Keeping your sales pipeline filled with prospects is one of the most challenging aspects of the sales process. Today, most business professionals are so deluged by sales people through voice mail, email and snail mail that simply convincing them to spend time with you can take a Herculean effort.
Sales executives also are busier than ever. The last thing you want to do is waste your time chasing a prospect that results in no purchase from you, or worse yet, no decision at all. The key is to accurately target potential customers and then qualify their likelihood of doing business with you and your company. The ValueSelling Framework™ provides you with a consistent formula for prospect qualification and will increase your productivity by keeping your pipeline free of those prospects who will never buy from you.
Create the Profile
Invest the time to profile what your ideal customer looks like. Think about who is most likely to do business with you and why. Also consider the make-up of the organization. What size business most benefits from your product or solution? From a technology standpoint, what would be the optimal infrastructure? And do you cater to business-to-business or business-to-consumer organizations? Keep in mind that a key principle in sales is: People need a reason to change. Can you predict the potential reason that a prospect would change their current state and do business with you?
Once you have created this profile, you will begin to map the universe of prospects to it. In other words, you will want to analyze the various companies that are in your territory to determine which companies are likely to meet the key criteria of your prospect profile.
By establishing the criteria, you are better equipped to search for prospects who will find value in your offering.
Identifying the Prospect
Now that you’ve identified your list of potential prospects, the next step is to look into who are the individuals in those companies or in the roles in those companies who would likely be interested in what you have to offer. The local or regional business journal, company Websites and annual reports, lead sources that you can purchase such as brokers or database services, directories and the business section of your local newspaper all are excellent resources to rely on.
Also leverage your existing client base. Ask them who else you should be talking to. Referrals could come from within existing clients, for example another business unit, or from your prospect’s personal network. Never underestimate the power of simply asking for referrals and introductions – it can raise your credibility and provide prospects with a deeper sense of comfort in spending time with you. And whenever possible, establish a relationship with more than one person in the organization.
Qualify
The best sales people are able to make the process easy for their prospects to buy from them. If you begin thinking like your prospects, you realize that there are four key questions that anyone must answer, either consciously or unconsciously, in his or her mind.
Should I buy this? In other words, is their something in this product, service, or solution that resolves issues and problems that I acknowledge?
Is it worth it? Do I expect the value or impact of this solution to outweigh its cost and contribute to me personally?
Can I do this? Do I have the authority and financial fortitude to execute this decision?
Am I convinced? Have I gone through the appropriate steps both within my organization and with the sales person to be fully convinced in the capabilities proposed?
If the prospect answers any one of these questions with a no, you do not have a qualified prospect.
Tailor your presentation and sales pitch to the prospect’s needs by giving them information they don’t already have – scour the Internet for studies, surveys or other insights that will bolster the need for your solution. Stay in front of the prospect – persistence is an important attribute of sales professionals. Just remember that there is a fine line between persistence and stalking.
It takes discipline and commitment to find new prospects Make the commitment by calendaring time for this critical process and the associated activities.
Finding The Right Prospects
