These days we have so many opportunities to do sales prospecting well. So why do businesses still find their sales pipeline is either a sad trickle or a stream of low quality leads that don’t convert?
When you boil it all down, effective prospecting simply means having more of:
- The right conversations
- With the right people
- At the right time
How can you make that happen consistently?
The Right Conversations
Start with the assumption that no business ever wants to spend money on anything unless it has to. One drawback with traditional cold calling is that prospects immediately see your call as an interruption, coming from someone trying to persuade them to spend money.
No surprise there’s resistance.
A better option is to aim for warm calls and emails. This is where the mention of your company name triggers a positive reaction. Your prospect knows a bit about what you do and how you go about things. Enough to think there could be something in it for them if they take your call.
Inevitably, we’re talking about having sales and marketing priorities fully aligned.
The Right People
The default target customer is often ‘everyone,’ or maybe ‘anyone’. Effective prospecting has a more specific target in the crosshairs.
This target is one who is more likely to convert. Shaping the ideal customer profile and clarifying the factors that drive their purchase decisions is the most important piece of work we do with new clients.
This gives substance to sales and marketing plans. You can then put aside the scatter-gun and start creating and publishing content that appeals directly to the right people. You can also engage with them through social media in a low-key and positive way to warm the eventual call even more.
This is about building engagement and preference.
The Right Time
Even when you know precisely who you’re targeting, timing is everything. Your prospect is likely to be either in the process of buying from a competitor or not in the market at all.
This is a case for structured lead nurturing. Create content that serves your prospects’ needs at each stage of their buying journey.
Capture contact information and follow up only when they access the detailed stuff that indicates serious interest and intent. And, of course, make it really easy for them to contact you if they decide they’re ready for a conversation.
There’s a lot of detailed work behind these principles, but hopefully this will give your prospecting a sense of direction and mean that more of your conversations bear fruit.
If you’d like to explore options to improve your approach to sales prospecting, Contact Andy Palmer at andyp@accessperformance.co.uk or call 01823 429339.
