Effective Sales Prospecting In Times Of Uncertainty

For Business Leaders, Sales Leaders and Marketing Leaders in B2B sales organizations that want to grow their sales revenue.

Tell me: Which situation is your business in right now?

It seems to me that there are three kinds of businesses out there right now:

1. The ones that had to shut down or, at least, are severely restricted in their trade. These include businesses in hospitality, events management, gyms, entertainment and anything that relied on people coming into close contact with each other. Many of these have either closed their doors entirely, have culled staff and/or have cut costs. Some have pivoted to survive, e.g. restaurants and cafes that now offer take-away only and retailers that have moved to eCommerce and online selling.
2. Businesses that are suddenly thriving and in high demand. These include organizations offering anything to do with remote collaboration, with working from home and/or cyber security. They are the lucky ones that suddenly found themselves in the right place at the right time. Ironically, their challenge now is to cope with the sudden influx of new demand.
3. Businesses that are still operating, but now find themselves in the middle of a sudden downturn in sales. They are the really interesting ones to me. How will they respond? Will they make the right decisions? Will they accept the need for sudden change? If so, how will they go about it?

Let's explore that further.

Should you be cutting costs?

In my personal opinion, I think that cost cutting is absolutely appropriate at a time when top line revenue is shrinking and organizations have to tap into their financial reserves to keep the business going. However, as usual, marketing and lead gen are among the first candidates for the chopping block.

But is that the right strategy? Or is it just a knee-jerk reaction? See my article on that specific question.

But is that the right strategy? Or is it just a knee-jerk reaction?

After all, we saw the same behavior during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), when marketing and advertising budgets were slashed just at the time when sales were slowing. I guess, psychologically speaking, it makes sense, but it still seems like an instinctive reaction to me. I mean, wouldn't you want your sales revenue to continue to come in and also build a sales pipeline in preparation for a post-crisis world?

I am pointing out to my clients that the fundamentals of selling still apply.

The fundamentals of selling still apply.

That means you don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, nor do you hibernate. Rather, you need to be flexible, nimble and accepting of change. So, do not box yourself in by losing your best people and by cutting down on capabilities that you may need again further down the track.

Be prudent in your actions and your decisions. Have a plan.

Have a plan.

Work on building good rapport with your customers and your ideal prospects, grow a sales pipeline for now and one that you can lean on when the market opens up again. Do not just hibernate right now.

Do not just hibernate right now.

Remember: You still have choices

As I mentioned, the fundamentals of selling have not changed. At the same time, when the selling environment changes around you , you can not keep doing the same thing as before and expect the same result. (My apologies to Albert Einstein for violating his famous saying)

So, what choices do you still have to generate a sales pipeline?

So, what choices do you still have to generate a sales pipeline?

Cold Calling

With people working from home now it has suddenly become harder to reach buyers and decision makers. Do you have their mobile numbers because going through the switchboard is often now not an option due to reduced staffing levels.

Email

The days of automated emails to thousands of suspects in the hope of a better than 0.3% response rate were questionable long before COVID-19. It was always hugely wasteful and largely ineffective. Now, it is just rude and unacceptable. If you need to send an email it has to be personable and offering value.

Advertising

I specialize in B2B and can not really comment on retail sector practices. Personally speaking though, it seems to me that - now more than ever - advertising needs to be clever and engaging. As far as B2B is concerned, I have always favored a more focused approach to client acquisition, such as Accounts-Based Selling and Accounts-Based Marketing (ABS/ABM).

Social Media / Social Selling

Have you noticed that suddenly there is a huge more activity on social media platforms, particularly on LinkedIn? It seems that it is increasingly used by professionals who are working from home and are looking to keep in touch and abreast of industry developments.

In my opinion, this is a great opportunity now for salespeople to engage with their ideal target audience. But: there is a right way and a wrong way to engage on social media, particularly on LinkedIn.

There is a right way and a wrong way to engage on social media, particularly on LinkedIn.

You probably have experienced the wrong way yourself.

Did it go something like this?

Someone you didn't know asked to connect with you. You accepted the invitation, perhaps hoping that it may be a useful new contact. Instead, immediately after your acceptance, they - figuratively speaking - behaved like a stone age cave man, clubbed you over the head with a self-centered introduction, dragged you back to their cave to show off their products, services and "solutions" and invited you to buy from them. All this eve though they had little idea of whether or not you needed their solution at all.

How did that experience leave you feeling?

Were you impressed with their selling prowess? Did you feel special and respected? Or did you feel like you were taken advantage off, had your time wasted and were treated like you are just a number?

