April 4, 2024 • 30 mins
How do you get through to a company's decision-maker?
You’re not alone, this episode is a must-listen for anyone in the B2B space. We kick things off with a hilarious skit that hits close to home, capturing the all-too-familiar frustration of reaching out to remote-based workers. Then, we break down the hard truths of the increasingly digital buying and selling arenas in business. With anecdotes and solid stats, we reveal just how much the digital transformation has revamped the approach businesses must take to woo potential clients. And for those of you clinging to phone calls and voicemails, we've got some eye-opening insights on why it's high time to rethink your strategy. We also challenge larger businesses – how do you buy effectively?
Strap in as we dissect the trials and triumphs of outbound marketing, where the old-school cold call now contends with the sleek efficiency of email and social media outreach. We also put a spotlight on the pros and cons of existing customer relationships and referrals, sharing personal buying habits along the way. You'll hear first-hand the last time a cold pitch actually won us some business and led to a business transaction. Plus, we examine remote work's impact on B2B communications, including how demographic differences play into who's working from where.
Tune in for a candid and entertaining look at the current state of the B2B market, and walk away with actionable strategies to refine your sales approach and make meaningful connections in a hybrid world. Plus, if you are a business, are you aware of how many good buying opportunities you may be missing, through hybrid working?
For more info, free resources, useful content & our blog posts, please visit realitytraining.com.
Reality Training - Selling Certainty
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Ringy ring, ringy ring, Hello switchboard.
Good morning, Hello there.
I'm wondering would you be ableto put me through to your
operations director?
His name's John Smith.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
John Smith right, Well, we don't have anybody's
contact details here.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
But you're the switchboard for your company.
Yeah, yeah, that's right, we'rethe head office absolutely Okay
, but you don't have any contactdetails of any members of staff
.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
We're a fully hybrid workforce now.
Did you say John Smith.
If you have his phone number,you're absolutely welcome to
call him if you have his directtelephone number.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well, I want to talk to him about an idea that I've
got for your organisation.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
It sounds like you may not have his number, so do
you have his email address?
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well, I've actually sent him an email, but I'm
following up that email with acall.
That's why I come through toyou as a switchboard to then put
me through to that person.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Can I ask?
One of the questions I havehere on the desk is are you
interested in supplying us withnew products and services?
Yes, I am, yeah, okay, so whatI can do is give you the new
supplier email that goes to ateam that will read your email.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
That's info at new suppliercom okay, and I mean I'm
happy to do that.
How confident are you that theteam reading that email will
understand what it is that Iwant?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
well, I?
I'm simply on the switchboard.
My name is tony.
We field number of calls.
Their job is to look at newpeople who are interested in
supplying the company, so that'swhat they do.
I couldn't speak for them, okay.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Is that all right?
Okay, I'll do that.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, thank you.
Thank you very much for callingBye, bye.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Bob and Jeremy's Conflab the Reality Podcast.
This, ladies and gentlemen, iswhat we're going to be talking
about today.
It's about businesses.
Businesses how do people getthrough to you and how do you
buy what you need to run andimprove your business?
(02:08):
It's a really good question andthat scenario is one that we've
come across quite a few times,and that's what we're going to
be discussing on today's podcast.
Businesses how do you buy?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
So here we are, bobby .
It's pouring with rain, andwhere are you and I based?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Well, I'm based in Lewis in Sussex, which is a
really nice part of the world,and it's not raining here
currently, though it has been.
What about?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
you, I'm in Bucks, I'm in Buckinghamshire, near the
town of Buckingham.
But the fact is, bob, you and Iare both based at home and our
listeners heard that littlesketch and the operations
director you were after, he toowas clearly based at home.
So I'm going to get a littlequiz for you, bob, and you can
(02:53):
answer listeners as well.
What percentage of UKbusinesses are fully?
We're all at work.
This is a company where youmust come into, think of
different industries and things.
So what percentage is that?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
I mean it's going to have changed hugely in the last
few years.
But let's say 40%, it's 30%Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
So this could be hospitals, it could be garages,
it could be all sorts of thingswhere you are doing the work
here Restaurants, cafes, bars,soaps, train stations, lots of
stuff.
But that's 30%.
So what percentage?
Question two of businesses,organizations in the UK are
fully signed up to hybridworking.
(03:37):
It's got to be 50%.
At least it's 72%, bob.
Wow, yeah, wow, yeah.
Ons stuff we're giving you here.
So if hybrid working is thenorm and the 72% of companies
who are signed up to that, ifyou like, fully hybrid working,
(03:57):
the fact is, when you are tryingto get hold of the operations
director, who you think wouldlove some of reality trainings,
leadership programs, coaching,sales training, customer service
and it could make them muchbetter, couldn't it?
oh good, you're not going to gethold of him, bobby, whereas you
and I years ago, when we werein the world of outbound calling
and we worked in offices andcontact centers, we could ring
(04:20):
businesses with a fairlyreliable.
We'd get past a gatekeeper.
Of course we'd play those games.
But if we had an idea, if wehad a product or service that
they should be considering andwe had a good, effective opening
our pitch was relevant and wehad done our research we might
get a conversation.
We might end up selling them,reselling them and becoming a
(04:41):
supplier.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Well, I think, if we look back at history and very
recent history before theinternet, if you wanted to buy
stuff or needed to buy stuff foryour business, you had to
collate and assess information.
Now you did that in a number ofways you either read magazines
which were about those subjects,or you went to exhibitions
(05:07):
where you met companies who wereinvolved in those various
topics, and then you wouldselect ones that you needed to
talk to in more detail if theyhad a product or service that
you were going to need, and then, over time, you would build up
a network of contacts that wouldbe your default go-to for those
particular products or services.
(05:28):
Now, of course, the Internet'scome in and that's changed
things hugely.
And I was working in publishingwhen magazines were desperately
trying to play catch up withthe Internet in terms of
products and services and helppeople to find stuff online that
they might want to buy servicesand help people to find stuff
online that they might want tobuy.
(05:48):
And now what's happened,especially since the pandemic,
is that, because of hybridworking, you cannot just call
somebody and get through to themand have a conversation.
It used to be the case thatpeople would have answer phones
and voicemails that they wouldfield for a long time.
Now they don't even need to dothat, because if you don't have
their contact details, you haveno way of making contact with
(06:09):
that person.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Just sticking with what you've just said is, if I
was looking to buy that's howyou prefaced this I would build
up a series of contacts.
I would read magazines.
