Selling and Sales management - Chapter 5: Understanding Prospective customers

Ideal customer profile (ICP)

Helps the salesperson focus on the needs of potential customers as well as which customers are most likely to purchase as well as craft an effective value proposition

The three ways to profile a customer

• Demographics

• Psychographics

• Behavioural characteristics

Demographics

The visible and measurable traits of a consumer

e.g. A firm’s number of employees, industry, revenue, etc

B2C demographics

Income, marital status, age

B2B demographics

Number of employees, the firm’s revenue, industry, location

Psychographics

A customer’s psychological traits.

e.g. Desires, habits, hobbies, etd

Behavioural characteristics

Traits which define how someone behaves; are usually observed through measuring the customer’s behaviour with data and analytics

e.g. How long a customer stays on a website, how many price quotes they get before making a purchase, etc

Critical questions about ICP

• What does my typical customer need and want?

• What are my customers’ attitudes and desires?

• Is my customer price-conscious? What can they afford?

• Will they buy immediately? Or will they think on it more?

• Does the customer prefer to communicate by email or phone calls?

How should sellers focus on the right prospects?

Sellers should focus on customers who match their ICP

How should sellers focus on the right prospects? (con’t)

• Which type of customers offer the highest MRR (monthly recurring revenue)?

• Do medium or large businesses use our product the most?

• Which type of customers offer the most referrals?

Value proposition

Discovering the problem(s) faced by customers that they hope to solve with what’s being offered

Post-purchase research

To find out what aspects of the offering solve the consumer’s problem the best, by figuring out the main competitive advantage and understanding what features they find appealing, their motives, etc

Retaining the prospect’s attention

Focus on 2-4 main selling points at a time as the average person can only hold 3-4 items in their memory at a time

Feature-advantage-benefit

Turning product features into concepts prospects will care about

e.g. A medical supply company’s knee braces being light and flexible, thus allowing the patient to live an easier and normal life while in rehab

Value proposition (con’t)

A statement (or set of statements) which highlights how the offering gives value to customers

The best practices for a value proposition

• Give proof, such as statistics or testimonials

• Keep it simple and stay focused on the main advantages

• Be specific about what exactly the product is

• Focus on the customer by keeping statements focused on them instead of the product

• Focus on the outcome(s)

Personalizing the ICP

Tailoring the ICP to the specific prospect’s needs by collecting as much info as possible

AI tools for research and personalization

Tools like Crystal Knows can help identify customer personality types, while 6sense and Apollo can help identify buyer intent

Sales cadence

A series of actions/touch points executed by a seller over a time period to engage with a prospect; can be dynamic and changing based on what happened

Sales cadence (con’t)

Helps a sales professional deliver proper communication (e.g. phone calls, emails, in person visits, etc) over the right period of time

Sales cadence (III)

Helps a sales professional remember to follow up with the prospect the appropriate number of times as communications are planned and scheduled in advance

Scheduling the cadence

Ensures communication is as natural as possible

Preferred communication means for different age demographics

Older people: Email or phone call

Younger people: LinkedIn or social media

How to schedule the cadence

Begin with a LinkedIn Connection to use as a reference point, then follow up with a very personalized email, and then going from there

Sales cadence for re-engaging prospects

Developing a type of sales cadence different from the usual cadence

Cadence automation tools

Offering value beyond the product

Offering the prospect resources like blog posts, podcasts, or educational videos

Webinars

Online trainings and seminars which are often open to the public

Connecting on multiple platforms

Engaging with prospects on more than one platform, which will enable learning about the prospect and their organization

e.g. Commenting on something the prospect shared on LinkedIn instead of sending a generic email

Things to NOT do during the follow-up process

• Not taking no for an answer

• Getting too personal

• Trying to circumvent the prospect and contact other decision makes other than the primary contact

• Not being authentic