prospecting or social prospecting is still a critical component in the
sales process. So what has changed when it comes to finding leads today?
Well sales prospecting has become “social prospecting” where sales
people research their prospects accessing data on the social media
channels. Prospecting does not stop at connection requests on LinkedIn,
or briefly looking at a buyers profile before making contact. Buyers are
evolving in how they source vendors, as should salespeople evolve in
how they source sales prospects.
Here is a guide and some tips to help improve sales prospecting.
Use A Tool To Save Time On Lead Generation:
In all industries, you must firstly generate leads. You
cannot make sales without first engaging with your prospects. But where
do you find a steady flow of prospects? This brings me to the dreaded
LinkedIn search – from my own experience (in recruitment) I know all too
well how much time and effort is spent sourcing leads. So after hours
spent creating a list of prospects now you have to go selling. You know
the story; you find the leads, quick Google search before the cold-call,
you are ecstatic to find the decision makers name somehow, now you can
call them and act casual like you know each other. Surprisingly, the
gatekeeper will not transfer you, they don’t know who you are, what
brand you represent and are highly skilled in finding out if this is in
fact – a sales call! You accept the rebuttal and follow up with a
friendly email, why? Because you spent so much time identifying them in
the first place that you need to hang on to them.
I know better than anyone how genuinely frustrating it is to spend so
much time generating leads, calling them, only to fall at the first
hurdle. We’ve all done the webinars and breakfast briefings teaching us
how to source leads. Think about how much time, money and effort you put
into sourcing leads. Wouldn’t this time be better off selling?
Salespeople are not source people! There are social media lead
generation tools you can use to eliminate the time, cost and
hard work in identifying prospects, freeing up your time to sell.
Cyber Stalking Is A Must:
Researching the company for clues on who they buy from and
existing vendor relationships is a must, but it is also imperative to
research the decision makers. Just researching the company’s strategy,
industry and challenges is not enough, in an ideal world you must try to
build a relationship with the decision maker before you do the sales
pitch. This can be done through social selling; basically you (the
salesperson) create awareness for your brand through engagement on
social media platforms. Become a thought leader and show how much you
know about their industry, engage with them on blog posts and
conversations. Be subtle, the idea here is to show a genuine interest in
the changes or developments within their industry and give advice, as
you are now on your way to becoming a trusted advisor and thought
leader. Learn to become a ninja in cyber stalking.
Relationship Building:
We all know that developing relationships plays an intrinsic role in
sales prospecting. As you can imagine, decision makers are extremely
busy, they receive on average 3,800 marketing messages daily. Let us
assume you now have your lead generation tool in place, giving you lists
of prospects, so what’s next? You need to engage right? How?
Well how about positioning yourself as a thought leader, one who is
highly knowledgeable in the prospects field. You see, as modern sales
people we must be of value to the prospects, this can be done by
offering advice, problem solving and demonstrating your expertise
through blog posts and whitepapers. Salespeople must acknowledge that
this is a gradual process, when you finally do speak with the prospect –
they should feel like they have met you before – you need to be that
familiar to them.
Befriend The Gate Keeper:
Many decision makers reach out to someone they trust for advice
and referrals, a large percentage of senior execs will turn down a
direct approach. However, if a mutual connection, influencer or
colleague were to make the introduction – 80% of senior execs would be
open to meeting.
As I mentioned earlier, many senior executives attempt to deter
salespeople by appointing gatekeepers. So what if you could engage with
the gatekeeper? And they could refer you to the decision maker? It is
important to be known within these circles, gaining a status within this
particular industry, ‘It is not who you know, but who knows you’, so an
introduction by a peer or colleague would be greatly beneficial. As I
mentioned in my previous point, genuine relationship building is an
inherent part of the process.
Find A Common Interest Or Connection:
From your cyber stalking – you should by now have a pretty good
sense of what your prospect really cares about. What are their
motivations, passions in life, involvement in clubs or societies – ask
yourself what really drives them? Count your lucky stars if you source
an article or press release stating whether a particular cause or
society is close to their heart!
This process is more about utilizing mutual interests, connections,
backgrounds, or causes. This is a great way to now develop the
relationship as you both have an interest in the same sports club,
charitable organization or society. Common interests or mutual links is a
great basis for relationship building as you can discuss what the cause
or society means to you both, thus gaining a mutual trust.
Read the rest of this article as originally published on Connectors Marketplace
Sales Prospecting Guide | Instant Lead Generation For Social Selling
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