What we're saying to you isthat if you were in a business
that could provide Bob, who wasdoing that work as a buyer and
thought he might be in themarket for your service or
product, Bob, during hisresearch, might receive an
(06:33):
incoming call from a salespersonsaying hey, I know that you're
involved in this and you makethis, we provide this.
And he may not be expecting itand he may not be in the buying
market at that time, but that'show salespeople operated.
They would do their researchand they would be another option
for the person while they'relooking to buy.
But I think what's interestingsticking on this theme is how do
(06:56):
you buy?
Now I would say the shift isyou no longer grab your B2B
magazine, you no longer grabyour directory.
I was in directory business.
You happen in your break to flyonto LinkedIn.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Or you flick open some form of other social media
and you're in the market forwhatever product or service it
is, and you're hit with otheroptions.
And, of course, when you fire upyour computer in the morning,
whether it be a laptop or adesktop, you will be receiving a
vast amount of emails saying,hey, we make rivets, hey, we
(07:35):
provide whatever.
And so it seems to be that thebuyer of business to business
services either is very happywith their lot or satisfied and
just keeps signing the check.
The direct debit goes out eachmonth for the product or service
that they are buying to enablethem to be in business, or they
are receiving emails, socialmedia, some form of direct mail,
(07:58):
but how many buyers arereceiving incoming calls?
Based on the statistics that Ishared at the beginning, the
answer is very few, because whenyou buy data and that's another
email I receive each week doyou want to buy some data?
I'm not offered mobile numbers,and if your operations
director's at home, bob, I'venot got his home phone number, I
can't buy that and I also can'tbuy his mobile.
(08:20):
I can buy his switchboardnumber and I can buy his email.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Do you think that it means that businesses by and
large are buying the productsand services they need poorly
based on past experience, ratherthan looking objectively at
what it is they're looking tobuy and garnering the relevant
(08:45):
information to make a betterchoice?
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I think, if we look at human nature, I think there's
a huge amount of apathy thattakes place both from a buyer of
a business or a consumer.
Look at how many peoplereinsure inferior insurance
products or they just stick withtheir existing supplier.
I think of the USCharlotte-based sales trainer,
jeffrey Gittimer, who alwayssays hi, are you satisfied with
your current supplier?
(09:09):
Yeah, I'm actually, yeah,relatively satisfied, relatively
satisfied.
You're happy to just besatisfied.
I prefer it when customers sayto me I'm over the moon.
There's no way I'd switch.
By the sounds of things, thingsaren't good for you.
Let's have a conversation.
Most people are just I'msatisfied with my current
supplier Great.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Well, it would be nice to have that conversation,
to even hear that.
Yeah, it would.
And I think that's the otherside of it is that, if you think
to yourself right, I'm in aposition now where I don't need
to receive calls from peopletrying to sell me things because
I'm so important, so busy, thatI'm going to focus on the
things that I really need, tofocus on the fact that those
people trying to sell you thingscould actually help you achieve
(09:51):
those goals and could help youdo what it is you need to do.
That's something which you arethen selecting when to engage
with that process and, if youcan, you'll delegate it to
somebody else to do because youthink it's in some way beneath
you.
Is that the case?
Wow, it's quite heavy, isn't it?
It is, but I think it's truebecause I I think if, when I
think back to when I was inbusiness and managing people and
(10:14):
having to buy things forexhibitions and stuff like that,
you know we were given budgetsto spend and there was all that
sort of thing, there was noproblem getting hold of people.
There was no problem gettinghold of people.
There was no problem gettinghold of information.
People called you back.
People were desperate to sellyou things and were very
effective in that, and I nowwonder whether there is a kind
of a bit of a schism takingplace where maybe the reason
(10:38):
that you're in a senior positionwhere you can spend money is
because you have a network ofpeople that you use and that has
value to the organization.
So they think, well, actually,well, yeah, we'll promote that
person because they know allthese different companies and
people that they have arelationship with.
That means we don't have to goout and do that work.
That saves us money.
And I wonder whether people arerewarded for the value of the
(11:00):
networks that they have.
That's's another reallyinteresting concept.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
That's an interesting concept.
I think, yeah, when people arebringing in brilliant suppliers
or changing an element of whatthey buy a new ingredient, a new
item, a new tool, a new widget,whatever, and yeah, they've got
access to their network.
I'm sure that's what a lot ofindustries trade on that.
(11:23):
If I employ somebody, he's gota good network.
We might win some more businessthrough them.
Interesting isn't?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
it.
The other side of it is that Ireceive emails, as you do, every
day, and those that's becausewe're a small business owner and
so we're on lists somewhere andwe get through these emails.
Now, most of these emails 95 ofthem are untargeted, unspecific
, broad-based marketing emailsthat some businesses might be
(11:52):
interested in.
So I get one regularly from acompany trying to sell water for
my office yeah well, we dostill have an office, but we
don't need a big jug of water init, and if they bother to do
any research, they take me offtheir list.
But that's the kind of thing Iget.
I get a lot of stuff fromsoftware companies saying you
need to be selling our learningmanagement system yeah, with
(12:16):
your training to people, whichmeans they want me to become a
reseller of their software.
Effectively, you know they getquite a lot of that and I get
loads of people saying let'svalue your company for you,
let's buy your company for you,let's find a way to sell your
company.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
This podcast has been created by Reality Training.
We're a UK-based training andleadership brand who work across
many sectors to improvebusinesses and their people.
Our tagline is sellingcertainty, because that's what
we do Give you more certainty inhow you do things and give you
certainty about how you sellthings.
(12:56):
Find out more atrealitytrainingcom.
So we've got this idea ofselling and if we start with a
buyer's perspective, they aredoing research online primarily
for things they need for theirbusiness, and they might receive
(13:18):
an email, social media, directmail and some phone calls, but
we can't reach them on the phone.
That's the point.
That's what we're saying.
They can't be reached on thephone.
Them on the phone.
That's the point.
That's what we're saying.
They can't be reached on thephone.
Now the other thing that'staking place is marketing,
marketing and companies aregoing.
How do we get people to beaware of us?
(13:40):
How do we get them to beinterested in us?
How do we get them to try us?
How do we get them torepurchase?
How do we get them to be loyal?
So this is constantly returningand if they're trying to hit the
business marketplace, it's justthe same.
They're looking at emailmarketing, they look at social
media and they might look atcertain very targeted, paid for
advertising to enter into amarketplace or a community where
(14:03):
their buyers are reading orlistening or whatever it might
be be.
But we could argue that thispodcast episode is stating that
perhaps the outbound channel ofwinning business and we're only
talking about winning, by theway, we're not talking about
once they're on your database,because then you've got their
number and your supplier andthey might say I don't want to
buy it this month but you cancall them, we're talking about
(14:25):
winning new business via theoutbound action of a telephone
is diminishing returns not yourbest bet?
