Hi there,
Welcome back to Sales Curiosity Club. I hope this week has been productive and exciting for you!
Today, I want to share the 5 P's of prospecting (or how to find potential clients!) that have changed the way I approach lead generation and sales. Embracing these strategies could potentially transform your productivity levels and help you reclaim your time. Let's dive in:
Quick review before we start, you need to be very clear with your:
Target Market and Ideal Client Profile (ICP). The ICP is the person you need to contact, ideally the decision-maker or recommender. This will depend on how large your target market is.
If not, go back to last week’s 📩newsletter
Define your Client's Problem or Outcome
What problem are you solving?
Ask yourself, what are all the problems that would have to exist or, if it is not an expressed need, think of the results they want to achieve before they would be excited to talk about your solution?
If they do not care about the problems or results of your solution, they will not care about your solution.
People buy painkillers more than vitamins!
If you have nailed your target market, ICP, and defined the problem you are solving, let's go.
If not, you really need to go back to the drawing board.
The 5 P's of Prospecting
01: Prioritize
02: Prepare
03: Personalize
04: Practice
5: Preposition
The 5 P's of Prospecting are an essential framework for any salesperson looking to improve their prospecting skills. Let's take a closer look at each of the P's and explore how you can use them to your advantage.
01: Prioritise:
To make the most of your time, it's important to prioritise your prospects.
Start by listing your top 50 clients (or another number of your choice). To do this, work backward.
For example, let's say your goal is to generate 10M in a year, and your average client generates 500K/year. This means you need to sign 20 clients. What is your current win rate?
If your win rate is one client for every 50 prospects on average per quarter, that means you need 1000 prospects/quarter. However, this is just an example, and the numbers will vary depending on your market, vertical, product, revenue, and goals.
The most important part of this process is having a clear goal and thought process. You cannot be successful if you don't have a benchmark. If you don't know your success rate, work with soft numbers and figure it out as you go. Taking action will give you results and allow you to control your destiny. You will figure it out, my friend.
Okay, so let's write down your Lead Measure and Lag Measure.
Your Lag Indicator is your Sales Goal or Quota.
Your Lead Indicator is the objectives and activities you need to get closer to the results you are aiming for.
Your Lag Indicator is your Sales Goal or Quota. This is the ultimate result you are aiming for.
However, to achieve this result, you need to focus on your Lead Indicators.
Lead Indicators are the objectives and activities that will help you get closer to your Sales Goal or Quota. These objectives and activities can include things such as the number of clients you call per week, increasing the number of customer contacts, or the number of webinars or promotions you launch.
By focusing on your Lead Indicators, you can ensure that you are on track to achieve your Sales Goal or Quota.
💡Tools for Finding Prospects
Me and my team use Sales Navigator and Apollo.Io.
If you want to give Apollo.Io a spin, here is my affiliate link, Apollo.Io. I also have free Sales Navigator referrals. Send me a DM and share with me your B2B ICP and I will give you a 2 month free Sales Navigator access.
Other tools are:
Hunter. Io
Sales Navigator
LinkedIn
02: Prepare
Preparation is crucial when it comes to prospecting. You must have a clear understanding of your product or service and be able to effectively communicate its benefits to your potential customers. Additionally, researching your prospects to understand their needs and pain points will allow you to tailor your pitch accordingly.
Here are some key steps to prepare for successful prospecting:
Develop in-depth knowledge of the company and people you will be contacting by using the Account Profile.
Prepare and develop strategic account plans, and always use client-oriented communications.
Define the purpose of the meeting, such as determining if there is an opportunity to add value to the client or addressing a problem that aligns with your solution.
03: Personalize:
I never make cold calls. Ever, ever, ever.
By that, I mean calling someone without any knowledge of who they are, what they do, or what they stand for.
Despite the wealth of information available through LinkedIn and other platforms, many people still make this mistake and send random emails and LinkedIn messages. They even mispells my name! duh🙄
Avoid cold calls and try to establish a warm connection instead.
Do your research by leveraging LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, your prospects' websites, and other social platforms, and use this information by personalizing your approach to each prospect. You can create a more meaningful connection and increase your chances of success. This might involve referencing their industry, company size, or specific pain points in your meeting.
Get a connection referral if possible. This is still the most POWERFUL way. People trust their friends' referral.
Look for triggers or business shift opportunities. Here’s the 11 business shifts.
04: Practice:
Practice makes perfect, and this is particularly true when it comes to prospecting.
You should practice your sales message and pitch regularly, refining and honing it until it's as effective as possible. Consider role-playing with colleagues and peers or record yourself on Teams or Zoom to improve your skills.
05: Preposition:
The final P of Prospecting is Preposition.
This means having a clear understanding of what you want your prospect to do next. Whether it's booking a follow-up call or scheduling a demo, you need to have a clear call-to-action that motivates your prospect to take action.
By following these 5 P's of Prospecting, you can refine your approach and improve your chances of success.
Remember, prospecting is a key part of the sales process, and investing time and effort into it can pay dividends in the long run.
Next week, I will show you how to use Sales Navigator and Apollo on how to build a list of Prospective Accounts and Clients. Video tutorials included!
If you send me your target market, we will use that as an example!
Thank you for reading, I appreciate you. 💜
Ren
PS.
And if you have any burning questions, share your insights-----please email me and would love to know more about you.
Book I am reading now: Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martel.
Dan Martell wrote that there are Three Trade Levels,
Level 1 trader: employee
Level 2 trader: entrepreneur
Level 3 trader: empire-builder
Empire-builder trade their money for more money. They found freedom. Who does not want freedom?
I dislike the word "busy." When someone says "I am so busy," I get the impression that they do not manage their time well. Ironically, I sometimes fall into this trap myself, despite my best intentions. That is why I have been reading Dan Martell's book, "Buy Back Your Time," for inspiration.
So I did this exercise below, and the result was for me to focus on sales coaching, closing sales for my clients, sales training, and everything sales-related. Anything outside of that, I am delegating to my team, outsourcing, or dropping it from my to-do list.
I have not finished the book yet, but I am currently auditing my own time, and to my surprise, I have made some significant discoveries! Highly recommended read, check it out.
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