Developing and Qualifying
a
Prospect Base
Concepts and Practices
Prospect, Prospecting, and
Prospect Base Defined
 Prospect: a potential customer that
meets the qualification criteria
established by your company
 Prospecting: identifying potential
customers
 Prospect base: is made up of current
customers and potential customers
9-2
Importance of Prospecting
 Every salesperson must cope with
customer attrition
 Customers move, firms go out of
business, sales lost to competition
 Average company may lose 15 to 20%
of customer base every year
9-3
Girard’s Ferris Wheel—Supply
9-4
FIGURE
9.1
Girard’s Ferris Wheel—Loss
FIGURE 9.1
9-5
CONTINUED
Prospecting Requires Planning
 Increase number of people who board the Ferris wheel
 Improve the quality of prospects
 Shorten sales cycle by determining which prospects are
“qualified”
 Prospecting plans must be monitored continuously for
effectiveness
9-6
Referrals
 Prospect recommended: by current satisfied
customer or one familiar with product or service
 Endless chain: ask contact who else could
benefit from product
 Referral organizations: facilitate networking
 Friends, family members, centers of influence: a
person may not make decision but has influence
on those who do . . . opinion leaders
9-7
Hancock’s
Lead
Generation
9-8
Business Network International
Visit the world’s largest referral organization
www.bni.com
9-9
Directories
 Hundreds of business and industrial directories available
 Many major trade associations publish directories
 Be sure to use current copy or edition as prospects shift
firms; track people and companies
9-10
Thomas Register
9-11
Trade Shows/Publications
 Trade shows and conventions: your company may
have a booth at key trade shows/expositions
 Trade publications: each industry has trade
publications that sales professionals need to read
 Join trade associations: many salespersons join
trade associations to gain access to potential buyers
9-12
Telemarketing
 Telemarketing: the practice of marketing goods and
services through telephone contact
 To identify buyers and generate contact lists for sales staff
 To qualify prospects
 To verify sales leads
generated by other
methods
 To conduct follow-ups
9-13
Direct Response and Sales Letters
 Direct response advertising: often features inquiry
cards or information requests via mail or
telephone
 Sales letters: send sales letters to decision makers,
then follow up
9-14
Website
 Websites provide cost-effective way for sales
professionals to:
 Project personal image
 Provide additional information
 Generate leads from visitors to site
 Present product information
 Establish e-mail lists
9-15
Computerized Databases
 In-house databases: your firm may already have a
comprehensive database; sometimes referred to as the
“house list” with details on customers, purchase patterns,
and so forth
 List sources: wide range of precise lists available from
variety of sources
 See www.infoUSA.com
9-16
Computerized Databases
 Purchasing databases or lists can be costly; price usually
set on cost-per-thousand names
 Not all relevant databases are equal; some “pull” better
than others
 Pull is the percentage of the list resulting in qualified
prospects or actual sales
9-17
Cold Calling
 Simply calling prospects without referrals
 New salespeople rely on these as they haven’t built referral
base
 Must be strategically planned
 Prelude to in-person appointment
 A way to introduce yourself and your company to a
prospect
9-18
Networking
 Making and profiting from personal connections
 Networking guidelines
 Meet as many people as you can
 Tell them what you do
 Do not do business while networking
 Offer business card
 Edit contacts and conduct follow-ups
9-19
Three Types of Networks
9-20
FIGURE
9.2
Educational Seminars
 Provide opportunity to showcase product without
pressuring to buy
 Require extensive preparation
 Start value-added process
 Can attend or present at industry sponsored seminars or
offer your own
9-21
Non-Sales Employees
 Non-sales personnel can be valued source of leads
 Prospecting not necessarily
exclusive task of sales force
 Non-sales personnel often
need training and incentives
9-22
Combination Approaches
 Salespersons generally rely on combination of
prospecting methods
 Some methods have higher yield than others
 Important to use CRM technology to help maximize
efficiency
9-23
Qualifying Prospects
Key time-saving criteria:

Does the prospect need my product?

Can prospect make the buying decision?

Can prospect pay for the purchase?

Will anyone close the sale?
9-24
Organizing Prospect Information
 Prospect as an individual
 Prospect as a business representative
9-25
Prospect
Information
Harvey Mackay suggests 66question customer profile.
See it at:
mackay.com
9-26
Prospecting and Sales Forecasting Plans
Important to balance time and organize contacts:

Prepare a list of prospects

Forecast potential sales volume for each new account, by
product

Carefully plan the sales route to minimize time and cost
9-27