We could argue some companiesmight even not have it in their
mix of business buildingactivity whatsoever.
Could we argue that turning upin a car to an office or to a
(14:47):
building or an industrial estate, whatever it is, is actually
more likely to result in anactivity than a cold call where
they may or may not be therebecause they might be working at
home.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Well, the other side of it, of course, is that for
larger organizations, they willhave procurement departments.
So anything that you need to buy, you go right, guys, I need to
buy this sort it for me andthey'll go and do it, but that
then also means that you'redealing with a department which
is slightly disconnected fromyour area or the bit that you
you really need it for.
That doesn't mean they'renecessarily going to do a bad
(15:18):
job, but it just does mean thatyou're again, you're slightly
further away from thatrelationship, from that
conversation.
Should we do?
Three is the magic number,because I've got some big
questions, so let's play threeis the magic number, because
I've got some big questions, solet's play.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
three is the magic number.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So my first question is how do you buy for the
business?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Very reactionary and mostly influenced by you telling
me what you think I might need.
So, listeners, my favorite call.
I was once walking the dog andBob said now Jeremy, how would
you like a new car?
And I was going what, hey, wecould do this company car scheme
(16:05):
.
Hey, jez, have you got a watch?
Jeremy, your sound booth, whatyou need is a kit.
I think you probably know theanswer is I don't buy a lot.
I'm more interested in low-costcac like stationary.
That gets me excited.
But I think I buy books online.
Yeah, through various booksites.
(16:26):
I look at and I buy.
Yeah, it's just.
I don't go to any specialistexhibitions.
I can't think of a majorinvestment trip that we've made
to really calculate something.
I think even our most recentbusiness service that we bought
into accountancy was an onlinediscovery.
(16:46):
No, no that was an email fromthem actually, so that was email
marketing.
But no, that's how I buy.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
My question to you is slightly different what's the
best way to sell to you as abusiness-to-business customer, a
business-to-business company?
So slightly different, butthinking of how should people
sell to you.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Well, if you have a supplier who understands what it
is you actually do and how youoperate, then it would be a hell
of a lot easier for them tosell, because if they knew what
we were and how we operated andhow we do things and what our
priorities were, they could goah, here's a solution for you.
But no one ever does that.
I mean, when was the last timeanyone ever said to us you're a
(17:22):
training company?
No one, ever, absolutely.
And even if they do, they don'task, they don't say who are
your customers.
No, no one's that interested,which is shocking, really for
any B2B.
I'd like them to understand us.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
And then they might.
Sounds to me you'd be okayhaving a phone call if they gend
up.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
On the few occasions I've had good phone calls, I've
really enjoyed them Because itis an experience.
It is good to be sold to, it isgood to realize that there is
persuasion in the world, butit's rare.
So that's the truth.
The way that we want it to bedone is different.
Question two Is similar butslightly more nuanced.
What product or service wouldyou love someone to call you
(18:05):
about and try and sell you?
Speaker 2 (18:07):
It would be a form of technology where me looking
online and clicking is not goingto help, but they would ask me
questions and personalize thetechnology to me.
So some kind of cleverpodcast-y stuff, some kind of
email-y system, some kind ofmarketing dashboard, but really
personalized to me, having fullyas you've said, fully
(18:29):
understand what we do and how wedo it, I'd love to be sold tech
products in a brilliantlypersonalized way over the phone.
That'd be lovely.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Excellent, and that's interesting that you've gone
down that road.
That's really good.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
My question to you is slightly different.
Can you remember the last thingyou sold over the phone,
outbound From a single call, notnecessarily a single call, but
you got in touch with someoneover the phone and they
responded and they bought.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Well, I can remember, speaking to customers, that
we've sold training programsyeah, but that that's existing.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
I'm talking about brand new.
Brand new in you go, boom, boom, boom.
There you go.
It's hard, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
it's I think, I think when we used to do open courses
yeah maybe one or two of thosepossibly was a call like that.
Yeah, but 12 years ago.
Yeah, it's rare, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
12, 15 years.
Is that yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:21):
yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
So there you go.
So we see the difficulty ofoutbound ourselves.
And also we wage our bets ondeveloping existing
relationships and referrals morethan winning cold over the
phone.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Well, that's because just to win cold over the phone
isn't possible if you don't haveemail marketing, if you don't
have other forms of social mediato back it up.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, let's go to question three, and then I think
I'll share with the listenerssome of our own experience on a
recent project.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Okay, what's the most common B2B emails that you get?
Speaker 2 (19:53):
We're opening an office in your country.
We're very impressed with yourtrack record.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
We'd like to talk to you and I don't even know what
they do, and they're replicatedin in linkedin as well.
Uh, that's good.
Yeah, that's funny, isn't it?
Yeah, I have a bit of a funnything I occasionally do on
twitter where I will saysomething like reaching out to
you oh yeah, I don't think so,or loved your li profile oh yeah
, yeah, like hell, got a coupleof samples to share with you.
(20:28):
Where's that come from?
This is literally out of theblue.
No contacts at all, no context.
No, I'd love to find out moreabout you.
No, none of that, just straightin with.
I wanted to reach out, which isone of the oddest expressions I
have heard.
I don't want you to reach outto me.
If you want my help, reach outto me.
(20:48):
I'll help you.
But you know, don't reach outto me in a kind of altruistic
way.
You're going to do me a favor.
By reaching out to you, you'rebecoming my you know my friend.
In some way it's a bit like howare you to somebody that you
don't know?
You know it's not entirelygenuine.
So there we are okay.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
B2b startup.
I'm a b2b startup and I haven'tgot a single customer.
What would be yourrecommendation of what I spend
time on, of trying to win myfirst customer?
Speaker 1 (21:15):
data.
Data is the most importantthing.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Get some data.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Not just getting data .
Define the data that you need.
Define the organization, thelevel of person that you're
going after, the type, the sizeof the organization, where they
are, geography, the demographics.
All that stuff is absolutelyessential before you do a thing.
Yeah, because you could spend afortune on developing great
(21:41):
looking marketing.
Well, if you haven't got adecent list, doesn't go to the
right.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
No point, no point well, let's talk about our
recent project.
So we created a thing calledproject outbound.
We developed two people and wemust be six months into it now
something, something like that.
What we have discovered isgetting the data right, the
companies who could be in themarket.
What we do is important.
We cannot currently.
We haven't managed to getanybody on the phone, have we?
