- Abhishek Pattanaik
- 1332
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Differences in sales strategies can create two different versions of the same product in the customer’s mind: one that addresses the pain point and one that does not.
This becomes particularly important during prospecting. With chunky customer data, it is critical to prospect well to each person to convert them to sales leads. However, in this entire journey, there are some common prospecting blunders that salespersons can make!
Also Read: 3 Tips to Design an Effective Sales Call Plan
Discover the 3 common prospecting blunders and how you can best avoid them.
Many sales professionals make these prospecting mistakes which hamper their results. Here is a detailed look into the common mistakes and strategies to steer clear of them.
Conducting Inadequate Research
Prospective customers vary in terms of preferences, requirements and needs, demographics, and more. So, it becomes all the more important to conduct extensive research on them before reaching out to them.
Contacting prospects without a clear understanding of their profile leads to the creation of generic, perhaps boring pitches.
How to Avoid This
Executing thorough research is the requirement, and luckily the internet is your friend. Company websites, annual reports, LinkedIn, and news articles related to the firm are all freely available.
The key is to understand what their business challenges are, how your product can resolve them, and who their key decision-makers are.
Developing Only One Sales Strategy
Largely due to the previous mistake of not conducting research, using the same strategy for all prospects is a mistake.
As explained previously, it is important to understand the unique factors that differ one prospect from another. So, it is important to create individual strategies for them as well.
How to Avoid This
The key is careful segmentation and categorization of your prospects.
Take the data gathered during research and start classifying them by their industry, who they cater to, company size and finances, purchasing, and more.
After separating them into specific categories, create customized content. It should showcase how your product directly addresses their needs and requirements.
Forgetting to Follow-Up
After first contact based on a strategy that was tailor-made for the client, failing to follow-up is a critical mistake. You are looking for a client, while they are simply looking for a product or service.
So, while you might remember the client and wait for their response, they might have already forgotten you.
How to Avoid This
It is your responsibility to reach them again, after an appropriate interval. It can be through the many mediums available such as calling them again, emailing them, or through social media.
Use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to track and schedule to check in on them. This makes it easier to manage the large number of prospects and when the best time is to reach them.
