Forget Your Company...

I read a post yesterday about how much harder it is for SDR's to make cold calls if they're from a relatively unknown company...

It went on to say how much easier it is for SDR's from well-known names such as Salesforce. 

Utter nonsense.

I've received sales calls from both well-known organisations and from relatively unknown ones. 

And let me tell you, the ones that stood out had nothing to do with the familiarity of their company name. 

In fact when a well-known name is given to me, my automatic response is usually to put up a smokescreen (as their 'household name' gives the game away - you know exactly what they are selling...so you brace yourself for the inevitable 'pitch'). 

In the world of B2B sales, your brand counts for so much less than you think.

And it leads to lazy & complacent sales approaches.

Salesforce SDR: "I'm calling from Salesforce - the no. 1 CRM...blah blah blah."

Prospect's thought-process...'So what - how does that help me? If you're no. 1 you're probably the most expensive also. I'd rather shop around.'

Never in the history of B2B sales did a prospect roll out the red carpet & respond with...

"Salesforce, the no. 1 CRM!!? I can't believe you've called! I'm so happy you chose me. Tell me - what are the next steps?!"

OK I'm being facetious.

Yes, it may provide context & some will argue it's more 'professional'... whatever that means.

But an effective cold call means tuning into the inner dialogue of your prospect's real problems, then joining that conversation as the potential answer.

Not ramming your brand name and product down somebody's throat. 

Because that's all about you. 

And people buy for their reasons & better outcomes (them)- not products (you). 

So, the best cold calls are exclusively about the prospect, where the salesperson enters the conversation in their mind to demonstrate a potentially better outcome to a problematic situation. 

Your company name is mostly redundant.