Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Guide To Sales Prospecting
Guide To Sales Prospecting
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of
The History of B2B Sales Prospecting – p. 6 Inbound prospecting – p. 34
Ideal Customer Profile – p. 12 Prospecting platforms – p. 38
Firmographics – p. 18 Prospecting KPIs – p. 46
Technographics – p. 21 Smartbound: How to combine outbound
Buying Signals – p. 25 and inbound sales prospecting – p. 51
Prospecting by using insights from Summary – p. 56
companies' websites – p. 30
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S ales prospecting
is often named
doesn’t cut it in today’s
competitive sales landscape. As
customers are getting smarter
and more selective, your sales
how you can streamline your
sales prospecting process to
find the right accounts for you
and the right time to reach out.
one of the most tactics have to become smarter In depth, we walk you through
challenging tasks right along with them. how you can define a detailed
Ideal Customer Profile with
by salespeople. Sales prospecting is often named insights from not-so-obvious
one of the most challenging characteristics found through
tasks by salespeople. And the insights from technographic data,
It used to mean sending a same task is estimated to take company’s social media presence
payment to one of the many list up to half of sales professionals and website content and how
providers out there, asking for workday in a number of studies. you find and track the right sales
X number of companies with But with more data available for signals for your organisation.
specific characteristics. Today salespeople than ever before, Going further, we list a number
it’s a continuous work where you sales prospecting doesn’t have of best practices for how you can
can make detailed searches and to be that hard nor that time capitalize on the knowledge your
easily find the companies that consuming. Around 2,5 exabyte sales prospecting provides in your
match your Ideal Customer Profile data is created every day, that’s sales pitch, enabling you to carry
to a T by capitalizing on the equivalent to 625 million DVDs out smarter conversations with
power of open and public data. worth of information. your prospects and increase not
only your call to meeting hit rate
Traditional static prospecting lists After reading this ebook you’ll but your hit rate between every
based on only basic firmographic have a better understanding of step in the sales process.
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Finally, we will showcase how AI
and machine learning can help
you “grow your social antennas” in
sales context, as AI powered apps
can provide you with a carefully
calculated “fit score” for each
prosect thanks to today’s great
access of open and public data.
Going forward, we’ll go over why
this predictive fit score model
Traditional static
prospecting
lists based
on only basic
is likely to have to give place to
the more perspective models
not only provide “fit scores” but firmographic
doesn’t cut
also presents a suggested sales
action. After all, salespeople are
only so interested in knowing what
companies they should target,
what they really want is knowing
how to approach these accounts
it in today’s
competitive sales
!
with a successful result.
landscape.
We hope that you enjoy the read
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The history of B2B
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The first official Yellow Pages Database marketing was - The term sales prospecting
directory was created. pioneered by Robert and Kate gained mainstream popularity.
Kestnbaum. - Getting hold of people through
cold calls became more difficult
each year.
- ZoomInfo was launched in 2000,
Jigsaw (now Data.com) in 2003
and InsideView in 2005.
Dale Carnegie’s bestseller How - ACT!, one of the first contact
to Win Friends & Influence management software was
People was published. released by Conductor Software.
- The rise of the World Wide Web
provided salespeople direct
access to millions of companies. Inte the past years
- A true CRM software category On top of the basic firmographic
Early th century was born. Oracle and SAP data, salespeople can now
A series of new sales brought their CRM solutions to filter target accounts based on
methodologies were introduced: the market. technographics, sales triggers,
Pyramid Selling, Trust Based - Marc Benioff and Salesforce. buying intent, web properties,
Selling, Barrier Selling, AIDA com introduced the first cloud- news coverage and social media
Selling, Strategic Selling and based CRM solution. presence.
Solutions Selling.
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The History of B2B Sales Prospecting
AIDA Selling, Strategic Selling and companies and their web profiles.
Solutions Selling all defined sales At the same time, a true CRM The first
strategies and tactics but focused software category was born when
mainly on the interaction with major software companies such cloud-based
the customer, not so much on the
topic of how to find new potential
as Oracle and SAP brought their
CRM solutions to the market. At prospecting
customers. the end of the decade, the first
cloud-based CRM solution was
platforms were
IN THE 1990's
one hundred years after the
introduced by Marc Benioff and
Salesforce.com.
traditional
birth of the Yellow Pages, one of company
the first contact management THE EARLY 2000's
software systems called ACT! was Professional sales development, data-bases
released by Conductor Software.
Already in the 70s, database
which often refers to a process of
creating new sales opportunities, that allowed
marketing had been pioneered by
Robert and Kate Kestnbaum.
is a fairly new framework.
However, when surfing the
salespeople to
But it was really in the 90’s when
web, we can find mentions that
some companies started doing
filter companies
the sales prospecting revolution systematic sales development based on
really started, thanks to the rise work as early as the late 1980s.
of the World Wide Web, which But the term gained mainstream industry, location
provided salespeople all over the
world direct access to millions of
popularity in the early 2000s.
Getting hold of people through and size.
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The History of B2B Sales Prospecting
random cold calls became finding companies that were not when the company tri-vested,
more and more difficult each only a good fit as a prospect, creating three new companies
year, which created a need for but that were also ready for including D&B Companies. In
a salesperson’s product and 2003, they acquired Hoovers,
service offering. Timing became an American business research
increasingly important in sales. company that was founded in
1990 and filed an IPO in 1999.
The first cloud-based Similar company database
prospecting platforms directories were built in other
Salespeople can were traditional parts of the world too.
now filter target company databases
that allowed IN THE EARLY 2000S,
accounts based on salespeople to
filter companies
more company database
directories were introduced.
technographics, sales based on industry,
location and size.
