Improve Your Prospecting – Ways to Develop a Solid List & How to Manage It.
Interview with Amanda Puppo, CEO of MarketReach.
Published on MakeFirstImpressions.com
What’s the first step toward making a sale? It’s not setting up the appointment, or even picking up the telephone. The first step in making a sale is deciding WHO to call. My interview with Market Reach’s Amanda Puppo gave some valuable insight on how to develop a very important marketing tool – your prospecting list.
Q: How do you decide who should be on your targeted list?
A: Be specific – the more targeted your list is, the better. List all the important criteria about your ideal prospects: where they are located, their revenue, employee size, industry type, title of the decision maker, etc.
Q: What’s the best way to put together a prospect list?
A: There are a few ways:
In-House List: This is a list that you put together on your own, culled from meetings, networking, trade shows. This is the best list you can have because you have had previous association with each person on the list.
Association List: This can include chambers of commerce, associations, and other groups where you or your company is a member.
Purchased List: This is a list that you buy through a list house. The good news is that they can provide you with almost any kind of commercial or residential list you need. The caveat: there is no perfect list. Expect inaccuracies – from 15 to 20 percent of the list.
Q: Now that we have a list, how do we manage it to make sure it remains updated?
A: It’s important to use a CRM (Contact Management System) so that you can continue to cull the list and improve upon it. If this type of purchase is not in your budget (and for many small businesses, it’s not), you can use an Excel spreadsheet in much the same way, creating special fields that say “Not Interested Right Now,” “Interested,” or “Call in 6 Months.” This helps you quickly navigate the list to find the names you want to call.
Q: Any quick tips for working your list?
A: Your list is only as good as it’s worked. Also, be sure to put your contacts into an electronic format – a stack of business cards sitting on your desk is not going to produce sales. Get them into a format that you can use.
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