When some people think of sales teams, they often let their minds wander to men in dodgy outfits who are trying to flog overpriced security systems to vulnerable old ladies. In reality, most sales teams are not like this at all and are actually trying to help an individual or business by introducing them to a product or service. A good salesperson will treat their role like an art; it takes time to master, and imitations just aren’t as valuable as the real thing.
However a salesperson can often only be as good as the data that they have to work with. Just like an artist has their paint and palettes to create something with, a salesperson must have data to do the same. When they have the best of it, they can add their skills to the mix to get brilliant results for a business. But where does it come from?
Business Data Lists
The most popular way to accumulate a lot of business information quickly is to buy a data list. There are many options for these so you will need to do some research into exactly what you need. You can generally filter a master list with the fields you want, so you might only pay for certain industries, job roles, locations, and so on. You can’t always guarantee that the list will be perfect, so you can get your own telesales staff to ring each company to verify the information supplied. A top tip is to copy all of the data into the online CRM so your team can keep up to date records as they work through the list.
Exhibitions
There are likely some exhibitions in your industry that would work really well for data capture exercises. You will need to pick a strategy to suit the products and services you offer, but competitions, exclusive offers and freebies are tried and tested tactics. Before you sign up to an exhibition, you should spend a good amount of time analysing the footfall of the event, the job titles of the attendees, the type of companies that usually visit, and so on. You will need to decide whether it is going to provide you with a great ROI in the future.
Networking Events
When it comes to data you will need to weigh up quality and quantity. You might find a few gems in a massive data list, or you could end up meeting the ideal clients when you are at a networking event. That is why it is always beneficial to have more than one method of collecting data! Some people will be much more receptive to having a conversation face-to-face rather than over the phone whilst they are in the middle of something. They will be in engagement mode, putting them in the right frame of mind to learn about you and who you work for. Try and gather as many business cards as possible and follow them up after you add them to the CRM.
