Outbound Prospecting with Sales Intelligence

Unlike many predators, a coyote practices a unique set of diverse hunting tactics. Sometimes coyotes hunt in packs to attack bigger prey. Sometimes they sniff out their prey and run after them. As some of the fastest mammals in North America, coyotes don't need to wait for their prey to come near ' they're superb chasers. And sometimes coyotes hunt alongside badgers, who are good diggers and can dig rabbits and other small game out of holes so the coyote can capture them.

Outbound prospectors hunt like coyote, and Sales Intelligence aids them like the badger. Outbound reps identify their prospects, and pursue them until they've won a deal, but the more coyotes on the trail, the harder to catch the easy prey. The coyote that hunts alongside the badger reaches targets that the other coyote can't find.

Uncover how Sales Intelligence can grow your outbound business. Sales managers usually devise outbound plans that outline 5 stages of successful outbound prospecting. We rewrote that list to show you how Sales Intelligence can help your outbound business flourish:

Add Trigger Events and Social Connections to Your Target List
Every rep that goes outbound needs a list of roughly 25 top prospects. Most reps build their lists based on company size, industry, title, and geographical location. Sales Intelligence allows you to add two additional target criteria:

• Sales Triggers ' what business opportunities and challenges does your prospect face? Trigger events always create a business need, and if you know the trigger events that drive your customers towards action, you can predict their needs.
• Social Connections ' thanks to social media, we all have huge online networks of connections. Use yours to dig up target prospects. Only add companies at which you have a connection to your top 25 list. Executives are 74% more likely to answer your email if it comes from a referral than a cold call or impersonal email.

Use Your Social Network to Reach Your Target Executives
You can't start an outbound effort if you don't know who you're going to call. Research your target's executives, and identify 3-5 people with whom you'd like to get in touch at each target customer.

If you're connected to someone at every company on your target list, the first point of contact with an outbound prospect should begin with a warm referral from your connections.

Engage Your Prospects Through Social Media
Not every executive is on Twitter or Instagram, but almost every company into which you sell has a social media presence. Follow your prospects to find out what they care about. What topics do they Tweet about? If you thrust yourself into the conversations they have online, catching the attention of a target VP is much easier than it is if you persistently call and leave 17 voice mails. You also have an opportunity to learn their business concerns, which gives you an edge up when you do reach them because you're more likely to offer a relevant message than if you go in cold.

Use an Insight-Based Approach to Discover Prospect's Needs
Traditional sales expertise suggests a long list of questions with which sales reps can badger prospects to learn their business needs. But remember, the sales rep is the coyote, and sales intelligence the badger. The information reps need to know to diagnose a deal is out there. Don't waste time asking a prospect about key initiatives and industries of focus. Let the badger discover the insights. If you find that the price of oil drastically affects your prospect, suggest a unique perspective on the future of the price of oil, and how your offering alleviates any pain they may feel because of it.

You will eventually need to find out how a prospect's team is organized, compensated, and how they make decisions, but save those questions until you know you've hooked your prospect.

Watch Your Prospects to Convert Them
Use Sales Intelligence to follow your target accounts and decision makers. Sales Intelligence always gives reps a reason to call prospects. If you've uncovered an opportunity, don't let your competition swoop in before you close the deal. Know the news the moment a prospect receives new funding or releases a new product. Sales Intelligence uncovers those insights, so make sure you follow them.

'Coyotes move within a landscape of attentiveness. I have seen their eyes in the creosote bushes and among mesquite trees. They have watched me. And all the times that I saw no eyes, that I kept walking and never knew, there were still coyotes.'
'Craig Childs, The Animal Dialogues

Whether the coyote watches his prey, or the badger, neither will miss an opportunity for a good hunt with their eyes always open for advantages. A sales rep should always be a coyote.