Marketing Database Optimization Best Practices
ReadyContacts is a marketing database optimization company. ReadyContacts solutions help you build & maintain a highly accurate and relevant marketing database that delivers significantly improved campaign response rates for sales & marketing. ReadyContacts is the only player in the market with proprietary software solutions to build unparalleled accuracy and completeness in marketing databases.
Bad Times Call For Good Sales Account Profiling
I know there are two very different schools of thought when it comes to inside sales with one selling aggresively without taking no for an answer and trying to push towards sales and the other more passive who digg for insights to judge whether the prospect is open to buying and carefully wait for the right time to pitch an offer. I’ve seen both work so I can’t advocate one over the other but there is one tactic which is very relevant to the current slow economic times which can help inside sales pitch to the right accounts in a more informed way.
Sales account profiling or building detailed first hand intelligence on target accounts can really give the inside sales team the kind of ammo they need to alter their message and sales pitch based on what they know about the account, the decision makers, their preferences and their inside agenda. A set of key questions would normally help shed some light on who those decision makers are, what their challenges are and what their budget and time line look like. However , a lot company plans have been upset by the economic conditions today and getting a clearer insight into where these companies stand in light of this will help identify which accounts are better to pursue so that inside sales can focus their efforts. A pre sales call into key target accounts to ask a decision maker within your market area with open ended questions can help pre qualify and prioritize the accounts. For example:
- Has your company changed direction or announced a new strategy for the current times?
- How has it impacted your department?
- Has the company strategy to tackle these times hit your departments budget?
- What are the current challenges your organization is seeing?
- Have you curbed spending on new initiatives? When do you see things possibly turning around for the better?
As mundane as it may seem to know the answers to such questions for every target account in your database, these questions can help quickly filter out businesses who have completely capped spending and have extremely tight budget restrictions within the organization being sold into. This can be a huge saving on inside sales or sales’ time which can be directed at accounts which are still investing and growing or possibly not hit by the economy at all. Even one or two questions slipped into the usual account profiling process will help streamline the efforts towards what can convert and not chasing the wrong leads. Bad times call for better practices. Start with better account profiling.
Related posts:
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- Sales Efficiency & Quality Marketing Data Is Key In This Economic Climate
- Attention B2B Marketing & Sales Pros – How Well Do You Know Harvey Sweeny?
- Salesforce Announces Twitter App – Account Intelligence Data Just Evolved
- Spending More On Better Lists Is Spending Less Time Looking For People To Call
March 24th, 2009 at 10:48 am
[...] Neil placed an interesting blog post on Bad Times Call For Good Sales Account Profiling | ReadyContacts …Here’s a brief overviewSales account profiling or building detailed first hand intelligence on target accounts can really give the inside sales team the kind of ammo they need to alter their message and sales pitch based on what they know about the account, … [...]
March 24th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
I absolutely agree on the need for more serious account profiling (and better practices in bad times generally). I would also suggest that, especially with the most strategic accounts, that marketing folks get directly involved in the profiling process so they can provide much more tailored marketing support for strategic account development. All this enables more of a “solutions approach” where sales can talk more about business challenge and potential solutions rather than just pitching products — which won't work well these days even with the more qualified prospects.
March 25th, 2009 at 4:53 am
2 things came to mind when I read this post…
First, I completely agree with account profiling as an inside sales strategy. Second, no decision maker in this market is going to sit on the phone with an inside sales rep and allow them to ask the kind of open ended questions listed above. They just don't have the time anymore to invest in those kinds of conversations no matter how much we want them to.
So, what is the answer?
Account profiling as pre-call planning. Know the answers to the questions before you make the call. Teach your inside sales reps how to use the data at their disposal to form the foundation of the conversation before they pick up the phone. Create a Playbook for them with various scenarios around market drivers, give them the buyer personas that you are targeting with enough detail to understand what is probably happening in that person's world right now. Craft voicemail messages, elevator pitches and benefit statements for each buyer persona. Arm them with the tools for an intelligent buyer conversation not for a seller conversation.
Net/net – account profiling is a big YES but with the responsibility for the conversation on the side of the seller not the buyer.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Trish I agree pre-call planning is important and as an inside sales person you need to know the answers to the questions before you make the call. The point here is do you really want your inside sales team to spend their time doing the pre-call research or do you want them to focus their time on calls connecting with the buyers? For example, if an inside sales person had account profiles delivered to them which clearly state whether the account has held budget for the product they are about to pitch, they wouldn't have to spend time going after those.
March 25th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Completely Rob. If marketing can get involved with the profiling process it leaves inside sales to focus on connecting with more qualified prospects and selling.
November 15th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I often read your blog and always find it very interesting
Have a nice day
kaley fandrew
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May 29th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
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Glenn Wright
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