Prospecting is an essential skill for all salespeople. Considered a “lost art” by many, salespeople are getting back to the basics of prospecting to create new relationships and land new logos (new accounts). Prospecting is about reaching out to people who don’t know your product or solution and building a relationship with them.
It’s not What You Sell, it’s How You Sell
– Chief Revenue Officer
The phrase “it’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell” means that YOUR success is not solely dependent on the product or service you are selling but also on the approach you use to share the value of it. The following are some reasons why “how you sell” is more important than “what you sell”:
- Building Relationships: Building strong relationships with prospects and clients is key to successful sales. A salesperson who can establish trust, credibility, and rapport with the buyer is more likely to sell their product or service successfully.
- Understanding the Buyer: Understanding the buyer’s needs, goals, and pain points is crucial in selling effectively. A salesperson who can effectively communicate the value of their product or service and demonstrate how it aligns with the buyer’s needs is more likely to close a sale.
- Adapting to the Buyer: Adapting to the buyer’s preferences and buying style is crucial in selling effectively. A salesperson who can tailor their approach to the buyer’s needs and communication style is more likely to sell their product or service successfully.
- Closing Skills: Closing skills are critical in the sales process. A salesperson who can effectively overcome objections and negotiate with the buyer is likelier to close a sale.
In summary, the “how” of selling, including building relationships, understanding the buyer, adapting to the buyer, and closing skills, is often more important than the “what” of selling, which refers to the product or service being sold. By focusing on the “how” of selling, salespeople can increase their chances of success in the sales process.
Prospecting Objectives
When it comes to prospecting success, what get’s measured gets focus and effort.
Measuring the success of your prospecting approach is critical for making informed decisions and improving your performance over time. By measuring the effectiveness of your prospecting approach using the metrics below, you can make informed decisions and continuously improve your performance.
Here are some of the best ways to measure the effectiveness of your prospecting approach:
- Conversion rate: Measure the number of prospects who become customers. This will help you determine the effectiveness of your approach in generating qualified leads.
- Time to close: Measure the average time it takes to close a sale. If your time to close is decreasing, it may indicate that your prospecting approach is more effective.
- Lead response time: Measure the time it takes to respond to a lead. A faster response time can increase your chances of securing a sale.
- Lead source: Track the source of your leads, such as referrals, cold calls, or events. This will help you determine the most effective sources and allocate your resources accordingly.
- Quality of leads: Evaluate the quality of your leads by considering factors such as their fit with your target market, their likelihood to buy, and their budget.
- Customer feedback: Ask your customers for feedback on your prospecting approach. This will help you understand their perspective and make improvements to your approach.
- Sales pipeline: Analyze your sales pipeline to understand the number of prospects at each stage, their likelihood to buy, and their potential value.
- Sales forecasting: Use your sales pipeline to forecast future sales and determine if your prospecting approach is working effectively.
Targeting the Right Buyers
If you’re having difficulty getting meetings with prospects, it’s possible that you’re not targeting the right people. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including:
- Wrong target market: If you’re targeting the wrong market, your prospects may not need your product or service, or they may not have the budget or authority to purchase.
- Poor messaging: If your messaging is not resonating with your target market, prospects may not be interested in meeting with you.
- Lack of understanding of the buyer’s needs: If you don’t understand the buyer’s needs, you may not be able to communicate the value of your product or service effectively.
- Poor personalization: If your approach is not personalized to the buyer’s needs and goals, prospects may not be interested in meeting with you.
- Lack of relevance: If your approach is not relevant to the buyer’s needs and goals, prospects may not be interested in meeting with you.
By targeting the right people, you can increase your chances of getting meetings and successfully selling your product or service. It’s essential to continuously evaluate and refine your target market and messaging to ensure you reach the right people. To do that, you need to increase your knowledge of buyers, not products.
Getting Access to the Right People
If you’re having difficulty setting appointments with buyers, it’s likely because you’re not delivering a compelling message to the right people. There are several reasons why this can happen:
- Targeting the wrong market: If you’re targeting the wrong market, your message may not resonate with the prospects, and they may not be interested in meeting with you.
- Poor messaging: If your message is not clear, concise, and compelling, prospects may not understand the value you offer and may not be interested in meeting with you.
- Lack of personalization: If your message is not personalized to the buyer’s needs and goals, prospects may not see the relevance of your product or service and may not be interested in meeting with you.
- Lack of differentiation: If your message does not differentiate your product or service from others in the market, prospects may not see the value in meeting with you.
- Incorrect tone: If your tone does not align with the buyer’s preferences, prospects may not feel comfortable or interested in meeting with you.
Understanding the target market and delivering a compelling, personalized message that resonates with the buyer’s needs and goals is crucial. Doing so increases your chances of setting appointments and successfully selling your product or service.
Having Successful Meetings
Regarding the live meeting and discovery process, you need the proper knowledge to know what to say.
Areas of Focus
To prospect successfully, you need to:
- Focus on the buyer’s role
- Understand what people need to do to be successful
- Take a data-driven approach to getting access.
- Blend the proper method and message, to gain access