(22:06):
We haven't been able to getthrough to somebody.
We've got through toreceptionists.
Details left, but there's alsonot only they're not there, but
there's now a much more enforcedof not putting through.
That's stronger than ever before.
Even if your idea is brilliantand could help them, it seems
(22:26):
that there's a real gap in that,and so the crafting of very
good emails and the othermarketing that's available to us
is where we find ourselves, andwe just thought that spreads
across all businesses.
So any business must be findingthemselves in this position,
probably especially so if you'renot a regionally based business
.
So if you supply to companiesin a region, you're in a
marketplace and there's lots ofcompanies that could buy your
(22:47):
stuff and you are some form offairly common service or high
frequency purchase consumable.
Great, you know who might be inthe market, but we can sell our
stuff to anybody anywhere, andif we marketed ourselves
regionally, I'm sure we'd gobust in minutes because we have
to be available to all.
So it's a challenge.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
I don't know that this is cultural.
I think in other countriesperhaps they haven't quite gone
down this fully automated roadyet, but I do remember there was
some really good ways ofgetting through to people when
you had receptionists who couldput you through.
So there were a number oftechniques you could use to get
past that gatekeeper to get tothe person that were pretty good
(23:30):
.
Now they've gone.
Ah, we don't give thatgatekeeper that facility.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
No.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Therefore, there is no way that you can do that.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
No.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
And it's almost like come on then, are you going to
get past that?
Well, we'll think of anotherway to stop you getting through
to someone.
Well, in that case, what damageare you doing to your business
if they're not able to find outwhat is available to them?
It's a really interestingperspective, because you're
thinking, when I'm freeing up mypeople's time to do their jobs,
but what if?
But they're not hearing thepitch.
(23:59):
They're not hearing the pitch,they're not hearing the product
they're not aware of the serviceand it's a block.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Without even listening, it's a block without
even engaging.
Yeah if we look at our youth, sothe largest bracket of people
who are not working from homeare aged 16 to 24.
They, they are out there, sothey are doing things that are
maybe more practical, moremanual or more lower earning
type work, whether that's cafesor whatever it might be.
(24:27):
What's interesting with thishybrid thing and the reason why
we can't get hold of people is,when you hit the 50,000 pound
salary mark 27% is that that isthe highest bracket of working
from home.
So well, over a quarter ofpeople who on that money are at
home and that means that they'vebuilt themselves a facility, a
(24:47):
capacity enable them to earn anincome, or now they need to earn
less, or whatever the situationis, because their age is
probably commensurate with thisis I don't need to go out to
work anymore because I've founda way of earning money being
based at home and I don't haveto interact with the populace.
So the other problem with notbuyers not seeking to have
(25:07):
conversations is we're creatinga more insular world where
people are not understanding thebreadth of variety and the big
brands can play because they canstill run their ads, they can
still do their big branding,their big out of home, branding,
all of that stuff.
So you know arguably to be aB2B supplier, business gosh, you
(25:30):
might need to have such acompelling proposition and if
you weren't local or reasonableor of mass appeal, you'd really
have to cut out your marketingexercise to not lose all your
money in year one and find sugar.
Who have I got to win as a firstcustomer because you couldn't
just do what you and I grew updoing.
Here's a phone.
(25:50):
Here's a list of numbers.
Get at it and you know what.
You'll make something.
If you look at the ratio ofsales, I made a day in my
directory selling days, you madetwo a day almost without fail.
That's two sales a day justhitting the phones, yeah, and
those sales could be for 10grand, 50 grand, whatever, just
from hitting the phones.
That facility doesn't exist.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
I don't think no I remember selling advertising for
years where the process ofgetting through pitching your
media, putting together a briefproposal and getting a decision
within a few days was prettycommon.
But then over time, the largerthe organizations you dealt with
, that decision making processtook longer and longer and
(26:34):
longer, and agencies didn't helpthat process either.
I haven't been in advertisingfor years now.
I'd be fascinated to see howdifferent it is now in that
respect.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
But at the same time, those are important choices
that you're making there and Ithink on the outbound call and
the skill of it, it is a skill.
I think an american trainer Isaw the other day said outbound
calling isn't a cadence, it's askill.
I agree it's not.
I call one and I do that.
Then the second call does that.
I agree it isn't that.
It's a real skill.
(27:04):
But if you're trying to callpeople who've never heard of you
for the first time and they'renot on your database with the
very fact of hybrid working,they're not there.
So it's almost from the startyour odds are very poorly
stacked against you.
Yeah, you're going to ringsomeone who won't be there and
(27:24):
you won't be given their number.
So I'd love to hear have someinteraction from listeners
saying well, no, no, it worksfor us because we do it this way
.
I'd love some kind of responsesto this, because when I look
online I see trainers sellingcold call training, of course,
because they're trying to makean income out of it.
We've produced an entire set ofsystems and packs around this
and all sorts.
But we're not talking aboutcalling an existing database.
(27:45):
We're talking about winningbusiness.
Who doesn't know you from Adamon the first call and it's just
a muchos challenge.
Well, I hope that's been anenjoyable short little episode
for you.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yes.
You've enjoyed that I hope,bobby, been an enjoyable short
little episode for you.
Yes, You've enjoyed that, Ihope Bobby.
Yes, and I hope it stimulatesthought, and that particular
area is one that I'm sure we'regoing to return to, because I
have a feeling it will changestill more in the next few years
as we become more we need a newchannel.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
We need a new B2B channel that is just wonderfully
communicative and interesting.
Maybe the Zoom world can pop upand people can have zooms and
they're more engaged to do thatbecause they want to talk on the
mobile.
Who knows?
Speaker 1 (28:21):
maybe part of somebody's job description at a
certain level must be toallocate time to listen to
perspective yeah incomingsuppliers, because that then
keeps you informed, keeps youinterested, and it will
eventually and I'm sure at somepoint you do that, but maybe
that needs to be part of the jobdescription is to say you must
(28:44):
make sure you so imagine, youknow, in our very first thing,
at the start of the episode, Igave you an email info at new
supply.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Imagine if they said there's a number you call and
this is the prospective numberthat you call if you want to try
and sell us something.
That'll be answered by aprofessional buyer.
I wish you luck.
Now we're talking and then youring and you go hi, what's your
name?
My name is Mary and I buy thestuff for this company.
Okay, I'm selling training.
Okay, let's talk Brilliant, andMary would, at the end she'd
either educate you and say youknow what you?
(29:12):
Let's have a meeting.
I'll put you through to theoperations director.
Imagine that a phone number.
