Are you in the sales industry, and you’re struggling to focus on the right prospects? Don’t worry; you’re not alone. This is one of the toughest parts of sales, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to achieve. Here are some tips to help maintain your focus on the right leads:
1. Use Data and Intuition
When you get leads, there are two things you need to use: your intuition and your data. Intuition is your “gut feel” that is, most of the time, right. In contrast, data will empower you to define the right prospect with better accuracy. By doing this, you’ll be able to pick the right prospects from the pool of leads you get every day.
2. Examine Behaviors, Preferences, and Patterns
What are the behaviors, preferences, and patterns that lead to closed deals? You really need to get in there and look into the customers you have success with. From here on, you can identify patterns or variables that influence the purchase decision.
Some of the patterns to watch out for:
- Factors that influence decisions
- Pattern of decision-making
- Pattern of consideration
- Attitude towards change
- Buying cycle length
- Yearly growth
3. Use BANT
BANT stands for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing. This is a qualifying criteria that will help you know if the prospects you have are worth pursuing. It will help you identify if your leads can buy now or in the future, or not at all.
Here’s how to use BANT:
- Budget: Assess the business size, annual turnover, or what the lead is spending on a solution currently.
- Authority: Research your prospects and determine how influential they are.
- Need: Identify the main goals and challenges of your prospects. You can also identify if the prospect is similar to your existing clients.
- Timing: Research the buying cycle and evaluate the urgency of the need.
4. Understand Their Pain Points
Understanding the pain points of your prospects will help you filter them and focus on the right ones. Make a list of the problems and challenges that your customers and prospects have. Assess if your product or service will answer their pain points. When you do this, it will help you show your value much better.
5. Invest in Long-Term Relationships
You can use your existing customers to help you focus better on your leads. This is because those already buying from you are already powerful when it comes to prospecting. In fact, the relationships you build with your existing clients will help enhance your reputation.
6. Take Advantage of Familiarity
The previous encounters you’ve had may turn into something, so take advantage of them. These can be as simple as a conversation on social media or a meeting at an event. Small encounters can warm up your prospecting efforts. To increase your chances of these encounters, be social. Make sure you’re engaging in conversations and find ways to keep your brand top of mind.
Conclusion
With the right focus on the leads that your business receives, you will be able to turn them into paying customers—even better, long-term customers. With the help of a lead generation expert, following these tips will not be so hard to do.
Ready to turn prospects into customers? WhoKnows offers lead gen for startups. We have an AI-assisted prospect search tool to help you find the right prospects. Get it now!
