How to Implement Cold Calling 2.0 and Increase Sales Efficiency by 50%

Welcome to Maven Club, your go-to source for B2B sales and startup growth insights tailored for the APAC market. Today, we continue to dive into the essentials of implementing the Cold Calling 2.0 system—an approach that has revolutionized outbound sales by Aaron Ross and Marylou Tyler, who are the authors of Predictable Revenue.

Getting Started with Cold Calling 2.0

To effectively adopt Cold Calling 2.0, ensure you meet these prerequisites:

• Dedicated Prospecting Personnel: Have at least one person fully committed to prospecting. While part-time efforts can initiate the process, significant results typically require full-time dedication.

• Implementing Sales System: Equip your sales team with a comprehensive system to manage contacts and accounts. Any system that surpasses the limitations of spreadsheets, whiteboards, and email will suffice.

• Email-Accessible Prospects: Ensure your target prospects use email regularly.

• Proven Product or Service: Your offering should have already generated revenue and demonstrated market viability.

• High Lifetime Customer Value: Ideally, the lifetime value of a customer should exceed $10,000. Although the process can work with lower values, achieving profitability through hired salespeople becomes more challenging.

Key Considerations for Implementation

• Specialization is Crucial: Allow Account Executives (AEs) to focus on closing active sales cycles, while Sales Development Reps (SDRs) generate new qualified opportunities.

• Efficient Lead Generation: While AEs should not be bogged down by cold calls, they should engage with high-potential sources such as targeted accounts, current clients, and past opportunities.

• Optimized Inbound Response: Market Response Reps should specialize in qualifying inbound leads efficiently, leaving SDRs to pursue incremental business where no pre-existing interest exists.

• Avoid Role Mixing: Mixing the responsibilities of Market Response Reps and SDRs can decrease productivity, as Salesforce discovered when their productivity dropped by 30% during such an experiment.

Building a Predictable Revenue Funnel

• Formula for Revenue Predictability: Funnel + Average Deal Size + Time

• Ramp-Up Time: Recognize the realistic ramp-up period for new reps. Training programs that involve them in various parts of your company before active sales duty can be beneficial.

• Measure Key Metrics: Track the time from initial prospect response to the creation of a qualified opportunity.

• Example Scenario:

  • Ramp-Up Period: 2 months

  • Monthly Qualified Opportunities per Rep: 10

  • Average Deal Size: $100,000

  • Monthly Qualified Pipeline: $1 million (after full ramp-up)

  • Sales Win Rate: 20%

  • Sales Cycle: 6 months

  • In this scenario, each new rep contributes $200,000 in incremental revenue per month, with significant contributions starting around eight months post-hire.

Cold Calling 2.0 Process

• Identify Your Ideal Customer Profile: Target great prospects and quickly disqualify poor fits. Look for red flags such as insufficient budget or lack of understanding of your solution's value.

• Build Your Target List: Identify decision-makers and avoid the temptation to include random prospects, as it incurs an opportunity cost.

• Run Outbound Email Campaigns: Utilize simple email templates to achieve an 8-12% response rate from high-level prospects. Emails should be clear and concise, with a single call-to-action:

  • Who is the best point of contact for…?" (to get a referral)

  • When is the best day/time for a quick discussion around…?" (to set up a meeting)

• Sell the Dream: The initial discovery call should help the prospect envision a dream solution to their problems and connect your product to their key business issues. Use open-ended questions and turn non-decision-makers into internal champions by focusing on their success.

• Examples of Open-ended questions:

  • How are your teams and functions structured? How does your current process operate?

  • Which system(s) do your teams use for managing sales and leads? How long have you been using this system?

  • What challenges are you currently facing? (After each response, continue asking, "What other challenges?")

  • Have you started exploring alternative solutions?

  • Have you previously tried other solutions that didn't work? Why were they unsuccessful?

  • Where does this issue rank on your priority list? What are your higher priorities?

  • What would an ideal solution look like for you?

  • How will your decision-making process be conducted?

Implementing Cold Calling 2.0 requires dedicated prospecting, a robust sales system, and high customer lifetime value. Specialization and efficient lead generation are key. Measure ramp-up time and track key metrics. Target ideal customers, run effective email campaigns, and focus on problem-solving during discovery calls to drive B2B sales growth in APAC.

Stay tuned for more insights from Maven Club, where we help you master B2B sales and growth strategies in the APAC market!