New technological capabilities often cause people in business to assume older sales prospecting techniques are no longer viable. However, just because things have been done a certain way for a long time doesn’t mean those approaches are ineffective in light of new methods. Sometimes, combining proven strategies with new approaches is the right way to optimize results.
The following is a look at several vintage sales prospecting techniques that still produce excellent results when leveraged with today’s technology.
Warm Calling
Okay, technically the old approach to calling on new prospects is known as “cold calling.” However, the point of including this well-established telemarketing prospecting technique is that it still works if you do it the right way.
Cold calling developed a bad reputation because reps would call on people that were not qualified to make a purchase. The result was either a forced sale that led to customer frustration and little long-term value or wasted time with no sale in the end.
“Warm calling” means contacting people that you have some reason to believe may need your solution. You normally get to this point with lead generation activities that produce qualified leads. These leads include people with traits or demonstrated behaviors that match your typical customer profiles. Precontact research contributes to getting a prospect to engage you in a phone conversation.
Live Events
Seminars, workshops, and other “select” programs have long been used in sales prospecting. However, many firms have eliminated or ignored this opportunity by focusing all energy on technology-based strategies and communication.
In fact, you can leverage technology to amplify the value of live events by offering access to prospects through Webinars, live feeds, and other distance-based communication platforms. Live events allow you to create an impactful, personalized impression and to create a sense of value with prospects that inspires them to want to know more.
Direct Mail
Thanks to advances in database technology and the ability to target prospects more precisely based on traits and behaviors, direct mail is achieving record response rates. The graphic below reveals that companies in a lot of industries are surpassing a 5 percent response rate when targeting qualified prospects. This level of response far exceeds historical rates, which were well below 1 percent.
Conclusion
As the evidence shows, eliminating traditional sales prospecting approaches due to technology gains is not always sensible. You are much better off leveraging technology and data to amplify your results with proven methods for targeting prospects.
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