The expression “first up, best dressed” is as true for sales as it is for any other area of your life. Timing and time management plays a huge part in your overall sales success.
With timing, it’s all about being the first solution provider in front of a potential prospect. The first solution provider the prospect meets has a much higher chance of winning the deal. You want to be first. Always.
But identifying leads that may be interested in buying and being the first one in, is a real challenge. And the last thing you need is for your time to be wasted by a buyer who is just shopping around. Understanding your leads and whether they are in the buying stage will help you manage your time. You want to be spending your time with your hotter prospects so you can convert them into opportunities. Knowing when to walk away from a lead will help you stop wasting your time. Take time to identify which of the buying stages your lead is in so you can decide if it is worth investing your time in.
Understanding buying stages
No reason to change
Not all prospects are unhappy with their current set up, and therefore they don’t necessarily have a reason to change. They may entertain the idea of changing, they may consider a demo or a sales presentation, but they are not going to be buying. They’re window shopping.
Remember, you want to be able to identify a point of pain that your solution can solve. So, a lead with no pain is less likely to convert into an opportunity. This doesn’t mean that you immediately bin them off, you may come back to them at a future point and check-in to see how things are going and if anything has changed in their business.
Shopping around
This may be a prospect who is considering changing solutions or vendors. But they are having a look around at the different alternatives with no intention to buy right now. They may have already decided on the solution with vendor number one. They may convert into an opportunity for you, but you are most likely not the first solution provider in, so you are coming late to the party.
Thinking of changing
A prospect who is unhappy with their current set up and may already be shopping for options is the person you want. They have a real reason to look at solutions. They have a need or a problem that they want to solve. And they are looking at their options. This is when you want to get in front of them.
The first vendor is the one most likely to win. You have the opportunity to define the buyer’s vision and design the solution before your competition has a chance to. You have the opportunity to identify criteria that rules out your competitors and shines a light on your offering.
They might not be ready to buy today; this may be something that they want to invest in 6 months down the road. But you are the first one on the scene. Plant the seed that you are the right provider. Share relevant content with them, stay in touch and keep yourself front of mind, without being a pest.
When you are prospecting, listen out for the cues that identify which of the stages your prospect falls into. Assess whether they are ready to solve their problem and talk business or if they are having a general shop around to see what’s out there.
We understand the demand for quality leads and the need for your team to meet those demands. We are here to help and add value by finding tangible, highly qualified leads where we have secured a date and a time for an appointment. These individuals are in your target audience, at the right decision-making level and have an interest in your solution. Taking away this pressure from your Sales team allows them to focus their time on closing deals and generating revenue.
If you are considering outsourcing your appointment setting, contact us by email info@integrileads.com or phone (+353) 00353 87 3932630. Follow us on LinkedIn for all of our latest updates.
