Last Contact |
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| Only log the Last Contact as No Contact if we did not get to speak to anybody or any person, example we got company voice mail, or we called the contact directly on their direct line or mobile and got voice mail, or we called the company wanting to get company A realised the company was B or the wrong number and so hung up. In all of these cases log as No Contact |
| Only use this log for Last Contact if they last person/contact you spoke to was the receptionist. In this case log as Reception. |
| Only use this if the Last Contact or person you spoke to was the decision maker, this could be because either you spoke to the reception first, and then they transferred you to the decision maker and you successfully spoke to them. In that case log as Decision Maker. If you spoke to the receptionist and she put you through but you got the DM's voice mail, in that case you did not speak to the decision maker and the result should be logged as Reception. If you are calling the Decision Maker directly on either their landline or mobile, and you got voice mail, then since you did not speak to anyone that should be logged as No Contact. |
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Last Call Result | When to Use |
| Abbreviations: DM (Decision Maker), Dm (Decision making) |
| - You did not get to speak to the DM, and you are going to try call again. - You use this if the reception does not put you through, she blocks the call, the decision maker is not available, you are put through but you get his voice mail, or you call the company and you get the company voice mail. - Also use this if the receptionist says "We are fine with that, we are happy with our current supplier, we wouldn't be interested, we don't take cold calls, we don't take marketing calls etc.." just log as call back and try again, we don't take No from the receptionist, we only take a No from the decision maker. - Likewise if the receptionist says "Can I take a message?" say not to worry, log as Call Back and try again, once again if the receptionist says "You can send me an email to reception@ or info@? you can play along, or decline, either way log as Call Back and we'll try again later. - Exception to the rule: You should also use the call log if you speak to the DM, but he cuts you short and say's can't talk, call back, but you didn't really get to pitch him properly, in this case we do not really count it as a Last Contact: Decision Maker, we just log it as Last Contact: Reception, Last Call Result: No Contact (Call back) then set up a follow up task to call this person back, as at least you can get though and they pick up. |
| Decision making is not handled within this company, but at the parent co. level. |
| DM is handled overseas |
| DM is outsourced to a 3rd party company |
(This is a Decision Maker only field call result) | You did not manage to pitch the DM, you just got a few words out, as soon as he suspected it of being a cold call he said Not Interested, or cut you short. Also used when DM says, we are already being looked after by a sales rep. i.e. they are not an existing client yet, but are already in discussions with a sales rep. |
(This is a Decision Maker only field call result) | DM listened to the pitch, then said not interested, we've got that handled etc. |
(This is a Decision Maker only field call result) | They did not meet the minimum level of qualification |
(This is a Decision Maker only field call result) | They were above the capacity of our client to handle and are not a good fit. |
| The number is wrong, or the business has closed. |
| You noticed that you called the same company previously, so there must be duplicate on the list |
| You spoke to DM - discovered they are an existing client |
| DM showed some level of interest asked for a call back in 1 month plus There are two subsets of Nurture, they are: Nurture - Email Sent use this if they are happy to get a call back in 1 month or more down the track and are happy to get an email so long. Nurture - No Email Sent use this if they are happy to get a call back in 1 month or more down the track but they do not want an email sent in the meantime. |
| You pitched DM, he agreed to an email and a call back in 3 days to 4 weeks time. If the agreed call back date is further ahead than 4 weeks, log as Nurture |
| Follow Up - Used when we are following up a decision maker (DM) that we have spoken to previously. This field log can be used when:
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| You spoke to DM, they agreed to an email, but did not want a follow up call. |
| As a general rule do not use this strategy or call log unless you have permission. This is to be used only when we are calling very large companies and trying to speak to C-Level execs, where we sometimes have to email the executive assistant first, so they can pass the information on to the DM as he never takes calls etc. |
| Use this log if you speak to someone that is very adamant that they don't want to ever be called again. E.g. "Take me off your database", "Take me off your list", "Please don't call again", this will then be added to the DO NOT CALL list. Sometimes many sales reps may have called before us, or they may have been called by many similar companies, other than ours, and just be over it. We only call a company once and once logged as some form or not interested it calls off the list. |