This kind of prospecting is now unacceptable, particularly in these uncertain times when your prospects are already feeling under pressure. It clearly is not the path to a great sales result.

Here is where I make a distinction between traditional sales lead generation and what I call "Sophisticated Prospect Engagement". Prospect Engagement is different and superior to the dumb numbers game of mass email blasts and automated outreaches of yesteryear.

So, what should proper social selling look like today, ideally?

What should proper social selling look like today, ideally?

Well, the best way to answer that question is by looking at how you yourself would like to be treated on social media, particularly on LinkedIn. As you know, it has all the prospects you could ever wish for, literally millions of them.

It's no wonder then that LinkedIn is the go-to social media platform for B2B networking and business development. But, instead of treating LinkedIn like a mass-spam tool, it needs to be handled with respect. Your prospects need to be treated with respect and dignity.

Here is where I make a distinction between traditional sales lead generation and what I call "Sophisticated Prospect Engagement".

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my preferred Prospect Engagement has been likened to good old-fashioned dating. Imagine this scenario:

Someone reaches out to you based on something you have in common. They produce evidence through their knowledge, insight or expertise that you have something in common and that they can help you.

As you get to know them a bit better you feel more comfortable interacting with them. So, when they ask to formally connect with you it feels like a natural extension of your experience to date.

You agree to accept them into your social network. Over time, they provide further evidence of their value to you and, eventually, they offer to advance your acquaintance in a phone or online call, or even in a face-to-face coffee catch up (social distancing notwithstanding). When you do meet them they further impress you with their understanding of your challenges and opportunities, and with their ideas on how you can address them. It feels comfortable, valuable and safe.

This is the ideal scenario. But there is a downside.

Specialist professional outreach company on LinkedIn, LinkedDNA, estimates that, in order to be effective at personal prospecting on LinkedIn, it can take up as much as 20-30 hours per week, per rep, every week. That's a lot of time for a rep to spend online, instead of selling.

That's a lot of time for a rep to spend online, instead of selling.

So, there is a train of thought that says that we should not burden sales reps with both these opposing tasks. That we should take care of both tasks more efficiently by handing them to specialist experts.

Here is what this options looks like:

Obviously, one solution is to put prospecting on LinkedIn into the hands of a specialist services provider whose job it is to manage your reps' personal LinkedIn profiles, utilizing your existing content, taking that time, patience and care to build proper rapport with your ideal prospects to secure those personal calls or coffees. Reps can still monitor the conversations on their LinkedIn profiles in real time and chime in at any time. They retain full control over their LinkedIn accounts and the conversations, and they retain full access and control over what is being said in their name.

The moment the prospect accepts an invitation to meet (online or in-person), the specialist hands the qualified lead over to your sales rep for follow up and to arrange the meeting details.

LinkedDNA says that this creates a steady stream of win-win scenarios:

This creates a steady stream of win-win scenarios.

1. Sales reps don't need to spend 20+ hours per week on social media. Instead, that time is freed up for them to advance and close more deals, thus lifting their productivity.
2. At the same time, their sales pipeline and sales funnel is being filled for them with a sustained stream of high-quality ideal prospects who are pre-qualified and ready to engage in a genuine business conversation.

If you'd like more information on the pros and cons of in-house lead generation and HOW you can make sure you get that mix right for your reps, too, take a look at this recent BrightTalk webinar of mine.

There is a ton of information, tips and advice for you there.

Conclusion

There can be no doubt that good, effective prospecting is hard, particularly in the current business environment, in times of crisis.

The question is what is the best way for your organization to tackle that critical task? How do you get that mix right? How do you create maximum effectiveness and - importantly - results?

What is the best way for your organization to tackle that critical task? How do you create maximum effectiveness and - importantly - results?

LinkedDNA is a good solution for you. Learn more about it in the short video below:

For even more information, please click here.

Or, let's have a conversation about your specific prospecting challenges, and about your opportunities, in a private call. I'll be happy to share with you the perspectives, experiences and insights of current LinkedDNA clients and advise you on the right solution for you.

You can book our call right here.

I look forward to speaking with you.

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About Peter

Peter Strohkorb is an international Sales Acceleration Specialist Adviser and Smarketing Expert in the B2B Technology and Services sector.

His motto is: "More Sales, Faster."

Peter is also an acclaimed Amazon book author, blogger, thought leader and Interim Executive.

He has helped many executives to achieve significant business success by growing their sales revenue, raising their profile and increasing market share. He can help you, too. Just ask.

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