Impor tance of Prospecting - Marketing 2.0 · Impor tance of P Prospecting ... Prospecting Requir...
Transcript of Impor tance of Prospecting - Marketing 2.0 · Impor tance of P Prospecting ... Prospecting Requir...
ProspectingKurt Komaromi
Sales +
Sales
Promotion
S
S
P
Learning Objectives
• Understand the importance of developing a prospect base
• Identify important sources of prospects
• Describe criteria for qualifying prospect
S
S
PProspect, Prospecting, and Prospect Base Defined
• Prospect: a potential customer that meets the qualification criteria established by your company
• Prospecting: identifying potential customers
• Prospect base: made up of current customers and potential customers
S
S
PImportance of Prospecting
• Sales people must deal with customer attrition:
• Customer may have a one-time need
• Customer may move outside the salesperson’s territory
• Firm may go out of business or merge
• Sales may be lost to the competition
• Most companies lose 15-20% of their customers each year
!
S
S
PGirard’s Ferris Wheel—Supply
S
S
P
Prospecting Requires Planning
• Increase number of people who board the Ferris wheel
• Improve the quality of prospects
• Shorten sales cycle by determining which prospects are “qualified”
S
S
P
• Referrals
• Centers of influence
• Directories
• Trade publications
• Trade shows and special events
• Telemarketing and e-mail
• Direct-response advertising and sales letter
• Website
• Computerized database
• Cold calling
• Networking
• Educational seminars
• Prospecting by non-sales employees
Sources of Prospects
S
S
P
Referrals
• Prospect recommended by current satisfied customer
• Ask contact who else could benefit from product
• Referral organizations: facilitate networking
• Friends, family members, persons of influence, or opinion leaders
S
S
P
Lead Generation
S
S
P
Directories
• Business and industrial directories
• Most trade associations publish directories
• Includes company info and key contacts
S
S
PTrade Shows/Publications
• Trade shows and conventions - efficient way to meet prospects
• Trade publications - specific to each industry
• Trade associations - gain access to
potential buyers
S
S
P
Telemarketing
• Telemarketing: the practice of marketing goods and services through telephone contact
• To identify buyers and generate contact lists for sales staff
• To qualify prospects
• To verify sales leadsgenerated by other methods
• To conduct follow-ups
S
S
PDirect Response andSales Letters
• Direct response advertising: features inquiry cards or information requests via mail or telephone
• Sales letters: send sales letters to decision makers, then follow up
S
S
P
Website
• Websites provide a cost-effective way for sales professionals to:
• Project personal image
• Present product information
• Generate leads from visitors
• Establish e-mail lists
S
S
PComputerized Databases
• In-house databases: firms often have a comprehensive customer database
• Purchase databases or commercial lists: price usually set on cost-per-thousand names
• Wide range of precise lists available from variety of sources such as infoUSA
S
S
P
Cold Calling
• Calling prospects without referrals
• New salespeople often rely on these
• Introduce yourself and your company to a prospect
• Must be strategically planned
• Prelude to in-person appointment
S
S
P
Networking
• Making personal connections
• Networking guidelines:
• Meet as many people as you can
• Tell them what you do
• Don’t do business while networking
• Offer business card/contact info
• Edit contacts and conduct follow-ups
S
S
P
Three Types of Networks
S
S
P
Educational Seminars
• Provide opportunity to showcase product without pressuring to buy
• Require extensive preparation
• Start value-added process
• Can present at industry-sponsored seminars or offer your own
S
S
P
Non-Sales Employees
• Non-sales personnel can be valued source of leads
• Prospecting not exclusive task of sales force
• Non-sales personnel oftenneed training and incentives
S
S
P
Qualifying Prospects
Basic questions:
• Does the prospect need my product?
• Does the prospect have the authority to buy my product?
• Does the prospect have the financial resources to buy my product?
• Does the prospect have the willingness to buy my product?
S
S
P
Portfolio Model for Classifying Prospects
S
S
PCollecting and Organizing Prospect Information
• Sales data can be collected and organized into Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
• Examples of popular applications:
• Salesforce.com
• Oracle
• NetSuite
• Microsoft
S
S
PUsing CRM Technology for Pipeline Management
Sample CRM pipeline dashboard from Salesforce.com