- You Have Reached Step 2 In This SeriesSTEP 2
The Buyer
Sit Down Series
Sit Down With Colin Sutton
“I try not to answer my phone ever. I never pick it up. It’s always a salesperson trying to get a meeting with me. There’s always a voicemail. I have no motivation to call them.”
Colin Sutton
Social Media Director – OMD
Represents: Apple, Intel, Monster, Fedex
Company revenue: $15.13 Billion
Cold Emails:
300 Cold Emails Per Month
3% Response Rate
Cold Calls:
50 Cold Calls Per Month
0% Response Rate
Mistakes salespeople make:
- “Don’t understand my position or the value they can bring to my company.”
- “Most annoying thing is when it’s cold call via email. Lengthy, cut and paste template that isn’t personal.”
Sit Down with Lauren Wexler
Lauren Wexler
Senior Director Global Media
Revlon
Company revenue: $1.92 Billion
“There are thousands of people that want you to buy from them. As much as I feel bad, there are just not enough hours or time in the day based on how quickly things move in my job. I just don’t have the bandwidth to respond to people. ”
Cold Emails:
200 Cold Emails Per Month
2% Response Rate
“Email is the best way to get a hold of me, but the volume of emails has increased tremendously. I receive 200 emails a day.”
Cold Calls:
Doesn’t Check or Respond
0% Response Rate
“Rarely if ever check my voicemail.”
LinkedIn:
Hundreds of LinkedIn Messages Per Month
0% Response Rate
“Beyond a ridiculous amount of LinkedIn messages.”
Mistakes salespeople make:
- “The ones that are overstepping in their email correspondence. Do you have time tomorrow for an hour? Are you kidding me. Delete. Delete. Delete.”
- “The most frustrating are the copy and paste emails.”
Here is what she wished people wrote:
- “Hey Lauren, I know you are doing x, y and z, I literally want 5 minutes to give you an overview of my company. If you think it’s interesting we can set up another meeting to get into the details.”
Suggestion for salespeople:
- Help me solve a business problem.
- Help me reach a new audience in a smart way.
- Help create value for shareholder. Increase marketshare. Based on research that is clearly available.
- I know you are really busy. Hey can I get 5 minutes of your time just to give you a quick overview. The reason why this works is a 5-10 minute quick chat is much less intimidating.
Sit Down with Janine Pelosi
Janine Pelosi
Head of Marketing
Zoom Video Communication
Startup that raised $45.5 million in venture funding
“To be brutal honest I don’t know my phone number at my desk. It’s close to 8 years since I’ve checked my voicemail. Phone is not just the way to go about it. I’m not a fan of cold calls. I think it’s annoying. If I answer, it’s only because I think it is someone else. For LinkedIn, if I don’t know you I’m not going to accept you. “
Cold Emails:
1000 Cold Emails Per Month (40-60 per day)
1% Response Rate
Cold Calls:
Doesn’t Check or Respond
0% Response Rate
LinkedIn:
Hundreds of LinkedIn Messages Per Month
0% Response Rate
Interesting Things Salespeople Do:
- “From an email standpoint, authentic humor will get my attention. But I’m going to send it to my team.”
Suggestion for salespeople:
- Email is going to be the best way to reach me, but just not in the morning. I’m too busy. The best way is later in the day. It’s okay to send an email after lunch.
- Obviously, referrals are the number one way to get ahold of people. If someone can get to my President or CEO, I’ll have to take a look at it.
Sit Down with Gino Cotignola
Gino Cotignola
VP of Technology
Westcon Group North America
Company Revenue: $5 Billion
“For every 100 or 200 messages I get, I will respond to one. I tend to ignore and filter everything out. If it’s an email I throw it into my junk. Cold calls I just delete the messages.”
Cold Emails:
4000 Cold Emails Per Month (200 per day!)
0.5% Response Rate
Cold Calls:
200 Cold Calls Per Month (10 voicemails a day)
0.5% Response Rate
LinkedIn:
Hundreds of LinkedIn Messages Per Month
0% Response Rate
Mistakes salespeople make:
- “Often I’m not the right person for them to contact. Message sent doesn’t mean message received. You don’t want to be a victim of the delete button.”
Interesting Things Salespeople Do:
- “People send meeting invites. Try to put something on my calendar. Thinking I would be more responsive. I just delete them.”
Suggestion for salespeople:
- Understand what’s in my world. Many times I receive contact that is not in anyway remotely something I’m directly responsible for or interested in.
- You better understand the audience. Title’s don’t represent what a person may be interested in. Most important thing is to know your audience.