Enterprise,Prospecting,Methodo marketing Enterprise Prospecting Methodologies for B2B Companies

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Stage 1 - List DevelopmentWhile it seems a very basic starting-point for enterprise prospecting,effective list development is often overlooked.  Effective listdevelopment can be the key to the success or failure of an enterpriseprospecting campaign.  If you don't define the basic parameters of yourtarget audience properly at the beginning, the rest of the prospecting processcan be futile.  Simply, if you are talking to the wrong customers, itdoesn't matter how good your sales process is, or indeed how good your productis.  Enterprise prospecting is about finding potential customers with theright budgets and/or needs that make them possible future leads.  Once thecriteria for the target audience is established, a list of companies that meetthe basic target criteria (geography, industry, systems in use, turnover,employees, etc.) should be drawn up.  This can be accomplished fromexisting data, internet searches, purchasing from list brokers, or utilising aprofessional lead generation agency. Stage 2 - Account ProfilingFrom the outline list of companies developed in Stage 1, the next step is toprofile the data. Even if you used current data from your own databases, thedetails on the lists must be re-verified to help progress the campaign assmoothly as possible.  Nurturing a lead for weeks, only to find that aninternal change in the company has rendered them outside your target market isan expensive mistake.Once the basic details are re-verified, the main process, major accountprofiling can begin through B2B telemarketing.  Thefirst step in this process is to profile the companies to ascertain suitabilityfor your company's solutions. This can vary greatly between companies, but hereare a few examples:Company A is using suppliers X, Y and Z and is therefore a suitable target.Company B utilises a Unix operating system and is therefore suitable.Company C has no customer complaints department and is therefore unsuitable.After each company's information has been verified, the next step in thisprocess is to determine the key decision makers in the target company. Key contacts may have been established as part of the list development process,but they need to be re-verified.  In addition, their responsibility needsto be established.  An IT Manager will not necessarily have the decisionmaking power over IT Infrastructure projects, so may not be the key contact foryour prospecting.  The establishment of key individuals and their responsibilities allowsprospecting efforts to be as targeted as possible, since prospecting to thewrong person is a waste of time and resources.  However the key contactfor a company could still be several people in the organization, depending onthe project.  For example, if you are prospecting for an ERP system, IT,Finance and Data managers could all be relevant key contacts. Cleaning, verification, and enhancement of your data should be donesystematically, and requires the skills of an experienced operative to acquirethe relevant data without falling foul of corporate data restrictions such as"no name" policies.   In addition, the person doing thisenhancement must be experienced in enterprise prospecting and sales leadgeneration.  Although the object is to gather data, and not to speak tokey individuals at this stage, invariably you do sometimes get put through tothe key contact.  This could be your only opportunity to speak to them, soyou have to be ready to nurture the prospect as the opportunity arises.Another vital process of major account profiling is to establish internalrelationships. Without knowing the internal relationships in the company, aprospector will find it difficult to target the correct areas and correctindividuals at the correct times.  If the IT Director reports to theFinance Director, you would target your prospecting differently than you wouldif the IT Director reports to the CEO.The account profiling process will leave you with a list of highly qualifiedleads.  This will save you time by helping you avoid chasing leads thatare only marginally qualified or completely unsuitable for your products.Stage 3 - Sales Lead GenerationOnce the major account profiling has been completed, the sales leadgeneration companies process begins.  Each company must be prospectedas an entity.  The relationship between the key contacts in the company(who reports to whom, etc.) must be established, and the decision-makingabilities of each discerned.  The sales partnering relationship begins here. Get off on a good foot here, and your job later will be much simplified. Remember, not every company may be a good prospect now, but if your listdevelopment process was correctly specified, they are in your target audience,and may be a prospect in the future. Once the introduction of your product/service is completed, and theestablishment of possible needs/requirements is completed, all leads must beclassified to allow them to be tracked.  You need to know what leads areripe for your sales team to try to sell to now, which leads may be ready in amedium period (6-12 months), and which leads are possible future buyers, butwith no definable time scale. Use a customer relationship management (CRM)system in some form to record all contacts with each of your leads.  Thiswill allow you to track the effectiveness of your sales process and toeliminate redundancies.Correct classification of your prospects is key.  Without this, yoursales team will expend efforts on what are not current possibilities, whilered-hot leads in other companies may slip by.  Strategic Selling is partof the overall approach, not just part of the closing.Stage 4 - Lead NurturingNot all Leads are ready to close directly after the lead generation process.In fact, very few are.   