Lessons on account prioritization

Jen discusses a mistake she made while prioritizing new enterprise accounts and what she learned from it:

• Demographics as filters: Use demographics like full-time employees (FTEs), revenue size, and industry to disqualify poor fits, but not to prioritize good ones.

• Example of a mistake: Jen spent three years pursuing a $30 billion medical device company with 2,000 sales employees. Despite their impressive demographics, she failed to secure a deal because her outreach was generic and assumptive, offering no compelling reason for the company to engage.

• Shift in strategy: Instead of focusing solely on demographics, identify the business problems your solution addresses. Consider issues that leaders discuss in their meetings, not just product-related problems.

• Evidence-based approach: Look for observable evidence that suggests an account faces one of these business problems.

• Crafting messages: Use a thoughtful approach in your messaging, incorporating an unsure tone to invite discussion. For example, reference specific goals or challenges the company might have and relate them to similar situations other clients have faced.

By focusing on business problems and using evidence-based messaging, you can better engage potential clients and improve your chances of success.

Quality over quantity

In his post on LinkedIn Ian shares tips for effective prospecting:

1. Focus on fewer accounts

Concentrate on the top 20% of your accounts. For example, if you have 50 accounts, focus on the top 10.

2. Identify key contacts

Find at least 5 unique contacts within each of these accounts. This gives you 50 contacts to focus on.

3. Develop a unique point of view

Research each account and contact to understand how you can specifically help them.

4. Increase touches

Contact each person at least 9 times using various channels like email, phone, and LinkedIn video. A suggested mix is 6 emails, 2 phone calls, and 1 video.

5. Quality over quantity

Ensure each message is high quality and builds on the previous one. This is easier when focusing on fewer accounts.

By focusing more on fewer contacts, you can improve your chances of setting up meetings and achieving better results. Ian emphasizes that "less is more" in prospecting, and what you focus on will grow.

Tailor your sales cadence

Mark outlines his preferred outbound sales cadence but notes it may not suit everyone.

The key points:

Cadence overview

• Day 1: Connect on LinkedIn, make a call, wait 90 minutes, then call again.

• Day 2: Make a call, wait 90 minutes, call again, then send an SMS and email.

• Day 4: Make a call, reply to an email, and connect on LinkedIn.

• Day 6: Make a call and send an email.

Repeat after 14 days if there has been no contact.

Why it might not work for you

• You may have a different Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).

• Your focus might be on meeting attainment.

• You might not prefer making calls.

Target Audience

This approach is tailored for reaching out to business owners, CEOs, and Managing Directors of businesses with less than $20 million in turnover.

Considerations

• The cadence might be too aggressive for enterprise or government buyers.

• Success depends on understanding your ICP and buyer persona.

Mark encourages sales professionals to tailor their strategies based on their target audience and to consider what works best for their unique context.