Maybe we could create abusiness where we offer
companies we'll take theirincoming calls for them to sieve
through to find them the verybest suppliers that they aren't
hearing from through any otherform of marketing.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
It probably exists.
There must be brokers who dothat now.
Do you think so?
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Yeah, you call this guy.
If you're looking to sell usyeast, call this guy.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Well, again why you would want to buy that for your
company, unless you're a bakingcompany.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I was thinking of bakery.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Or a brewer, in fact.
Anyway, well, thanks forlistening.
We'll see you on another onesoon, but in the meantime, I
know you're going to belistening to this through the
spring.
Have a great one, and we willspeak to you soon bye bob and
(30:08):
jeremy's conflab the realitypodcast.
Ringy ring, ringy ring, Hello switchboard.
Good morning, Hello there.
I'm wondering would you be ableto put me through to your
operations director?
His name's John Smith.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
John Smith right, Well, we don't have anybody's
contact details here.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
But you're the switchboard for your company.
Yeah, yeah, that's right, we'rethe head office absolutely Okay
, but you don't have any contactdetails of any members of staff
.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
We're a fully hybrid workforce now.
Did you say John Smith.
If you have his phone number,you're absolutely welcome to
call him if you have his directtelephone number.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Well, I want to talk to him about an idea that I've
got for your organisation.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
It sounds like you may not have his number, so do
you have his email address?
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well, I've actually sent him an email, but I'm
following up that email with acall.
That's why I come through toyou as a switchboard to then put
me through to that person.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Can I ask?
One of the questions I havehere on the desk is are you
interested in supplying us withnew products and services?
Yes, I am, yeah, okay, so whatI can do is give you the new
supplier email that goes to ateam that will read your email.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
That's info at new suppliercom okay, and I mean I'm
happy to do that.
How confident are you that theteam reading that email will
understand what it is that Iwant?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
well, I?
I'm simply on the switchboard.
My name is tony.
We field number of calls.
Their job is to look at newpeople who are interested in
supplying the company, so that'swhat they do.
I couldn't speak for them, okay.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Is that all right?
Okay, I'll do that.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, thank you.
Thank you very much for callingBye, bye.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Bob and Jeremy's Conflab the Reality Podcast.
This, ladies and gentlemen, iswhat we're going to be talking
about today.
It's about businesses.
Businesses how do people getthrough to you and how do you
buy what you need to run andimprove your business?
(02:08):
It's a really good question andthat scenario is one that we've
come across quite a few times,and that's what we're going to
be discussing on today's podcast.
Businesses how do you buy?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
So here we are, bobby .
It's pouring with rain, andwhere are you and I based?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Well, I'm based in Lewis in Sussex, which is a
really nice part of the world,and it's not raining here
currently, though it has been.
What about?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
you, I'm in Bucks, I'm in Buckinghamshire, near the
town of Buckingham.
But the fact is, bob, you and Iare both based at home and our
listeners heard that littlesketch and the operations
director you were after, he toowas clearly based at home.
So I'm going to get a littlequiz for you, bob, and you can
(02:53):
answer listeners as well.
What percentage of UKbusinesses are fully?
We're all at work.
This is a company where youmust come into, think of
different industries and things.
So what percentage is that?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
I mean it's going to have changed hugely in the last
few years.
But let's say 40%, it's 30%Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
So this could be hospitals, it could be garages,
it could be all sorts of thingswhere you are doing the work
here Restaurants, cafes, bars,soaps, train stations, lots of
stuff.
But that's 30%.
So what percentage?
Question two of businesses,organizations in the UK are
fully signed up to hybridworking.
(03:37):
It's got to be 50%.
At least it's 72%, bob.
Wow, yeah, wow, yeah.
Ons stuff we're giving you here.
So if hybrid working is thenorm and the 72% of companies
who are signed up to that, ifyou like, fully hybrid working,
(03:57):
the fact is, when you are tryingto get hold of the operations
director, who you think wouldlove some of reality trainings,
leadership programs, coaching,sales training, customer service
and it could make them muchbetter, couldn't it?
oh good, you're not going to gethold of him, bobby, whereas you
and I years ago, when we werein the world of outbound calling
and we worked in offices andcontact centers, we could ring
(04:20):
businesses with a fairlyreliable.
We'd get past a gatekeeper.
Of course we'd play those games.
But if we had an idea, if wehad a product or service that
they should be considering andwe had a good, effective opening
our pitch was relevant and wehad done our research we might
get a conversation.
We might end up selling them,reselling them and becoming a
(04:41):
supplier.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Well, I think, if we look back at history and very
recent history before theinternet, if you wanted to buy
stuff or needed to buy stuff foryour business, you had to
collate and assess information.
Now you did that in a number ofways you either read magazines
which were about those subjects,or you went to exhibitions
(05:07):
where you met companies who wereinvolved in those various
topics, and then you wouldselect ones that you needed to
talk to in more detail if theyhad a product or service that
you were going to need, and then, over time, you would build up
a network of contacts that wouldbe your default go-to for those
particular products or services.
(05:28):
Now, of course, the Internet'scome in and that's changed
things hugely.
And I was working in publishingwhen magazines were desperately
trying to play catch up withthe Internet in terms of
products and services and helppeople to find stuff online that
they might want to buy servicesand help people to find stuff
online that they might want tobuy.
(05:48):
And now what's happened,especially since the pandemic,
is that, because of hybridworking, you cannot just call
somebody and get through to themand have a conversation.
It used to be the case thatpeople would have answer phones
and voicemails that they wouldfield for a long time.
Now they don't even need to dothat, because if you don't have
their contact details, you haveno way of making contact with
(06:09):
that person.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Just sticking with what you've just said is, if I
was looking to buy that's howyou prefaced this I would build
up a series of contacts.
I would read magazines.
What we're saying to you isthat if you were in a business
that could provide Bob, who wasdoing that work as a buyer and
thought he might be in themarket for your service or
product, Bob, during hisresearch, might receive an
(06:33):
incoming call from a salespersonsaying hey, I know that you're
involved in this and you makethis, we provide this.
And he may not be expecting itand he may not be in the buying
market at that time, but that'show salespeople operated.
They would do their researchand they would be another option
for the person while they'relooking to buy.
But I think what's interestingsticking on this theme is how do
(06:56):
you buy?
Now I would say the shift isyou no longer grab your B2B
magazine, you no longer grabyour directory.
I was in directory business.
You happen in your break to flyonto LinkedIn.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Or you flick open some form of other social media
and you're in the market forwhatever product or service it
is, and you're hit with otheroptions.
