Lead generation

Keys to Prospecting: Finding Quality Leads

Turning good leads into truly qualified leads is tough work, regardless of what you sell. And in the current economy, before you add anyone to your ongoing database, you want to prequalify them as best you can. Whether you’re talking to a prospect on the phone, communicating via e-mail or working through your website, Mathew Georghiou, CEO of software development and publishing company MediaSpark, says that the better you know your prospects, the more likely you are to convert your lead into a sale.

“I want to know the color of their underwear,” he jokes. “Well, that may be a bit more information than you need—unless, of course, you sell underwear—but it helps to ask the questions that get you to someone who’ll ultimately buy from you.”

In qualifying leads, Georghiou suggests assessing the following for each prospect you speak with:

• Determine their need or “pain”—Basically, do they need your product? “Does the prospect have an issue that’s causing them pain and can your product or service solve it?” he asks. “Put it this way: you’re either selling aspirin or vitamins. With vitamins, it’s about long-term health and the immediate sale is harder to make. Aspirin mitigates the pain right away.”
• Do they have the funds?—They may have a significant pain factor, but there is no prospect if the person can’t afford your product or service.
• Desire to purchase—“A prospect may have a pain but might not even be aware of it,” observes Georghiou, “so the desire won’t be there. Another possibility is that they’re aware of a pain but may not be ready or are considering a competitor. You’ll either have to create that desire, with a better deal, or find it already there.”
• Position in the buying process—Is the prospect a decision-maker or an influencer? Will that person sign off on a buy, or will he or she have an influence on a decision? You’re seeking either the decision-maker or a key influencer.
• Status of the relationship—How close is the person to potentially buying? Hot, warm, cool, cold or unknown? The hotter the status, the more emphasis you put on that prospect in the short term.
• Identify objections to your product or service—“Knowing any objection—whether it’s the cost, positioning or even the timing of the sale—can help you overcome it going forward,” says Georghiou. “Work to identify these objections through interactions with prospects and customers. If you don’t ask, you won’t learn.”

A pipeline full of prospects is a good thing and it’s the best way to ramp up sales. But, observes Georghiou, good lead-building is “a numbers game. The absolute most you know about your prospect and his or her profile, the more you can focus on what you can do to close the sale with confidence. And you do need the numbers. Even if a prospect meets all of your criteria, you never really know who’s in a position to buy and when they will until they buy. You need a solid database and you need to communicate with prospects frequently. You have to sow a lot of seeds to grow a garden.”