Intelligent Prospecting for Anthony

My good friend Anthony (not his real name), a Certified Public Accountant told me that he had joined with a couple of other complimentary professionals to market their services to prospects who they believe are in their target market. Their marketing plan consisted of acquiring a list of top executives in the Philadelphia area (Anthony did not say if the list was current or they were going to "borrow" one from a friend) and hire a telemarketer to work four hours a day calling the list to obtain a sales appointment. Their marketing plan assumed that the telephone cold calls would coincide exactly with the financial needs of many prospects on the list and they would arrange a couple appointments a week - a very ambitious and naïve plan.

A Couple of Suggestions
Because Anthony is a good friend of mine, I did not want him to waste his money on this plan. I suggested a few ideas that might help improve the probability of success of their marketing plan, obtain better prospecting outcomes and increase their sales. I explained that they must add activities to their plan that turns a cold call into a warm conversation. I suggested that they think of planting the seeds for future sales by nurturing the prospects until they are ready to buy their services.

Prospecting and Marketing Activites
One of the first things the group needed to do is to establish themselves in the minds of the prospects as experts in their individual fields. For a small investment in time and money, they could implement a couple of these prospecting and marketing activities:

* Define who is their target market and investigate those markets
* Create a newsletter and/or a blog with articles that can educate the prospects on current financial topics 
* Create LinkedIn discussions on the same topics and ask and answer questions
* Provide seminars on specific subjects for each of their target markets
* Offer to speak to the groups and associations where their prospects belong
* Upgrade or create a website that acts as a repository for these articles and discussions
* Network at the meeting where the prospects also attend
* Contact their existing customers and ask for the referral to other executives who would benefit from their services
* Use direct mail (letters and postcards) and email messages to keep their names in front of the prospects until they are ready to buy
* Invest in a current and accurate list, preferably my Great Prospects Sales Leads program that lists decision makers in the Philadelphia area who are making news

A New Marketing Plan
Anthony liked the new marketing plan and will review it with the rest of his team. I emphasized that they did not need to implement all of these prospecting activities, but to pick a couple that the group could do with the resources that they already have. And if they still needed help, they could outsource a couple of the projects to experts who could complete them more efficiently.

Anthony, Good Luck and Good Selling!

Mike Hilbert
Sales Solutions Inc.