GDPR Compliant Sales Prospecting Techniques

Sales prospecting through referrals, introductions, and business networking.

A diagram illustrating the importance of reviewing sales process to support an article about sales prospecting techniques.

A review of business development practices and the sales prospecting techniques in use almost always yields improvement opportunities.

Have you experienced a lead famine? Your pipeline drains away fast and it doesn't take long for business levels to follow.

It becomes apparent that you must do something to renew sales momentum. What to do? Make more calls? Send more emails?

There are more palatable and productive alternatives to randomly approaching poorly qualified suspects. The most effective of all the sales prospecting techniques is to get introduced.

Three Ways of Getting an Introduction:

Have someone in the decision-maker's organisation introduce you. Research indicates that decision-makers are much more likely to agree to meetings with salespeople when they have been introduced by a trusted colleague, team member, or peer.
Have someone outside the decision maker's organisation introduce you. The same research suggests that the next best way to get a hearing is to arrange an introduction from a third party such as consultants, business partners, customers, or suppliers of the prospect. You don't necessarily need to know the person making the introduction.
Attend the off-site events attended by the decision-makers you want to meet. Once again, research backs up the idea that senior people are much more likely to take a sales call from someone whom they have previously met.

Sales Prospecting Techniques for Events

When meeting prospects informally, do not sell. Do not use your elevator pitch. Do not be tempted to speak of what you do except to the minimum degree necessary to satisfy polite enquiry.

Some of those you meet might lure you into a work discussion. It is good to let them talk. Encourage it, even if their discourse is boring. Be interested, be very interested. Dale Carnegie wrote, “If you want to be interesting, be interested”. No matter how one-sided the conversation, resist the urge to present your wares.

Be polite and very brief about your stuff. Listening is something we can all improve. I can think of several occasions when my listening patience wasn't good enough. The lessons were almost always expensive.

If you are drawn into speaking about your products or services in any detail while at a social event, you lessen your chances of an audience later. Maintain some mystery at all costs. If someone is insistent, make an appointment there and then for a formal business meeting.

The great thing about meeting executives informally is that, on average, they will be eleven times more likely to take your call afterwards. Ask the senior executives you know for an opinion on this claim.

Forethought

Consider the events that you will attend or how to get an invitation to events that your prospects are likely to attend.

Set aside some time to think about who you want to meet at the event and what questions you can ask that will be interesting to them.

It is in your interests to do most of the listening. Consider how you will put people at their ease and encourage them to speak freely.

Planning

Decide who you will try to meet at the event and how you will approach them. Make a written plan to structure your time at the event.

Note which professional associations, institutes, networking clubs, or user groups each person favours. Google and LinkedIn make this easy.

Note the reasons you will give for wanting to meet them. Connect with something to do with their work, something they have written, or a genuinely shared passion.

Preparation

Memorise the names of the people whom you hope to meet at the event.

Rehearse questions that explore the insights you have about the opportunities and challenges of the people whom you want to meet.

Prepare questions that seek opinions about relevant news, events, and trends.

Get Introduced

You may not have the good fortune of knowing someone who knows the person you want to meet. Just ask anyone who does. It is usually quite easy to make new contacts at informal business gatherings. Pick someone on the periphery of a group and introduce yourself. Build rapport while making small talk and then ask for the introduction you are seeking. You know how to make the right kind of plea; you've seen it in the movies.

Introduce Yourself

All you need is a minute of conversation. Recognise the person by saying, "Aren't you . . ." then briefly explain how you know of them and ask an interesting question. For non-celebrities, this is very flattering and is certain to cause them to remember the encounter.

If the people you want to meet are not at an event, find someone who will introduce you. Be prepared with a reason for being introduced that expresses the benefit of the requested introduction.

Ask for invitations to events that those you want to meet are expected to attend.

Many businesses invest in event sponsorship and corporate entertainment to provide their staff with opportunities to build relationships. The return on the investment can be meagre if sales staff don't maximise the opportunity to connect with those who attend.

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” of unknown origin.

As sales prospecting techniques go, perhaps cold calling is not so bad! At least it is immediately accessible and you can overlook the need for forethought, planning, and preparation.

Article by Clive Miller

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