| Use this call log, if you are blocked by receptionist, as in very rude receptionist that says "We don't take cold calls!!!" and slams the phone down on you, and you've tried a couple of times, hoping to catch her on a better day, or hoping someone else will answer the phone and you'll have better success, but same deal every-time. And you've tried to call the same company multiple times with no success and always the same deal, and you figure time to wave the White Flag. Alternatively, the reception tells you that the decision maker you are trying to get hold of such as the IT manager, works from home, he never takes calls, she is not allowed to transfer you, and he will not allow his mobile number to be given out etc. In this case once again you can log as Dead End or Blocked |
| Use this log if the campaign that you are calling for is not a good fit for the prospect. a good example is that if you're campaign is in Cyber Security and you happen to call a mechanic shop, and when you ask the rec if who is in charge of cyber security he/she says that they don't have that department or if the DM that you spoke with says that they don't really have any use for it. Another example is if you are calling for an Autocad provider and you happen to call a restaurant, then definitely they wouldn't have any use for the product or service. |
Steps to Log Email Only: Click Here
Steps to Log Email Follow Up and Nurture: Click Here
How To Book an Appointment for:
Flashpoint: Click Here
Neche Trade Credit: Click Here
How To Log Calls Correctly - More Detailed
General Call Classifications
It is essential to log calls correctly, so please pay careful attention when reading the information below. You will given a short one page summary to have handy when calling. If for some reason you were not provided with this one page summary, just ask.
When we say “log a call”, we mean tag the call result with an a classification of the call outcome.
When we say “records” we mean companies on a list that we are calling.
There are two types Open and Closed records.
Open records mean the record is still in play, meaning we are still calling we want these to stay on the list as we’re still trying to get hold of the DM.
Closed records on the other hand are those where we’ve reached a final conclusion, we will not be calling these records again, and as a result once a record is logged with one of these call result options, they will fall off the list to call.
The call logs have different classifications or tags to help us monitor how the campaign is going. If there is not an exact category, or call tag, or call result option for the type of call you had, then please just use the most appropriate, we cannot have a call result or outcome tag added for every possible scenario, otherwise we’d end up with too many.
Call Result logs
Open Records
This is an example of an Open record, it means the record has not reached it’s final conclusion it’s still on the list to call, and is still in play.
Important: We must ensure that we do not take “No” for an answer too easily with receptionists. Meaning unless we are absolutely certain that it will not be worth trying again in the future, or we may have better luck in the future even though the Rec “blocked” us on this call attempt, we should continue to log the call as No Contact and keep trying.
For each campaign there are only so many companies that meet their target market such as: Industries: Manufacturing, Location: within Sydney metro, Employees: between 5 to 25 Decision Maker: Production Manager. So if we burn through the records to quickly that will be the end of the campaign.
You should have determination and even if the reception tries to fob you off a couple of times, just try again after a few days with the hope you’ll have better luck next time or someone else will pick up and put you through. If you were to log the call as some form of “Not Interested” as the receptionist would not put you through- there would very quickly be nothing left to call.
Closed Records
The following are closed records meaning once they are logged as one of these options, they’ll fall off the list.
Example you call K-Mart Tyres, and they say the decision making is made by K-Mart stores (Which is owned by Coles Corp Pty Ltd).
The reason we log it as this, is so it will fall off the list. As the ultimate parent might own 15 smaller companies and if the decision making is all handled by Joe Black at Coles Corp Pty Ltd, we do not want to be calling Joe Black 15 times, and we might in any case have Coles Corp Pty Ltd, on the list further down, or on a future list.
Example the receptionist says “Oh we (or he) wouldn’t be interested in that/We’ve got that covered/We’re okay with that thank you”
If you get a not interested from the person that answers the phone and you cannot be entirely sure that they are the DM you should log the call as No Contact, with the hope that you will have better luck when you call back and try again in a few days. Hopefully they will not remember you, and this time put you through, or hopefully someone else will answer the phone and put you through, or you may occasionally be very lucky and the DM you’re looking for may actually pick up the phone.
