April 2009In these challenging economic times,
developing new business is more important than ever. You can no
longer rely on run-rate business to keep you afloat. Even your most
faithful customers are feeling the pinch and delaying new purchases
– or cancelling programs altogether – out of an “abundance of
caution.” So, if you want to stay in business, it is time to start
prospecting for new business, because – believe it or not – there
are still people out there who are ready to buy what you have for
sale. All you need to do is find them
According to Anthony J. Urbaniak, a prospect is a person or
institution that can both benefit from buying the product or service
and afford to buy it. The process of identifying good prospects is
called “qualifying” the prospect.
1. The person or organization must be able to benefit from the
product or service; those who have no use for it are not qualified
prospects.
2. Also, no matter how badly a prospect may want the product or how
much they can benefit from it, if they cannot afford it, they are
not qualified prospects.
Once you have identified a list of good prospects, or leads, the
qualifying process begins in earnest. The qualifying process can be
divided into two basic stages: pre-call research that will help you
begin to develop a profile of the needs, interests and capabilities
of your prospect, followed by creating the best strategy for the
manner in which you will conduct the initial contact with the
prospect. In the end, you can’t be 100% certain the prospect is
qualified until you begin to interact with your contact. The art and
science of cold calling relies heavily on strategies for making this
initial call.
Developing a Contact Tree
Sometimes sales reps overlook the fact that developing an effective
contact list plays out in stages. The goal, of course, is to get in
front of the decision maker, but in many cases that person may be
shielded from calls like yours. In all likelihood, you will need to
identify and cultivate relationships with a sequence of contacts
within the organization that will allow you to identify and explore
all the opportunities within that organization while you are working
your way up to the decision maker. Your contact tree should include
spots for:
• Informational Contacts – These are contacts who can explain to you
the organizational and decision-making layout of the organization.
For instance, if you are selling advertising space on a website, it
would be very helpful to know who in the organization is responsible
for making those buys. It would also be helpful to know the nature
of the team members who surround and support that Decision Maker, so
you can make contact with them and get some quick background
regarding how they view the advertising needs of the organization.
Usually, Information Contacts have all or most of that information
at their fingertips, and if you are personable and professional,
they will be happy to provide you with all the information you need.
These are also the easiest contacts to make, and can range from the
frontline receptionist who answers the phone to administrative
assistants of mid and upper level managers.
• Influencer Contacts – As mentioned above, Influencers are those
team members who surround and support the Decision Maker you would
like to reach. While they are also likely to be busy people, they
may be more ready to speak with you for a few minutes than would be
the Decision Maker, especially if you make it clear that you are
only seeking to understand the needs of the organization and help
them to understand your products and services a little better. These
contacts are likely to provide you the most direct insights to help
you qualify the prospect, since they will have direct, first hand
knowledge of the organization’ processes, needs and goals that can
help you determine if what you are offering is a fit for them. If it
is, these contacts may become allies for your cause as you seek to
gain a hearing with the Decision Maker, thus the designation,
Influencer Contact.
• Decision Maker Contact – Of course, your main goal is to
effectively interact with the Decision Maker once you get their
attention. However, keep in mind that you may have to climb the
entire Contact Tree in order to earn a productive conversation with
the Decision Maker.
So, how do you start climbing this contact tree? This is where all
the great new Sales 2.0 technology can really make things easy. Once
you figure out which organizations you want to penetrate, you can go
to a website like Jigsaw, which allows you to identify and export
contact information about the key players in practically any company
- sometimes for free. Also, sites like Linked In provide a process
whereby you can work within your network to get people to introduce
you to key contacts you want to meet in your target organizations.
Once you have your contact tree clearly defined, you can start
climbing that tree and uncovering the information you need to
customize your proposal and win the new business that is ripe for
the picking.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
James A. Baker is the Founder and Chairman of Baker
Communications. Baker Communications is a sales training and
development company specializing in helping client companies
increase their sales and management effectiveness. He can be reached
at 713-627-7700.
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April Sales Quick Tip – Boost Your Chance of Reaching the Big Boss
When you are ready to reach out to the decision maker, your efforts
may still be thwarted by the fact that decision makers are
surrounded by gatekeepers and mired in meetings. Boost your chances
of getting through to the decision maker by calling either before or
after hours, or as close to these times as possible. Decision makers
often come in early or stay late so they can catch up on work before
their hectic schedule kicks in. Also, calling at lunch may pay off.
The decision maker is less likely to be in a meeting then, and often
the gatekeeper is away at lunch!
