses are visiting your website. You can look at fueling your sales pipeline. You can look at engaging those prospects and see whether deep friendships will bring any value to your business. So we're just going to pop up a quick poll. And if you would like to take your trial of Lead Forensics, then just answer Yes to the poll, and we'll get someone to get in touch with you to just pop that code on your website. It's really quick. We'll show you how it all works, and we'll let you loose for two weeks. If you want to know some more information, just click. I'm not sure. Can you send me some more info? And then obviously, if you've got enough opportunities or you're not interested at this time, then no problem. Just hit. No, thank you. And we won't contact you about a future demonstration, so to see that for a couple more seconds, just until we've got the last few people kind of giving us their thoughts on that piece. We'll see how we get, and then what I'd like to also do is see whether anyone will be interested in attending any of our future webinars today. We are talking about sales to accelerate sales webinars. We also have a marketing webinar series, so feel free to just let us know if you'd like to join us at a future webinar. Well, some of those dates on there look a bit wrong, so what we'll do is, yeah, I know, December, November, no. We're in January. So we will let if you say yes, we'll let you know about our forthcoming webinars, which are in both in February. So what that leaves me to do is to wrap up, so do you have any closing thoughts any key takeaways so far? If our kind of listeners today only take away one or two things, what would they be?

Matthew: So I actually wrote down the word authenticity. Be authentic when you make calls like, we're not robots. We're talking to human beings. Just make sure we come across authentic and just enjoy what you do. You know, don't take every call to heart. Make sure you've got a plan every day. Manage your data well. And just as I say, authenticity is key.

Lilah: Super, I really liked your point about listening back to what you're saying because we think we know how we've come across. We don't know until we've listened back, right? I think that's really, really important. I think that if anyone wants to become a better salesperson, it's probably the best tool you can give yourself is actually to be analytical and to be open to critiquing yourself in terms of how well you've done and to improve upon that next time, right?

Matthew: Yeah, absolutely. That's a great one. And also, if people I know we've got here are little cue. If people do have any questions for me directly, I'm more than happy to answer them on LinkedIn. However, you want to get hold of me more than happy to help. Like, I love, and I enjoy helping people say, please feel free to reach out.

Lilah: So if anyone does want to reach out to Matt with any questions or to me, I'm not sure how helpful I would be. But Matt is the person who can be very helpful. But you can just scan those QR codes, and it will take you straight away to our LinkedIn profiles. Otherwise, obviously, we're fairly easy to find on LinkedIn. I'm probably easier to find than Matt, but obviously, Matt is on LinkedIn as well. So yeah, you just scan the QR codes or just give us a quick search, and you'll find us. I am connected with Matt. So if you find me and you can't find Matt, you can find Matt through me. And lastly, I guess it's over to me to say just a huge thank you to Matt for today. I really love talking with you, and I think that you provide some great insight to people who are starting in sales or maybe a bit more experienced in sales but want some tips. So again, I just really appreciate your time today. We've actually had some comments come in kind of just saying that people have enjoyed the conversation and saying thank you. So you know, thank you to those people who have left those comments as well. We really do appreciate it. Anything else to add at the end there, Matt?

Matthew: If you want to invite me again, I'll be more than happy.

Lilah: OK, OK.

Matthew: Be authentic and, don't give up yet, as you say, Lila. Listen to calls is a really good shout. But yeah, just enjoy what you do. Like, have enthusiasm. Enjoy it. Like, enjoy your calls. Enjoy them.

Lilah: Well, thank you so much for joining us today, everyone, and I hope you have a lovely evening or day or afternoon, and we'll see you again soon, hopefully. Thank you very much. Thanks, everyone.