Balancing prospecting and retention is one of the most challenging tasks for software sales professionals. You need to constantly fill your pipeline with new leads, while also nurturing your existing customers and ensuring their satisfaction and loyalty. How can you do both effectively without burning out or missing opportunities? Here are some tips to help you find the right balance.
The first step to balance prospecting and retention is to set clear and realistic goals for both activities. You need to know how many new leads you need to generate, how many sales calls you need to make, how many demos you need to schedule, and how many deals you need to close each month. You also need to know how many customers you need to retain, how often you need to contact them, how much revenue you need to upsell or cross-sell, and how many referrals you need to ask for. Having specific and measurable goals will help you prioritize your tasks and allocate your time and resources accordingly.
The next step to balance prospecting and retention is to segment your prospects and customers based on their needs, preferences, behaviors, and potential. You need to identify which prospects are more likely to buy, which customers are more likely to renew, which ones are at risk of churn, and which ones are ready for upselling or cross-selling. By segmenting your prospects and customers, you can tailor your communication and value proposition to each group and focus on the most profitable and loyal ones.
Use the 80/20 rule here. Who are your top 20% customers and work hard to retain them. Also which prospect fall in the top 20% ideal client and spend time on those
The third step to balance prospecting and retention is to automate and delegate some of the tasks that are repetitive, time-consuming, or low-value. You can use software tools to automate your email campaigns, lead scoring, CRM updates, appointment scheduling, and follow-ups. You can also delegate some of the tasks to your team members, such as qualifying leads, providing customer support, or creating proposals. By automating and delegating, you can free up more time and energy for the tasks that require your personal touch, such as closing deals, building relationships, or solving problems.
The fourth step to balance prospecting and retention is to schedule your time wisely and stick to it. You need to block out specific time slots for prospecting and retention activities, such as cold calling, emailing, social selling, demoing, negotiating, onboarding, training, upselling, cross-selling, or asking for referrals. You also need to balance your time between short-term and long-term activities, such as closing quick wins or nurturing long-term prospects. By scheduling your time, you can avoid procrastination, distraction, or overlap and ensure that you are consistent and productive.
The final step to balance prospecting and retention is to evaluate and adjust your performance and strategy regularly. You need to track and measure your results, such as the number of leads generated, the conversion rate, the retention rate, the churn rate, the customer lifetime value, or the referral rate. You also need to solicit and act on feedback from your prospects and customers, such as their satisfaction, loyalty, pain points, needs, or suggestions. By evaluating and adjusting, you can identify what works and what doesn't and optimize your balance accordingly.
Its far cheaper and easier to keep and sell to an existing client than to recruit a new one, so don't waste all your time prospecting at the expenses of existing clients!