Halloween spells a crucial timeline for any sales team as the year end looms large. With the last 2 weeks of December essentially being a wipe-out for many in the enterprise sales space, the arrival of Halloween signifies that there is just 6 weeks left to hit yearly targets. It is therefore crucially important that your sales pipeline is healthy and strong at this time of year. So what will October 31st bring to your sales force this time around? Will it be trick………or treat?
There will be many in the arena of Business Development who will be facing the ghoulish prospect of missing their annual targets. And speaking as one who has previously faced this blood curdling prospect, it is akin to facing down Dracula without so much as a pinch of garlic in your armoury.
There are many reasons why a sales person can find themselves in this predicament. For the purpose of this article, let us focus our thoughts on just one…….sales lead generation.
Sales leads are to the sales person what candy is to the 6 year old trick-or-treater. They are seized with eager anticipation, the wrapping ripped off, eyes widening in anticipation to discover what lies inside. Will it be a gem of a sales lead that ticks all the qualification boxes or a chocolate covered peanut….and you have a nut allergy?!
Having a structured sales lead generation process and defined lead qualification criteria are of paramount importance if a sales team are to be armed with the tools required to hit the numbers. If you are a manager looking to generate sales leads for your team, then make sure to assess your qualification criteria.
Let’s take a look at the following Halloween related example:
You are the purveyor of “quality candy buckets”. You bump into your buddy. He is swearing profusely because he can’t carry any more candy. Is there a genuine candy earning opportunity here for you?
- Existing solution - (buddy has a bucket to carry his candy)
- Identified “pain” experienced with existing solution - (candy keeps falling out of buddy’s bucket because it’s too small)
- Need - (a bigger bucket!)
- Decision maker contact - (buddy is the main guy for all bucket negotiations)
- Timeframe - (buddy has to be finished trick-or-treating before 8pm so that he can dunk for apples)
- Budget - (your buddy has candy he can trade with you)
- Defined next step - (demonstration of the volume of candy the “quality candy bucket” can carry)
If your sales people are receiving leads without a pre-defined level of qualification, you are seriously inhibiting their chances of success. So, qualify, qualify, qualify! You can have a highly talented sales person but unless you arm them with the necessary tools of the trade, they will be faced with a constant uphill battle wasting valuable time on unqualified prospects.
So this Halloween, ensure your sales team are supplied with an ample amount of treats……..not chocolate covered peanuts!
Maven TM is specialised in B2B Telemarketing and Sales Leads Generation services for companies looking to consolidate, expand or penetrate national or international markets. For more information, please contact Maven TM at info@maventm.com.
