Anouk van Deurse
When you want to get in touch with companies that are not yet in your network, structural market approach is a good option. In order to acquire efficiently, you need a list of companies you want to approach. But why is such a list important? And how do you get a quality prospect list? We'd like to explain a bit more about that.
When acquiring, it is very important that you don't just shoot with hail. If you start calling companies randomly, without having an idea of processes and possible problems that are at play within these companies, there is little chance that you will eventually be able to sell your product. So it is important to think carefully about which companies and specific markets you want to approach.
Prospect analysis
When you make a prospect analysis, you identify the criteria a potential customer should meet. You obviously have a good idea of your own proposition and therefore of your target market: you know what kind of organizations your proposition could add value to. For example, do you have a Warehouse Management System developed, then it makes pretty good sense that you want to get in touch with companies that have a warehouse. When doing a prospect analysis, also consider the following:
- Region: Perhaps you only want to get in touch with companies in your area, or companies that have offices in your area.
- Company size: It may also be the case that your product or service only adds value with larger companies. For example, companies with at least 15 employees.
- Annual sales: Your product or service may require a large investment, leading you to conclude that it makes sense to hang a minimum annual turnover on potentially interesting companies.
Of course there are other criteria to consider, so be sure to check with your team to see which criteria are important to your proposition.
Creating a prospect list
There are many solutions for compiling a prospect list. For example, you can use the Chamber of Commerce, LinkedIn, or you can invest your own time in finding (company) information about the companies you want to approach through telephone acquisition.
In a prospect list, it is helpful not to include just company name and phone number. After all, you will need to know who within an organization is likely to have something to say about the subject you want to call about. In that case, it makes sense to first do a quick search on LinkedIn to find out who you need. Perhaps you can find a direct number for this person via the website? Or an e-mail address? Data is worth its weight in gold!
Need help?
Can't see the forest for the trees? We are happy to help you with the Preparation of qualitative prospect lists (with relevant additional information) and approaching these prospects. We use relevant databases and our sources are always tailored to your needs. The process of structural B2B lead generation, and in particular telephone acquisition, takes time and effort. It can therefore be a good consideration to outsource lead generation. By engaging a party for telephone market approach you ensure structure and focus on your sales process.