5 Ways to Keep a Decision Maker’s Attention

Decision makers, as we all know, are busy people. They are often in and out of meetings, on conference calls, and traveling. Keeping your decision maker’s attention is paramount to effective B2B lead generation. The following are 5 ways to keep a decision maker’s attention:

• Pace: Speaking at a good pace conveys to the decision maker that you respect their time and can work with them to obtain the sales intelligence that you need in an efficient manner. You will find that speaking at a good pace will lead to more conversions.
• Inflection: Having inflection in your voice to create interest in your topic and emphasize key points will encourage the decision maker to participate in the call. Avoid monotone or robotic script reading and sound genuine.
• Research: Researching the account you are calling in advance to acquire pre-call sales intelligence will go a long way in earning the decision maker’s respect and attention. Generally speaking, decision makers appreciate a sales development representative doing their homework in advance and sharing the sales intelligence they have acquired on previous calls.
• References: In B2B sales, a good reference can certainly increase your conversions. Ideally, there would be a direct referral from a business associate that you both know. LinkedIn can be a phenomenal tool for identifying shared contacts and thus securing a direct referral to several decision makers. However, even if you don’t have a direct connection to reference, you can always just leverage your previous sales development efforts with this account. This approach can effectively manufacture a referral of sorts by referencing other contacts at the target account that referred you to your decision maker. This technique is most effective when you are starting at the top of the executive totem pole and working your way down.
• Excitement: Getting your decision maker excited and impressed with your solution and how it can meet their needs can capture and keep their attention. Your ability to effectively communicate your solution’s value proposition is always important in B2B sales. In a sales development role, you often have a limited amount of time. Knowing your talking points in advance will allow you to deliver your message in an efficient manner and convert the prospect into a lead.

In conclusion, when prospecting for B2B sales opportunities, it is critical to keep a decision maker’s attention. These 5 ways will assist your sales development efforts and lead to more conversions. Make sure to invest in the highest quality sales intelligence that you can acquire and then apply these techniques to improve your prospecting results. Always remember: speak at a good pace in order to show your contact you respect their time, use inflection to be more interesting, research your target and use sales intelligence prior to making the call, leverage a referral either by association or getting passed down the corporate totem pole, and get your decision maker excited about how your solution can solve their needs. If you do that, you will be a true SalesPro.