And, of course, when you fire upyour computer in the morning,
whether it be a laptop or adesktop, you will be receiving a
vast amount of emails saying,hey, we make rivets, hey, we
(07:35):
provide whatever.
And so it seems to be that thebuyer of business to business
services either is very happywith their lot or satisfied and
just keeps signing the check.
The direct debit goes out eachmonth for the product or service
that they are buying to enablethem to be in business, or they
are receiving emails, socialmedia, some form of direct mail,
(07:58):
but how many buyers arereceiving incoming calls?
Based on the statistics that Ishared at the beginning, the
answer is very few, because whenyou buy data and that's another
email I receive each week doyou want to buy some data?
I'm not offered mobile numbers,and if your operations
director's at home, bob, I'venot got his home phone number, I
can't buy that and I also can'tbuy his mobile.
(08:20):
I can buy his switchboardnumber and I can buy his email.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Do you think that it means that businesses by and
large are buying the productsand services they need poorly
based on past experience, ratherthan looking objectively at
what it is they're looking tobuy and garnering the relevant
(08:45):
information to make a betterchoice?
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I think, if we look at human nature, I think there's
a huge amount of apathy thattakes place both from a buyer of
a business or a consumer.
Look at how many peoplereinsure inferior insurance
products or they just stick withtheir existing supplier.
I think of the USCharlotte-based sales trainer,
jeffrey Gittimer, who alwayssays hi, are you satisfied with
your current supplier?
(09:09):
Yeah, I'm actually, yeah,relatively satisfied, relatively
satisfied.
You're happy to just besatisfied.
I prefer it when customers sayto me I'm over the moon.
There's no way I'd switch.
By the sounds of things, thingsaren't good for you.
Let's have a conversation.
Most people are just I'msatisfied with my current
supplier Great.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Well, it would be nice to have that conversation,
to even hear that.
Yeah, it would.
And I think that's the otherside of it is that, if you think
to yourself right, I'm in aposition now where I don't need
to receive calls from peopletrying to sell me things because
I'm so important, so busy, thatI'm going to focus on the
things that I really need, tofocus on the fact that those
people trying to sell you thingscould actually help you achieve
(09:51):
those goals and could help youdo what it is you need to do.
That's something which you arethen selecting when to engage
with that process and, if youcan, you'll delegate it to
somebody else to do because youthink it's in some way beneath
you.
Is that the case?
Wow, it's quite heavy, isn't it?
It is, but I think it's truebecause I I think if, when I
think back to when I was inbusiness and managing people and
(10:14):
having to buy things forexhibitions and stuff like that,
you know we were given budgetsto spend and there was all that
sort of thing, there was noproblem getting hold of people.
There was no problem gettinghold of people.
There was no problem gettinghold of information.
People called you back.
People were desperate to sellyou things and were very
effective in that, and I nowwonder whether there is a kind
of a bit of a schism takingplace where maybe the reason
(10:38):
that you're in a senior positionwhere you can spend money is
because you have a network ofpeople that you use and that has
value to the organization.
So they think, well, actually,well, yeah, we'll promote that
person because they know allthese different companies and
people that they have arelationship with.
That means we don't have to goout and do that work.
That saves us money.
And I wonder whether people arerewarded for the value of the
(11:00):
networks that they have.
That's's another reallyinteresting concept.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
That's an interesting concept.
I think, yeah, when people arebringing in brilliant suppliers
or changing an element of whatthey buy a new ingredient, a new
item, a new tool, a new widget,whatever, and yeah, they've got
access to their network.
I'm sure that's what a lot ofindustries trade on that.
(11:23):
If I employ somebody, he's gota good network.
We might win some more businessthrough them.
Interesting isn't?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
it.
The other side of it is that Ireceive emails, as you do, every
day, and those that's becausewe're a small business owner and
so we're on lists somewhere andwe get through these emails.
Now, most of these emails 95 ofthem are untargeted, unspecific
, broad-based marketing emailsthat some businesses might be
(11:52):
interested in.
So I get one regularly from acompany trying to sell water for
my office yeah well, we dostill have an office, but we
don't need a big jug of water init, and if they bother to do
any research, they take me offtheir list.
But that's the kind of thing Iget.
I get a lot of stuff fromsoftware companies saying you
need to be selling our learningmanagement system yeah, with
(12:16):
your training to people, whichmeans they want me to become a
reseller of their software.
Effectively, you know they getquite a lot of that and I get
loads of people saying let'svalue your company for you,
let's buy your company for you,let's find a way to sell your
company.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
This podcast has been created by Reality Training.
We're a UK-based training andleadership brand who work across
many sectors to improvebusinesses and their people.
Our tagline is sellingcertainty, because that's what
we do Give you more certainty inhow you do things and give you
certainty about how you sellthings.
(12:56):
Find out more atrealitytrainingcom.
So we've got this idea ofselling and if we start with a
buyer's perspective, they aredoing research online primarily
for things they need for theirbusiness, and they might receive
(13:18):
an email, social media, directmail and some phone calls, but
we can't reach them on the phone.
That's the point.
That's what we're saying.
They can't be reached on thephone.
Them on the phone.
That's the point.
That's what we're saying.
They can't be reached on thephone.
Now the other thing that'staking place is marketing,
marketing and companies aregoing.
How do we get people to beaware of us?
(13:40):
How do we get them to beinterested in us?
How do we get them to try us?
How do we get them torepurchase?
How do we get them to be loyal?
So this is constantly returningand if they're trying to hit the
business marketplace, it's justthe same.
They're looking at emailmarketing, they look at social
media and they might look atcertain very targeted, paid for
advertising to enter into amarketplace or a community where
(14:03):
their buyers are reading orlistening or whatever it might
be be.
But we could argue that thispodcast episode is stating that
perhaps the outbound channel ofwinning business and we're only
talking about winning, by theway, we're not talking about
once they're on your database,because then you've got their
number and your supplier andthey might say I don't want to
buy it this month but you cancall them, we're talking about
(14:25):
winning new business via theoutbound action of a telephone
is diminishing returns not yourbest bet?
We could argue some companiesmight even not have it in their
mix of business buildingactivity whatsoever.
Could we argue that turning upin a car to an office or to a
(14:47):
building or an industrial estate, whatever it is, is actually
more likely to result in anactivity than a cold call where
they may or may not be therebecause they might be working at
home.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Well, the other side of it, of course, is that for
larger organizations, they willhave procurement departments.
So anything that you need to buy, you go right, guys, I need to
buy this sort it for me andthey'll go and do it, but that
then also means that you'redealing with a department which
is slightly disconnected fromyour area or the bit that you
you really need it for.
