subject: How To Target Qualified Prospects For Sales [print this page] The process of prospecting for new customers does not entail having to contact everybody and their cousin. The reality is that more calls do not necessarily generate more sales. Up to this day, we have observed so many sales reps fall into the trap of arbitrarily calling customers without filtering their lists first.
Often it means that, to be successful, a cold calling campaign must follow a rigorous multi-step process.
Here are just a few of those key steps in making your cold calling successful:
There Can Be Only One...or Two - Target Industries, That Is
There are some industries that might need your product more than others. And would you know the buying cycles of these industries? Narrow your target industries to ones that have both money to spend and a high likelihood of spending it on your product. The final list should include one or two industries.
Define Target Job Titles
The next step. Find the people in your target organizations in charge of buying your product or most likely to influence its purchasing decision. Most of the time, these buyers and decision makers have a honorific attached to their name. Keep your list filtered to the top three job honorifics or titles.
How to Create a List of Prospects
Now if you have a prolix list of would-be customers, you can start trimming it down by removing those who are not in a target industry or those who do not have a specific title. If you don't have such a list, purchase one that fits your target industry's demographics. Anybody who does not have an evident need for your product or the decision making authority to purchase it must be purged from the list.
Put Some Empathy in Your Message
Put yourself in the shoes of the prospective customer. Think of the problems that your product is supposed to solve, and think of it in the perspective of the person's job honorific and industry - what would you do if you were in his or her place? Develop a message that plays to that fear and piques the prospective customer's interest in your product. Here are a few examples that show that being emotional is more effective than cold, hard and often trite facts:
Factual Message. We have the best alarm systems in the world.
Emotional Message. Are you content not to have an alarm system and leave your home to the devices of no-good criminals?
Factual Message. We create fasteners that are better than most others.
Emotional Message. Would you want to see the same type fastener in your office every day?
Factual Message. We hire only certified network consultants with minimum five years experience.
Emotional Message. Why risk your company data to uncertified consultants?
Testing Your Message - The Dry Run
Call several individuals on your list to confirm your targets are, in fact, the right people to call. To test the efficacy of your message, deliver it to random individuals on your list. Now you may not always connect with your customers - this would behoove you to go back to square one and ask yourself where you assumed wrong.
Prepare Them for Your Message
The first thing you have to do, real quick, before making a prospecting sales call, is to make sure your message passes all of your standards and is tested twice or thrice. The message can be communicated via email, letter, mailer, advertisement or trade show presentation, but you should never make cold calls unless you've primed the customer to be receptive. Do not make the call, or do not allow your reps to make any calls, unless you are sure that you have built the foundation for success in your cold calling campaign.
