5 Ways to becoming the best sales prospector

Sales prospecting is hard. That’s why when we came across the 5 ways Kyle Porter (CEO of SalesLoft & one of our sponsors) describes how to become the most sincere and efficient sales prospector – we listened.

There are so many tactics and strategies to prospecting better – sometimes its about getting back to the basics, filling up your funnel and putting in some good old fashioned hard work.

Originally posted on the SalesLoft blog, here are his 5 most important picks – do you agree?

1. Get the Right Info

The right name, spelling, title, email, phone number. Use Google, LinkedIn, overseas labor, my company’s product, another company’s product…I don’t care where you get it. But the first thing you have to do is get good data.

Now this often means getting small amounts of data on an ongoing basis. If you ever find yourself acquiring a list so large that you or your team can’t reach them sincerely in the next week, then go back to the drawing board. Bonus points for viewing each prospect’s LinkedIn profile, company bio page, or Twitter account and mentioning something you learned – quickly.

2. Find a Way to Personalize Emails While Still Able to Send Several at Once

Now by several, I don’t mean 410,000 or some crazy marketing number. I’m talking about a manageable amount of prospects that you can give your personal attention – like 30 to 70. While blasting the list may be fast, it won’t be effective. Your prospects open an email looking for a reason to delete it. If they see it was sent in mass by a robot marketing tool, it’s toast. Systems that recognize your need for personalization and scale are going to be more valuable than those that don’t.

3. Integrate Phone Calls

Sincerity comes from first understanding your prospects and then reaching out in a way that is convenient….for them. Sometimes you’ll catch them on email and other times on the phone. Have a dialer that is integrated with your email tool so you can track where you are in your communication outreach process. Record calls for coaching, rotate area codes by where people live, and make sure you call the right times zones at the right time.

4. Use Social Touch Integration

If you sell to businesses, you’ll want to find your buyers on LinkedIn. Add a step to your prospecting cadence to send InMail or send invites to the VIP prospects. Make sure you use a system that prompts you to send them at the right times so you don’t forget. Automate the logging of these activities in CRM so you can track effectiveness.

5. Follow Metrics and Improve

In order to be sincere and effective, you’ll want to optimize your outreach steps. You’ll want to figure out scientifically which days and times are best to make calls, how many emails to send and which ones are most effective, among other analytics. Test everything. When you do you’ll wind up finding the most sincere and effective methods for approaching your prospects. It might be a good idea to look into the benefits of saas prospecting, to make sure you make as many sales as possible.

From salesmen peddling goods on their wagons to today’s sales development reps, balancing sincerity and scope has been an ongoing challenge. The good news is that with the tools available today, the struggle is a bit easier.

You can tailor your message to each contact without sacrificing your reach using tools to gather accurate info, collect metrics, and integrate phone calls.