A Targeted Approach To Teleprospecting The Network Security Space
In terms of teleprospecting, Network security has notoriously been a tough space to call into. Network managers and IT executives are very reluctant to divulge what solution they are using to protect their critical data, their email and their web access. It’s our job to find out what pains the organization may be feeling with what they currently have and when prospects are so tight lipped and brief it can be frustrating when your goal is to uncover opportunities.
As a team, we sat down and took a look at the verticals that were on our list and discussed which specific vertical we should hone in on. In this case that vertical turned out to be Higher Education. At the time it was just a hunch but our actions provided quick feedback and it proved to be a successful target.
What we did: We ran a targeted email campaign on a list of roughly 3,500 plus contacts and had an outstanding 22% open rate for the first set of mailings. An average open rate for a email such as this typically ranges between 8-10%! The messaging these emails conveyed were specifically targeted to the education field and it detailed particular benefits a college or university would experience if they had this particular solution. We then ran a report from the campaign results and noted all the prospects that opened our emails, and/or clicked the website link, so we could then focus our teleprospecting efforts on these individuals.
The results: We discovered that within Higher Education, network security is a hot button topic that most IT/Network departments are ready to discuss openly and honestly. The common finding is that they need a way to keep the internet access open and free, but at the same time, having the ability to mitigate all the security risks that come with it. All colleges wants their employees and students to have free reign on the internet within their network - they just don’t want to be exposed to the thousands of viruses and spyware, intellectual property theft or even the loss of critical data – like student records. In two weeks we uncovered 14 qualified sales opportunities spread across community colleges and prestigious universities.
Rather than letting frustration distract you, focus on creative ways to expose a strong vertical – and stay targeted on their pains and requirements.