That doesn't mean they'renecessarily going to do a bad
(15:18):
job, but it just does mean thatyou're again, you're slightly
further away from thatrelationship, from that
conversation.
Should we do?
Three is the magic number,because I've got some big
questions, so let's play threeis the magic number, because
I've got some big questions, solet's play.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
three is the magic number.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So my first question is how do you buy for the
business?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Very reactionary and mostly influenced by you telling
me what you think I might need.
So, listeners, my favorite call.
I was once walking the dog andBob said now Jeremy, how would
you like a new car?
And I was going what, hey, wecould do this company car scheme
(16:05):
.
Hey, jez, have you got a watch?
Jeremy, your sound booth, whatyou need is a kit.
I think you probably know theanswer is I don't buy a lot.
I'm more interested in low-costcac like stationary.
That gets me excited.
But I think I buy books online.
Yeah, through various booksites.
(16:26):
I look at and I buy.
Yeah, it's just.
I don't go to any specialistexhibitions.
I can't think of a majorinvestment trip that we've made
to really calculate something.
I think even our most recentbusiness service that we bought
into accountancy was an onlinediscovery.
(16:46):
No, no that was an email fromthem actually, so that was email
marketing.
But no, that's how I buy.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
My question to you is slightly different what's the
best way to sell to you as abusiness-to-business customer, a
business-to-business company?
So slightly different, butthinking of how should people
sell to you.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Well, if you have a supplier who understands what it
is you actually do and how youoperate, then it would be a hell
of a lot easier for them tosell, because if they knew what
we were and how we operated andhow we do things and what our
priorities were, they could goah, here's a solution for you.
But no one ever does that.
I mean, when was the last timeanyone ever said to us you're a
(17:22):
training company?
No one, ever, absolutely.
And even if they do, they don'task, they don't say who are
your customers.
No, no one's that interested,which is shocking, really for
any B2B.
I'd like them to understand us.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
And then they might.
Sounds to me you'd be okayhaving a phone call if they gend
up.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
On the few occasions I've had good phone calls, I've
really enjoyed them Because itis an experience.
It is good to be sold to, it isgood to realize that there is
persuasion in the world, butit's rare.
So that's the truth.
The way that we want it to bedone is different.
Question two Is similar butslightly more nuanced.
What product or service wouldyou love someone to call you
(18:05):
about and try and sell you?
Speaker 2 (18:07):
It would be a form of technology where me looking
online and clicking is not goingto help, but they would ask me
questions and personalize thetechnology to me.
So some kind of cleverpodcast-y stuff, some kind of
email-y system, some kind ofmarketing dashboard, but really
personalized to me, having fullyas you've said, fully
(18:29):
understand what we do and how wedo it, I'd love to be sold tech
products in a brilliantlypersonalized way over the phone.
That'd be lovely.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Excellent, and that's interesting that you've gone
down that road.
That's really good.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
My question to you is slightly different.
Can you remember the last thingyou sold over the phone,
outbound From a single call, notnecessarily a single call, but
you got in touch with someoneover the phone and they
responded and they bought.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Well, I can remember, speaking to customers, that
we've sold training programsyeah, but that that's existing.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
I'm talking about brand new.
Brand new in you go, boom, boom, boom.
There you go.
It's hard, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
it's I think, I think when we used to do open courses
yeah maybe one or two of thosepossibly was a call like that.
Yeah, but 12 years ago.
Yeah, it's rare, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
12, 15 years.
Is that yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:21):
yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
So there you go.
So we see the difficulty ofoutbound ourselves.
And also we wage our bets ondeveloping existing
relationships and referrals morethan winning cold over the
phone.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Well, that's because just to win cold over the phone
isn't possible if you don't haveemail marketing, if you don't
have other forms of social mediato back it up.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah, let's go to question three, and then I think
I'll share with the listenerssome of our own experience on a
recent project.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Okay, what's the most common B2B emails that you get?
Speaker 2 (19:53):
We're opening an office in your country.
We're very impressed with yourtrack record.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
We'd like to talk to you and I don't even know what
they do, and they're replicatedin in linkedin as well.
Uh, that's good.
Yeah, that's funny, isn't it?
Yeah, I have a bit of a funnything I occasionally do on
twitter where I will saysomething like reaching out to
you oh yeah, I don't think so,or loved your li profile oh yeah
, yeah, like hell, got a coupleof samples to share with you.
(20:28):
Where's that come from?
This is literally out of theblue.
No contacts at all, no context.
No, I'd love to find out moreabout you.
No, none of that, just straightin with.
I wanted to reach out, which isone of the oddest expressions I
have heard.
I don't want you to reach outto me.
If you want my help, reach outto me.
(20:48):
I'll help you.
But you know, don't reach outto me in a kind of altruistic
way.
You're going to do me a favor.
By reaching out to you, you'rebecoming my you know my friend.
In some way it's a bit like howare you to somebody that you
don't know?
You know it's not entirelygenuine.
So there we are okay.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
B2b startup.
I'm a b2b startup and I haven'tgot a single customer.
What would be yourrecommendation of what I spend
time on, of trying to win myfirst customer?
Speaker 1 (21:15):
data.
Data is the most importantthing.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Get some data.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Not just getting data .
Define the data that you need.
Define the organization, thelevel of person that you're
going after, the type, the sizeof the organization, where they
are, geography, the demographics.
All that stuff is absolutelyessential before you do a thing.
Yeah, because you could spend afortune on developing great
(21:41):
looking marketing.
Well, if you haven't got adecent list, doesn't go to the
right.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
No point, no point well, let's talk about our
recent project.
So we created a thing calledproject outbound.
We developed two people and wemust be six months into it now
something, something like that.
What we have discovered isgetting the data right, the
companies who could be in themarket.
What we do is important.
We cannot currently.
We haven't managed to getanybody on the phone, have we?
(22:06):
We haven't been able to getthrough to somebody.
We've got through toreceptionists.
Details left, but there's alsonot only they're not there, but
there's now a much more enforcedof not putting through.
That's stronger than ever before.
Even if your idea is brilliantand could help them, it seems
(22:26):
that there's a real gap in that,and so the crafting of very
good emails and the othermarketing that's available to us
is where we find ourselves, andwe just thought that spreads
across all businesses.
So any business must be findingthemselves in this position,
probably especially so if you'renot a regionally based business
.
So if you supply to companiesin a region, you're in a
marketplace and there's lots ofcompanies that could buy your
(22:47):
stuff and you are some form offairly common service or high
frequency purchase consumable.
