Where is the Business Going to Come From?

In this post, Alex tackles another one of the big sales questions; where will we get the business?

The cry from founders, CEO’s, and investors goes up, ‘we need sales!’ And the first questions that get asked are: ‘Where is it going to come from?’ and ‘Who should we be targeting?’

Knowing where to go and who to target is essential when organising a prospecting and new business initiative. Therefore, the first step in the process is choosing targets, as we cannot prospect without knowing who the prospects are.

Since they aren't really targeting anyone, it is concerning that the majority of salespeople spend their time in reactive mode, reacting to possible opportunities rather than using a defined list of prospects. Successful proactive salespeople are those who use a strategically targeted list of accounts to deliver sales.

Selecting Target Accounts

It’s surprising (or possibly not) how often it is taken for granted that salespeople are working on the right prospects. Choosing our target accounts translates into choosing where we spend our time – and time in sales is not a luxury that is often afforded.

So what are the key questions we should be thinking about?

• Who are our best customers?
• What common characteristics do they share?
• Are they a particular size?
• Do they sit in specific vertical markets or niches?
• Where can we find these similar-looking prospects?
• How do we rank prospective targets?
• Are there key competitor accounts we should be targeting?

The questions above are by no means an exhaustive list, but they are exactly the type of questions that need asking and answering to ensure we focus our time and energy in the right places, giving ourselves the best chance of success and securing those sales.

The List

There is no point in asking and answering these questions if we are not documenting the output, as otherwise it’s a bit like deciding on what meals we want to have during the week but not bothering to create a shopping list to ensure we are buying the right ingredients – we all know how that ends!

Running with the shopping list analogy, the list needs to be finite – there is no point wasting money and, more importantly, time on stuff we don’t need.

Successful salespeople are those who are confident that their targets have been selected for the right reasons, and they work (and rework) their selected accounts. And it’s easy to spot those salespeople who have set themselves up to fail – you ask them who they are targeting, and they often point to trade journals, a whole list of bookmarked webpages, or a CRM printout from a previous salesperson – not the recipe for success.

The Focus

When compiling our target list, we also need to be focused – focusing on a vertical or a certain type of account will deliver better results. Salespeople will get to know the nuances, vertical language, and business issues their prospects are facing, and they will become more comfortable and confident about what questions to ask and when, and start to add value to the sales/prospect relationship.

How Many?

An often-posed question is how many prospects should be on a target list?

Unfortunately, there is no generic answer here – it depends on the type of sale, the sales cycle, etc. At one end of the spectrum are enterprise accounts with big-ticket pricing and long sales cycles, where you may have as few as 6 to 8 target accounts, and at the other end are SME accounts with lower-ticket pricing and quick sales cycles, where you may have 300+ target accounts.

The only answer that can be given is ‘workable’ – where the number of target prospects aligns with the shape and scale of the market fit and opportunity – too many and you never get anywhere, too few and you run the risk of missing out on some juicy opportunities.

The secret to determining where the business is going to come from is to ask the right questions in order to generate a finite list that is targeted at your target market and can be efficiently worked on over a predetermined amount of time.

Want to understand where your business could come from? Get in touch, let's have a chat about your path to revenue.