You can always say “Thanks for that, I’m ____ do you mind if I know who I’m speaking too? Oh great, thanks ______, what’s your role within the company?”.
Then if they are not the DM or the owner then say “Okay thanks, good bye” and then log the call as No Contact and we’ll try again later.
So once again if the Rec screens you and says “We wouldn’t be interested in that/ We have that handled/He wouldn’t be interested” do not log that as Not Interested. We should not be pitching the Rec in the first place, so they should not be in the position to say not interested, but if that does happen, we should log it as No Contact and then try again in a couple of days.
If you have the feeling that perhaps the person you are speaking to may be the decision maker you can politely ask “Sorry do you mind if I know who I’m speaking to?” followed by “Okay, great thanks, and _____ what’s your role there?” then if they say they are the right person you can pitch, if not then politely end the call, log as No Contact, and try again later.
This is the only real, not interested, when it's form the decision maker. We do not have a Not Interested call log option for the Rec level.
When speaking to the decision makers, there are two types of Not Interested so we have given them different call logs or call result options.
Since you did not manage to give them the sales pitch and they have no idea what you are really offering, or what the value of the product or service is, in truth they cannot really not be interested, this is why we log it as Not Interested – No Pitch.
In other words we do not count these as “real no’s” and would probably try them again in 1 to 3 months when they are in a better frame of mind and may be more receptive to the call.
You should be evaluating yourself in terms of how well you pitch, or what your closing ratio is based on how many decision makers you speak to that listen to you. If they are not listening to you, and your closing ratio is bad, then you most likely need to brush up on your training.
Perhaps you are not speaking to them as a real person, talking too loudly, not using pauses, or rattling off the script to fast, or sounding like you are following a script. It’s perfectly fine to follow a script, however it’s extremely important to not sound, like you are following a script! In other words you need to practice the script until you can say it and sound relaxed, confident and natural.
Examples could be they are below the minimum qualifying criteria for the Sales Consultant to be interested in seeing them for an appointment.
Depending on the campaign there might be a few more tailored options to help differentiate why they are not qualified. Examples of this might be Not Qualified - No Roof (this would be applicable for a solar panel campaign), another examples are Not Qualified – Below Minimum, and Not Qualified – Above Minimum.
An example of this might be that the client tells us they provide IT managed services for companies that have between 10 and 50 computers, obviously if they only have 8 that would be Not Qualified – Below Minimum, if they have 150 computers that would be Not Qualified – Above Minimum.
Examples of this could be "He never comes into the office, and he never takes calls or allows us to give out his number, if you like the best I can do is you can email me at info@ and I will forward it on to him."
As an additional tip, if you are calling very large companies fo 100 employees or more, and you are trying to contact very senior level decision makers such a the CEO, CFO, CIO etc, you could try as a last and final attempt before waving the white flag, "Does he have a EA (Executive Assistant), that I could speak to?" if they say "Yes", you can try call and pitch the EA, in an attempt to book the appointment through the EA on behalf of the DM. Please speak to management if you'd like to try this.
Email Only:
The purpose of this is to get their email once we have their email address, and they personally consented to us emailing them, this can be added to the clients marketing database for email marketing, so this is very important. We are always trying to do two things 1) Generate Leads, and 2) Generate Appointments, so don’t ever forget to focus on number 1) and only focus on number two.
You must use the Intro Email template for this. Do not Cc in the Sales Consultant, or Bcc the Sales manager when sending an introductory email. We only send emails to the actual DM, only if we've actually spoken to them directly and they’ve agreed to receive an email, otherwise we don't send emails at all. So remember do not send emails to the receptionist to forward or pass on to the decision maker, we don't do that.
In these sorts of cases, you need to say "Great I'll send you that email now, and how about I touch base with you in a couple of days, or next week?" If they agree you log it as Email Follow Up. This log means you will be emailing them, and you will be providing a follow up call to see if there is any interest in taking things further.
A record should only be logged as Email Follow Up if the call back is due to be scheduled within a 1 week to 4 week time frame, any longer than that, it should be logged as Nurture.
