Sales Prospecting and a Targeted Selection Process

v>- Assigning the highest appropriate level of
contact to each account; by company size and
Learn how to 'Pick your Playing Field...and watchindustry
your sales numbers go up.- Researching contact name for each appropriate
What’s a Targeted Selection Process? Astitle and account
related to prospecting, it is a process or system- Researching what each business does to exist
of defining whom you want to call on andand prosper
performing the due diligence of data procurementThat sounds like a bit of work. But what
to understand who you are calling on and whyhistorically happens with a ‘Top-down’
you have chosen them.approach in line with sales performance
It can be as simple as choosing an industry,KPI’s?
picking a company name out of the yellow pages,1. 1st appointment to Proposal ratio increases
understanding the appropriate level of contact to2. Closing ratio increases
call on, and investigating a name that goes with3. Sales cycle decreases
the title.4. Average revenue per sale increases
Or it can be as complex as an expensive CRMOK. We agree that’s a no-brainer. So it all
(customer relationship management) system forcomes down to the 1st and foremost sales
existing customers, defining market share of yourperformance indicator, your
product portfolio and routinely touching theConversation-to-appointment ratio.
existing base to broaden the revenue pond.That’s simply how many times you
But here’s what’s important toconduct a conversation with a target prospect
understand. Your Targeted Selection Process is aversus how many times you achieve one. And
separate component of your sales strategy. Itthe national average on that KPI is between 4%
stands by itself.and 18%; Top-down or Bottom up approach. So it
But it is directly allied with your other Salestakes 10, 12 or 20 conversations to achieve 1 or
performance indicators. The degree of success2 appointments. And that’s a lot of work.
you’ll have in the business of sales isIn fact, JDH Group studies show sales individuals
proportional to raising and maintaining thesespend an average of 50% of their time on
success indicators to a level more proficient thanprospecting activities, or about 22 hours per
the industry norm.week.
And the direction you decide to travel is strategicThat leads a sensible person to the conclusion
to the outcome. I call it the ‘Playingthat one needs to focus on efficiencies in
Field’. Because that’s where it allProspecting. And to secure those
starts… it’s where the game begins.‘Competencies’ one must develop a
Here’s what I mean. There are basically (2)communication ‘system’ in line with your
strategies in picking your ‘Playing Field’;business solutions, your ‘Top-down’
a ‘Bottom-up’ approach or aProspect perceptions and your competitive
‘Top-down’ approach.influences.
The following is an example of a Bottom-upNot from a product/service angle, that’s
approach. A Telecommunications rep initiates a‘selling’ over the telephone. But a
telephone call into a company and asks thecommunications methodology that lends itself to
question “Who handles your telecommunications‘Business acumen’; insight into what is
needs?” Guess where they are sent? If youstrategic to your target prospect’s
said ‘office manager’ you guessed right.business objectives, what pains they are facing
If you said ‘Head Janitor’ youdue to recent events or what changes are on the
weren’t far off.horizon that may effect their current status quo.
Is there anything ‘wrong’ with that? NotNext is figuring out how to communicate to your
really; it’s legal and a lot of folks out there‘Top-down’ target the prospective
do it.benefits of your product/service in terms
But let’s think through this option as arelevant to their financial Key Performance
‘Business person’ would. Let’sIndicators; line items like ROI, IRR and Payback
study it as it relates to our sales process andPeriod. Those are success indicators that
individual Key Performance Indicators (KPI);organizations rely on to measure progress toward
Conversation-to-appointment ratio, 1sttheir organizational goals. It’s their
appointment to Proposal ratio, Closing ratio, sales‘Scorecard’.
cycle and average revenue per sale. BecauseSo lesson number one. When you’re
these success indicators are gateways thataddressing a target level that has Budget
directly affect the outcome of a sales process.authority; a President/Owner of a small company
Do your KPI’s go up or down with aor a CFO/Controller of a medium size one,
bottom-up approach? Historically, a bottom-upyou’d better be talking terms in line with
approach promotes a:what they need to accomplish, not in a ‘sales
1. 1st appointment to Proposal ratio to decreaselanguage’ creating a prospect perception
2. Closing ratio to decreasethat you’re (1) don’t understand
3. Sales cycle to increasetheir business and (2) are simply trying to make a
4. Average revenue per sale to decreaseliving.
Bottom line, you’ll be leaving time andFrom a 10,000 foot altitude, understand and
money on the table if you choose this Targetcommunicate what’s on your
strategy.‘Top-down’ target prospect’s
We’ll revisit the‘Front Burner’ business
Conversation-to-appointment KPI in a minute.objectives…not clear over in the freezer!
At the other end of the Target spectrum is theYou can choose not to accept the standard
‘Top-down’ strategy for securing a new‘sales 101 playing field’.
Targeted business appointment. Let’s sayIdentify your individual performance components
that same telecommunications rep chose this(KPI’s) that are essential to your success
approach in prospecting for new business. Theand develop or seek systems to raise your
first step in this process is ‘Homework’;competency ratios and performance efficiencies.
some due diligence prior to picking up theAnd start your process by picking a
telephone.‘Top-down Playing Field’ and educating
Activities like:yourself to their world.
- Gathering a list of appropriate industries