All I Want For Christmas is 100 Qualified Leads
How To Get 100 Qualified Leads
As children around the globe look to the skies in wonder about Santa, Inside Sales leaders will also look to the heavens contemplating the “gift” of increased 2016 quotas. Now, I don’t have the HBR research to back this up, but my experience has shown that expectations on Sales teams get increased approximately 100% of the time. That means it’s on us to find avenues for growth in the coming year (please Santa?!).
I’m betting that you can hit those growth numbers with nothing more than your existing lead sources…if you’re willing to take a new approach.
I’m not suggesting that you blindly “smile and dial” through an endless pile of names and numbers…be better than that. I’m going to suggest something that might sound like Sales heresy, and it’s not for the faint of heart:
Don’t seek out the Decision Maker on your first call.
The goal for call 1 is simply to determine if this is a customer worth pursuing. Why wouldn’t you want to target the decision maker out of the gate? I’m so glad you asked…Here are my Top 5 reasons for separating qualifying and first contact into two distinct calls:
- Winning is Fun. Every qualifying call can be a success with just one piece of data gained.
- Talk to more people. No more leaving months of voicemails (just to find out they’re a bad fit!)
- Power through leads quicker. Qualifying calls don’t need to be customized OR researched
- Gain better information before talking to the DM to increase your odds of success – show him/her you’ve done your homework.
- A qualified book leads to a proactive territory strategy focused on top leads – most companies try each lead 2.5 times and then trash it. Ouch.
Hmmm…more fun, more success and less wasted time. Might be worth a shot. Want more details on how this would look? Jump to our site for tips, videos, and success stories or to leave me a post on what you hope Santa brings you this year.
Happy Holidays and Happy Selling!
LB