If they say "No thanks" to the offer of a follow up call, then you log the call, as mentioned above as Email Only.
Important – You must log a follow up task after logging the call as Email Follow Up on the leads page and clicking save. The reason for this is once logged as Email Follow Up the record will fall off the list and be lost, unless you remembered to log a follow up task or reminder to call back at the agreed date after logging the call.
You must send the Intro Email Template after logging the this call, and clicking save on the page, the Send Email, option will not appear until you click Save.
There are two reasons for logging a call as Wants Consultant Follow Up:
1) If the person that we are speaking to has a few technical questions and will not agree to booking a face to face meeting or appointment without speaking to a consultant first and having their technical questions answered prior to a meeting, because as an example they have some specific requirements and don't want to waste their time or the sales consultants time unnecessarily with a meeting.
2) You should also use the Wants Consultant Follow Up Call, if you call and end up speaking to someone that has an issue or complaint that they would like addressed or that you think the client (company for whom we are calling) should be notified.
In the case of the Wants Consultant Follow Up Call, you should also change the Lead Owner to the Clients or Sales Reps license, otherwise they’ll not be able to see it.
Once again if the call back required is within 1 week to 4 weeks and they agree to an email then log it as Email Follow Up.
If they want a call back time frame is 1 month to 12 months or longer whether they agree to an email so long or not, log the call result as Nurture.
Important – Similar to Email Follow Up, when you log a call as Nurture you must log a follow up task after logging the call on the leads page and clicking save. The reason for this is once calls are logged as Email Follow Up or Nurture the record will fall off the list and be lost, unless as mentioned you remembered to log a follow up task (or reminder) to call back at the agreed date after logging the call.
We have now split the Nurture call log into two sub call logs they are:
From our perspective there are 4 types of leads that we generate. Where a lead, according to our definition means we spoke to a DM and they agreed to receive some form of further communication, where this could be an email, a follow up call or an appointment.
The four types of leads we generate are
Email Only
Email Follow Up
Nurture
Appointment
Only the first time we speak to the decision maker and they agree to further communication it is considered a lead as far as logging Leads in deputy, except appointments. So 1, 2 and 3 are considered Leads, and 4 or appointments are considered appointments for the purposes of logging the results at the end of your shift in Deputy our online timesheet system.
We do not count Wants Consultant Follow Up Call as a leads, and in most campaigns this option is not used.
When calling these records we must not leave the Last Call Result call log as either Email Follow Up or Nurture, otherwise our system and stats will consider this as a new lead generated.
Remember according to our definition it is only a Lead the very first time we speak to a decision maker, and they express some level of interest and agree to an intro email, or a call down the track to discuss further.
So in these cases if we are calling these leads up to follow up, and they are not in, or available, instead of logging the call as No Contact, or leaving the call log status as it originally was when we first called, that being either Email Follow Up or Nurture, we change the Last Call Result log to Follow Up when calling the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th time etc, trying to get hold of the DM to convert to an appointment, and then we just leave a note and roll the task forward and continue trying to call back till we finally get hold of them.
Now once we get hold of the DM after following up the lead, there would be 3 ways of logging the call based on the outcome. If they are interested in a meeting, it would be logged as Appointment, if they say “I’ve decided I’m not interested”, then you need to say “Do you think that might change, would it be alright if I touch base in 1 to 3, months or perhaps 6 months or so?” if they say “No don’t call back.” Then you log it as Pitched – Not Interested, if they say “Sure, give us a call back in ___ months.” Then log the call as Nurture and roll forward the task.
Tasks (or follow up reminders): A follow up task should be created every time we’ve either offered to call a DM back at an agreed date or we’ve send an introductory email, in which case we should always say “and how about I give you a call back in a couple of days once you’ve read it to see if there’s any interest or you have any questions?”, if they say yes then log the task in 2 to 3 days, if they say “No give it a week”, then of course log the task for a week’s time. If it’s a Nurture or if they’ve asked for a call back in a month or three months, we must log a task as a reminder to call back at that date.
That’s a wrap on logging calls, this should be viewed in conjunction with the training videos that you should have been provided.