Last Years Trash List Can Be This Year’s Treasure
Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you another guest entry from one of our BDRs, Jill Ryan.
I’ve noticed recently during routine follow ups that a lot my contacts that I identified as the person to speak with are either no longer with the company, or no longer in that position. Although these contacts, that originally pushed back due to timing issues, budget constraints and other various reasons may no longer be the appropriate party, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When reaching back out to those folks, you start to not only see where things are at with the company, but you’re essentially “cleaning up” your list as well. Getting rid of those who have left the company or moved onto other positions and bringing in new contacts.
Over the past two years, we’ve all talked about the economy until we were blue in the face. We have seen people come and go, businesses experience intense lay offs and down sizing. With that being said, a lot of industries are finally making a comeback and positions are being filled, so your original contacts can change.
Recently, a VP I had been prospecting into for 6 months hadn’t left the company, but no longer had the same responsibilities as they did when we last spoke. I was forwarded to the Director who now oversees that process and was told that they have an active initiative and was in a position to take a discovery call. Aside from shifts in responsibility, it is not uncommon for your once key decision makers (Directors, VP’s etc.) to start retiring and new staff to take their place. This is another thing you can only find out from dialing into your accounts. Sending a maintenance email with some new literature is effective, but only if the person on the other line cares to review it. We often forget how many calls and emails our prospects get a day. So make sure you’re unique in your “follow up” and “checking in” emails and offer a bit of a refresher to help them recall who you are.
Sometimes you may not get the results you were looking for, but at least it’s a way to clean up your old campaigns and lists with new relevant information. Although your key contact is no longer there, you now have a previous conversation to reference with the new contact and have more credibility with them, which sets you apart from other vendors and allows for a better opportunity for setting up a next step with them.
Taking the time to check in on an old list that appears to be qualified out may be worthwhile. Make note of emails from retirees as they almost always have a follow up contact in the reply. Ask for referrals and initiatives. This will help you get a concrete feel on when a company is coming up on active projects and your sales team will have more time to prep for RFPs. -As the title states last years trash list can be this year’s treasure, so make a couple follow up dials, you'd be surprised at the information you can get.