For years, sales gurus have told us that successful prospecting is a numbers game: X cold calls = Y leads = Z sales. Methodologies, books, and entire companies have been built around this formula.
But experienced marketers know there’s more to it. While it’s nice to believe the conventional wisdom that “everyone is a prospect,” in reality there are far fewer companies ready, able, and willing to buy from you.
According to Nigel Edelshain of Sales 2.0, a New Jersey-based sales improvement consultancy, getting the right target list is the #1 determiner of sales success. “If you call the wrong people, you won’t sell anything. A name here or there does not seem like a biggie, right? But this all adds up.”
NetProspex customer Dan Zasloff of Varolii Corporation agrees. As Senior Manager of Marketing Programs, he’s not merely interested in the numbers – he’s interested in getting the right numbers.
To Dan, a clean database means more and better opportunities to reach deeper into target organizations and tailor his offers to meet the needs of the business owners who are the most likely matches for Varolii’s solutions. Data quality – the freshness of his contact list, the detail provided about a contact’s title and responsibilities, and the ability to “get ahead” of turnover at a prospect organization – is essential not only to efficiency, but to effectiveness as well. The less time he spends on list management and cleanup, the more time he can spend developing appealing offers.
“A ton of companies are out there trying to get share of mind,” he explains. “Reaching the right person with the right offer is what’s key.”
Or, as Edelshain puts it, “The details count a lot.”
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