Great, you know who might be inthe market, but we can sell our
stuff to anybody anywhere, andif we marketed ourselves
regionally, I'm sure we'd gobust in minutes because we have
to be available to all.
So it's a challenge.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
I don't know that this is cultural.
I think in other countriesperhaps they haven't quite gone
down this fully automated roadyet, but I do remember there was
some really good ways ofgetting through to people when
you had receptionists who couldput you through.
So there were a number oftechniques you could use to get
past that gatekeeper to get tothe person that were pretty good
(23:30):
.
Now they've gone.
Ah, we don't give thatgatekeeper that facility.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
No.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Therefore, there is no way that you can do that.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
No.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
And it's almost like come on then, are you going to
get past that?
Well, we'll think of anotherway to stop you getting through
to someone.
Well, in that case, what damageare you doing to your business
if they're not able to find outwhat is available to them?
It's a really interestingperspective, because you're
thinking, when I'm freeing up mypeople's time to do their jobs,
but what if?
But they're not hearing thepitch.
(23:59):
They're not hearing the pitch,they're not hearing the product
they're not aware of the serviceand it's a block.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Without even listening, it's a block without
even engaging.
Yeah if we look at our youth, sothe largest bracket of people
who are not working from homeare aged 16 to 24.
They, they are out there, sothey are doing things that are
maybe more practical, moremanual or more lower earning
type work, whether that's cafesor whatever it might be.
(24:27):
What's interesting with thishybrid thing and the reason why
we can't get hold of people is,when you hit the 50,000 pound
salary mark 27% is that that isthe highest bracket of working
from home.
So well, over a quarter ofpeople who on that money are at
home and that means that they'vebuilt themselves a facility, a
(24:47):
capacity enable them to earn anincome, or now they need to earn
less, or whatever the situationis, because their age is
probably commensurate with thisis I don't need to go out to
work anymore because I've founda way of earning money being
based at home and I don't haveto interact with the populace.
So the other problem with notbuyers not seeking to have
(25:07):
conversations is we're creatinga more insular world where
people are not understanding thebreadth of variety and the big
brands can play because they canstill run their ads, they can
still do their big branding,their big out of home, branding,
all of that stuff.
So you know arguably to be aB2B supplier, business gosh, you
(25:30):
might need to have such acompelling proposition and if
you weren't local or reasonableor of mass appeal, you'd really
have to cut out your marketingexercise to not lose all your
money in year one and find sugar.
Who have I got to win as a firstcustomer because you couldn't
just do what you and I grew updoing.
Here's a phone.
(25:50):
Here's a list of numbers.
Get at it and you know what.
You'll make something.
If you look at the ratio ofsales, I made a day in my
directory selling days, you madetwo a day almost without fail.
That's two sales a day justhitting the phones, yeah, and
those sales could be for 10grand, 50 grand, whatever, just
from hitting the phones.
That facility doesn't exist.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
I don't think no I remember selling advertising for
years where the process ofgetting through pitching your
media, putting together a briefproposal and getting a decision
within a few days was prettycommon.
But then over time, the largerthe organizations you dealt with
, that decision making processtook longer and longer and
(26:34):
longer, and agencies didn't helpthat process either.
I haven't been in advertisingfor years now.
I'd be fascinated to see howdifferent it is now in that
respect.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
But at the same time, those are important choices
that you're making there and Ithink on the outbound call and
the skill of it, it is a skill.
I think an american trainer Isaw the other day said outbound
calling isn't a cadence, it's askill.
I agree it's not.
I call one and I do that.
Then the second call does that.
I agree it isn't that.
It's a real skill.
(27:04):
But if you're trying to callpeople who've never heard of you
for the first time and they'renot on your database with the
very fact of hybrid working,they're not there.
So it's almost from the startyour odds are very poorly
stacked against you.
Yeah, you're going to ringsomeone who won't be there and
(27:24):
you won't be given their number.
So I'd love to hear have someinteraction from listeners
saying well, no, no, it worksfor us because we do it this way
.
I'd love some kind of responsesto this, because when I look
online I see trainers sellingcold call training, of course,
because they're trying to makean income out of it.
We've produced an entire set ofsystems and packs around this
and all sorts.
But we're not talking aboutcalling an existing database.
(27:45):
We're talking about winningbusiness.
Who doesn't know you from Adamon the first call and it's just
a muchos challenge.
Well, I hope that's been anenjoyable short little episode
for you.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yes.
You've enjoyed that I hope,bobby, been an enjoyable short
little episode for you.
Yes, You've enjoyed that, Ihope Bobby.
Yes, and I hope it stimulatesthought, and that particular
area is one that I'm sure we'regoing to return to, because I
have a feeling it will changestill more in the next few years
as we become more we need a newchannel.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
We need a new B2B channel that is just wonderfully
communicative and interesting.
Maybe the Zoom world can pop upand people can have zooms and
they're more engaged to do thatbecause they want to talk on the
mobile.
Who knows?
Speaker 1 (28:21):
maybe part of somebody's job description at a
certain level must be toallocate time to listen to
perspective yeah incomingsuppliers, because that then
keeps you informed, keeps youinterested, and it will
eventually and I'm sure at somepoint you do that, but maybe
that needs to be part of the jobdescription is to say you must
(28:44):
make sure you so imagine, youknow, in our very first thing,
at the start of the episode, Igave you an email info at new
supply.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Imagine if they said there's a number you call and
this is the prospective numberthat you call if you want to try
and sell us something.
That'll be answered by aprofessional buyer.
I wish you luck.
Now we're talking and then youring and you go hi, what's your
name?
My name is Mary and I buy thestuff for this company.
Okay, I'm selling training.
Okay, let's talk Brilliant, andMary would, at the end she'd
either educate you and say youknow what you?
(29:12):
Let's have a meeting.
I'll put you through to theoperations director.
Imagine that a phone number.
Maybe we could create abusiness where we offer
companies we'll take theirincoming calls for them to sieve
through to find them the verybest suppliers that they aren't
hearing from through any otherform of marketing.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
It probably exists.
There must be brokers who dothat now.
Do you think so?
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Yeah, you call this guy.
If you're looking to sell usyeast, call this guy.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Well, again why you would want to buy that for your
company, unless you're a bakingcompany.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I was thinking of bakery.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Or a brewer, in fact.
Anyway, well, thanks forlistening.
We'll see you on another onesoon, but in the meantime, I
know you're going to belistening to this through the
spring.
Have a great one, and we willspeak to you soon bye bob and
(30:08):
jeremy's conflab the realitypodcast.
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