Download CHAPTER 9 Developing and Qualifying a Prospect Base

CHAPTER
9
Developing and
Qualifying a
Prospect Base
Learning Objectives
• Discuss the importance of developing a
prospect base
• Identify and assess important sources of
prospects
• Describe criteria for qualifying prospects
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Learning Objectives
• Explain common methods of organizing
prospect information
• Describe the steps in managing the
prospect base
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Prospect, Prospecting, and
Prospect Base Defined
• Prospect: a potential customer that meets
the qualification criteria established by
your company
• Prospecting: identifying potential
customers
• Prospect base: is made up of current
customers and potential customers
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Importance of Prospecting
• Every salesperson must cope with
customer attrition:
• Customer may have a one-time need
• Customer may move outside the
salesperson’s territory
• Firm may go out of business or merge
• Sales may be lost to the competition
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Girard’s Ferris Wheel—Supply
FIGURE
9.1
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FIGURE
9.1
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Prospecting Requires Planning
• Increase number of people who board the
Ferris wheel
• Improve the quality of prospects
• Shorten sales cycle by determining which
prospects are “qualified”
• Prospecting plans must be monitored
continuously for effectiveness
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Sources of Prospects
• Referrals
• Website
• Centers of influence
• Computerized database
• Directories
• Cold calling
• Trade publications
• Networking
• Trade shows and special
events
• Educational seminars
• Telemarketing and e-mail
• Prospecting by non-sales
employees
• Direct-response
advertising and sales
letters
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Referrals
• Prospect recommended by current satisfied
customer or one familiar with product or service
• Endless chain: ask contact who else could
benefit from product
• Referral organizations: facilitate
networking
• Friends, family members,
centers of influence: a person
who may have influence
on opinion leaders
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Lead Generation
See the
Website
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Lead Generation
See the
Website
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Directories
• Hundreds of business and industrial
directories available
• Many major trade associations publish
directories
• Be sure to use current copy or edition as
prospects shift firms; track people and
companies
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Popular National Directories
• Middle Market
Directory
www.dnb.com
• TrackAmerica
www.trackamerica.com
• Standard & Poor’s
Corporation Records
Service
• Thomas Register of
American Manufacturers
www.thomasregister.com
• Polk City Directory
www.citydirectory.com
• The Encyclopedia of
Associations
www.gale.com
www.spcglobal.com
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Trade Shows/Publications
• Trade shows and conventions: your company
may have a booth at key trade shows/expositions
• Trade publications: each industry has trade
publications that sales professionals need to read
• Join trade associations:
many salespersons join
trade associations to
gain access to potential
buyers
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Telemarketing
• Telemarketing: the practice of marketing
goods and services through telephone
contact
• To identify buyers and generate contact lists
for sales staff
• To qualify prospects
• To verify sales leads
generated by other
methods
• To conduct follow-ups
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Direct Response and
Sales Letters
• Direct response advertising: often features
inquiry cards or information requests via mail or
telephone
• Sales letters: send sales letters
to decision makers,
then follow up
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Website
• Websites provide a cost-effective way for
sales professionals to:
• Project personal image
• Provide additional information
• Generate leads from visitors to site
• Present product information
• Establish e-mail lists
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Computerized Databases
• In-house databases: your firm may already
have a comprehensive database,
sometimes referred to as the “house list,”
with details on customers, purchase
patterns, and so forth
• List sources: wide range of precise lists
available from variety of sources
• See www.infoUSA.com
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Computerized Databases
• Purchasing databases or lists can be
costly; price usually set on cost-perthousand names
• Not all relevant databases are equal;
some “pull” better than others
• Pull is the percentage of the list resulting
in qualified prospects or actual sales
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Cold Calling
• Simply calling prospects without referrals
• New salespeople rely on these as they
haven’t built a referral base
• Must be strategically planned
• Prelude to in-person
appointment
• A way to introduce yourself
and your company to a
prospect
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Networking
• Making and profiting from personal
connections
• Networking guidelines
• Meet as many people as you can
• Tell them what you do
• Do not do business while networking
• Offer business card
• Edit contacts and conduct follow-ups
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Three Types of Networks
FIGURE
9.2
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Educational Seminars
• Provide opportunity to showcase product
without pressuring to buy
• Require extensive preparation
• Start value-added process
• Can attend or present at industrysponsored seminars or offer your own
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Non-Sales Employees
• Non-sales personnel can be valued source
of leads
• Prospecting not necessarily
exclusive task of sales force
• Non-sales personnel often
need training and incentives
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Combination Approaches
• Salespersons generally rely on
combination of prospecting methods
• Some methods have higher yield than
others
• Important to use CRM technology to help
maximize efficiency
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Qualifying Prospects
Basic questions:
•
Does the prospect need my product?
•
Does the prospect have the authority to
buy my product?
•
Does the prospect have the financial
resources to buy my product?
•
Does the prospect have the willingness
to buy my product?
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Collecting and Organizing
Prospect Information
• Sales data can be collected and organized into
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Systems
• Examples of popular applications:
• Salesforce.com
• Oracle
• NetSuite
• Microsoft
Harvey Mackay
suggests a 66-question
customer profile.
See it at:mackay.com
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The CRM Contact Sheet
FIGURE
9.3
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Sample CRM Contact Sheet from
Salesforce.com
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See the
Website
Managing the Prospect Base
FIGURE
9.4
Sample CRM record for one salesperson’s
prospects from Salesforce.com
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See the
Website
Prospecting and
Sales Forecasting Plans
•
Important to balance time and
organize contacts:
• Prepare a list of prospects
• Forecast potential sales volume for each new
account, by product
• Carefully plan the sales route to minimize time
and cost
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The Portfolio Model for
Classifying Prospects
FIGURE
9.5
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The Sales Funnel Model
FIGURE
9.6
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Using CRM Technology for
Pipeline Management
Sample CRM
pipeline
dashboard from
Salesforce.com
See the
Website
FIGURE
9.7
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Key Concept
Discussion Questions
• Discuss the importance of developing a
prospect base
• Identify and assess important sources
of prospects
• Describe criteria for qualifying prospects
• Explain common methods of collecting
and organizing prospect information
• Describe the steps in managing the
prospect base
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
9-34
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permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Publishing as Prentice Hall
9-35