The 4 elements of the appointment setting process we can improve. What are they and how do we improve them? Part one of four – Target acquisition or lead generation.
Are you like a lot of us ‘Hooked on Hopium’ when it comes to the success of your new prospect acquisition strategy? Do you concentrate most of your energy and focus on pursuing prospects that are already in the pipeline? After all, that’s how we get paid, right? We don’t get commissions for finding prospects; we get paid to close them. Our teams are good at closing, but suck at consistently filling the pipeline with quality prospects.
This series of four blogs focuses on the four main elements of a prospect acquisition process and how to improve move the needle in a positive direction on each.
The four parts are:
- Target Acquisition (who do we call?)
- Art Skills (what do we say and how do we say it)
- Best Practices (process and messaging)
- Science Skills (efficiency and improvement)
Part 1 – Target Acquisition
This may be truly one of real ‘elephants in the room’ issues. Every sales manager and sales professional thinks about this. The question is whether they really think it through or not.
We hear a very consistent message when talking to both these groups. Sales professionals just want to be handed a list of Targets to be called. Sales managers want them to go find their own. As soon as the sales professional has a ‘list’, the sales manager is relieved and goes back to more ‘important’ duties such as forecasting for the boss or trying to help someone close a deal. In other words, the objective incongruously seems to be the procuring of the list, not the ultimate goal of acquiring as many good new Targets as we can.
Here’s what we’re missing and why it is so important. This may be the most critical component of the process of getting in front of prospective new customers. Why do I say that?
- Every other step in the selling process stems from the success of this step. Each of us is given the same number of hours each year to accomplish our task of bringing home some amount of new revenue and new customers. If we invest that time wisely calling on a set of well qualified Targets, we’ll do well. Invest it poorly on a list of Targets that are too small, outside our range of profitability, don’t use our solution, etc. and we will fail unless we get lucky.
- What good are great skills at getting through and converting conversations into appointments if our list doesn’t contain Targets that are of the right size for instance? Not only do we waste time trying to set the appointments, but we also waste even more time once in front of the Target qualifying them. And if our qualification skills are poor, we’ll waste even more time trying to sell to them and service them after the sale.
- What good did the time we invested to create a good set of the Best Practices do us if we can not leverage our prospecting time each day by building our territory with Targets that are truly qualified but may just not be ‘in the market’ right now. A well thought out set of Best Practices applied to this concept will reduce the amount of cold calling we must do over time because these same Targets remain on the list until they are ‘in the market’. I begin establishing credibility and at least
a ‘dialogue bond’ each time I speak with them. However, if I constantly must start all over with a new list, I am doing neither.
- What good does it do us to simply be efficient or fast at reaching out to the wrong Targets? None. We’re just failing faster.
The moral of the story is that particularly as managers, we need to give great thought to, and invest the appropriate time to help our sales professionals acquire a good set of Targets to approach. We should ask ourselves what kind of lead generation programs are in play? How well are they working? Should we canvas? If we purchase lists, have we designed the criteria well enough?
Trust me; it will pay us back in spades, even if the current sales professional can’t cut the mustard. At least we’re continuing to warm up the territory over time.
Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.
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