Most leads enter into the nurturing process,where you have made the client aware of your services, established a possibleneed, and you decide the optimum time period before follow-up contact should bemade.  Again, this is where the expertise of the individual isparamount.  Follow-up too soon, you risk annoying the customer, and beingeliminated from any future sales.  Follow-up too late, and even if thedecision hasn't been made, you may not be able to get your services on thetable for consideration.  It is a fine line, and one that is difficult tojudge.  However, getting it wrong at this stage costs your company mediumand high-probability opportunities.  3rd party agencies in this area canbe an excellent source of expertise without the need for in-house up-skillingand the associated problems of staff-retention and skill-set acquisition.Following the four stages of enterprise prospecting will get you on theright track.  However, even if you do effectively complete the listdevelopment, account profiling, B2B telemarketing, and lead nurturingstages, sales can still leak from the pipeline quite easily.  In fact,this is the most expensive stage at which to lose a sale, as you have alreadyinvested the time and effort to develop, profile, prospect, and nurture thelead all the way to the point of sale.  If you are exploring the route ofenterprise prospecting, you should also ensure you reduce leaks from your salespipeline.2.  ImplementationOnce you or your B2B Marketing Consultant have developed asolid sales lead development strategy, the next step is to integrate yourstrategy into existing sales processes seamlessly and painlessly.  Thisintegration process has three steps: analyse, design, and implement.Step 1 - Analyse In order to implement a sales lead development strategy, you must firstanalyse your own set-up.  You need to determine:Do you have a definable market for your product?Do you have the in-house skills to turn prospects in to clients?Do you have the structure in place to cope with increased sales?Do you have the ability to effectively manage your sales pipeline?Step 2 - Design Once you are sure that your organization is ready to go forward with a saleslead development process, the next step is to design that strategy.Identify the how the four stages of enterprise prospecting will fit in your sales cycle.Identify the individuals within your organization that will be responsible for each stage.  If you decide to outsource your prospecting functions, identify the individuals within your organization that will coordinate with the 3rd party agency, set targets, and monitor results.Train your staff in the appropriate processes and design good call scripts.Design your system to track all the data.  Your system could include anything from a simple sales database to an updated CRM, depending on the scale and complexity of your organization and sales processes.Step 3 – ImplementStart the prospecting process slowly.  There will often be problemswhen a new system is implemented, so launching a small-scale project to testout the systems, the staff, and the process may be a good option for yourcompany.  Begin the process by isolating an initial target group in yourlist development.  Get your staff members involved in the accountprofiling process.  This will give them a foundation of knowledge aboutpotential client organizations.  Assist your staff with the development ofcall scripts and listen to sales calls to assist your staff with situationsthey haven't encountered before.  Continuously analyse your reasons forsuccess and failure at each stage to optimise your process.3.  Sales Pipeline ManagementOften overlooked in the sales and marketing process, managing your existingsales pipeline is probably the most effective way of maximising sales. Generating sales can be a long and complicated process, so avoiding the loss ofsales in your pipeline should be a top priority.  In addition, managingexisting sales properly is a very effective way of generating additional sales.There are many stages of a sale, and knowing what stage in the pipeline eachlead is at will help you reduce sales leakage and manage saleseffectively.  A lead will flow through several stages in your salespipeline:Prospecting - The lead is in the basic stage – target clients are being identified.Qualification - The target client is being assessed.Needs Analysis - A detailed analysis of the client's needs is performed.Value Proposition - An initial statement is made to the client of the basic outline of the product/service and its suitability.Identify Decision Makers - Key decision makers and internal relationships in the company are identified.Perception Analysis - An in-depth analysis of the potential client, their needs, and how your product might appear to fit their needs.Proposal/Quote – Full proposal submitted to the client detailing costs, suitability, ROI, etc.Negotiation/Review - Discussion of the proposal with the client and possible review of terms/prices.Closed: Won - Deal is won and contracts are signedClosed: Lost - Deal is not awarded or has been awarded to another vendor.  Reasons for loss should be identified to enhance future bidsThere are several analysis processes that can assist you in managing yoursales pipeline:Probability Analysis - A determination of the probability of the success of a bid based on all the various factors.  The probability should increase as the lead progresses through the pipeline.Win / Loss Analysis - All closed leads, lost & won, should be analysed to identify the reasons for success and failure. Identification of these reasons helps firm up the future pipeline.Lead Conversion Rate Analysis - The rate at which leads become closed deals give you a good idea on how successful you are at selling your services/products. What equates to a good rate of closes will vary depending on your service/product.  However, what is important is to see if your closure rate improves or worsens over time. Normal 0 false false false EN-IE X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}