ZoomInfo was launched in 2000,
Jigsaw (now Data.com) in 2003
triggers, buying intent, The commercial and InsideView in 2005.
data provider
web properties, news Dun & Bradstreet The rise of online web directories
coverage and social invented their
Data Universal
gave salespeople instant access
to millions of companies but
media presence. Numbering System
(DUNS) already in
the information was limited to
basic company information
1963 but it was in 1996 (“firmographics”).
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The History of B2B Sales Prospecting
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Ideal
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II t’s not just about your marketing and the results of
your sales efforts. It also helps you
of your work day. Yea, let that
sink in … with a clearly defined
finding customers; streamline your sales prospecting Ideal Customer Profile, sales
process as you know what type of prospecting gets easier and more
it’s about finding companies to target. effective because you don’t have
the right ones. First things first. What’s an Ideal
to evaluate every company one by
But as valuable as your Ideal having an Ideal Customer Profile believe will not be successful when
Customer Profile is in determining is a must for all successful sales using your product or service.
the quality of a prospect, it’s not organizations and walk you While it may sound obvious, too
rock-solid. Just because your Ideal through how to create a top- often the immediate sell is just
Customer Profile suggests that notch description of your dream so very tempting that this rule
a certain company is a great fit customer. of thumb is forgotten. A poorly
doesn’t mean that the prospect satisfied customer takes a lot of
will agree. Creating an Ideal WHY YOU NEED AN IDEAL time from your customer success
Customer Profile helps you find CUSTOMER PROFILE team and might end up costing
suitable prospects for you as a Building a successful sales your company more than it pays.
salesperson to persuade, but it’s organization is not just about
not a 100 percent guarantee that having your new business team Why you need to define your
the companies matching it will close large deals. A detailed Ideal Customer Profile >>
turn into customers and stay with Ideal Customer Profile will help
you forever and ever. you maximize your sales and
get satisfied customers that will
There are times when you stay with you for a long time,
should trust your gut and there increasing their lifetime value
are times when you would do (LTV). You can upsell and cross-
wise in trusting data instead. sell to them, and they can function
Creating your Ideal Customer as enthusiastic champions of your
Profile certainly falls under this brand.
second category. In this chapter,
we’ll tell you more about why Don’t sell to someone who you
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Ideal Customer Profile
common and, as an example, Deciding which company features sales and marketing teams use
see how many companies use are most important for you to towards prospects and customers
Hubspot, have increased their include in your Ideal Customer and how, when and where you try
revenue by more than 40 percent Profile depends a lot on what to reach them.
previous year or are frequently you're offering. For instance, if
recruiting. you’re selling a technical solution, Defining your Ideal Customer
a company’s tech stack could Profile isn’t a one-time job.
A blog post from McKinsey & reveal a lot about how ready a There’s no universal definition of
Company includes a textbook company is to buy. Or if you’re an Ideal Customer Profile, not for
example of why you shouldn’t only selling transportation services, any company. Every six or nine
trust your gut when defining your then you’d probably include sales months, you should evaluate if the
Ideal Customer Profile. It tells the signals: a company having won a company profile you’ve chosen as
story of an IT services company large contract, for example. ideal still looks the same, or if you
that used big data analytics to have to tweak the description.
predict which leads were most FINALLY...
likely to close. The IT services firm Once you’ve defined your Ideal
found that established companies Customer Profile, you should start
were better prospects than the looking at improving the way your
start-ups it had been focusing on sales, marketing and development
historically. Focusing its attention teams process companies
on established companies, the matching this profile. Your Ideal
IT service company raised its Customer Profile should dictate Step by step -
overall lead-conversion rate by 30 how you improve the product or
percent. service you offer, the wording your
define your Ideal
Customer Profile >>
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How you create a top-notch Ideal Customer Profile
1. LOOK AT YOUR HAPPIEST 2. PRIORITIZE CUSTOMERS THAT great of a match your service is
EXISTING CUSTOMERS WILL STAY WITH YOU for a specific company, these
What common attributes like An unsatisfied customer takes a two criteria have to be filled in
revenue, number of employees, lot of time from your customer order for you to spend time on this
type of business, web technologies success team and might end up account now:
in use, geography or sales signals costing your company more than - An ideal customer should
that occurred right before they it pays. be ready to buy what you sell;
signed a deal with you do your the decision makers have to
excising customers have? Vainu’s Find out what gives away a understand that they have a
Analyzer feature can quickly help customer with great estimated problem or an opportunity and
you find what characteristics your lifetime value. Your customer that you can help them solve it or
customers share. success management system seize it.
should have the data. What’s - An ideal customer has to be
Use the data Vainu and your significant for the companies that able to buy what you sell now.
other technical tools provide you you’ve been able to upsell and/or They have to have the money and
with and have your customer cross-sell to? support from the right decision
success team conduct short makers to give you a positive
interviews with your most satisfied 3. FIND READY, WILLING AND answer.
customers. Ask them how they ABLE COMPANIES
found your business, what made It’s not all about the company’s
them choose to work with you and characteristics. Your ideal
why they continue to work with prospect also has to be ready,
your company. willing and able to put ink on
your contract. No matter how
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II n today’s
FOR EXAMPLE, SALESFORCE.COM FIRMOGRAPHIC
DATA COULD LOOK LIKE THIS:
clear differences
in needs, benefits information. All companies in the world. The Standard
and product use. need to register in the local
business registries and select
Industrial Classification (SIC) was
established in the US in 1937 and
their industry and location of their is also used in some other parts
The same way people can be headquarters. Publicly traded of the world such as the U.K.
described and segmented based companies need to file their Another well-known classification
on demographics, firms can be detailed financial numbers several is NAICS (North American
analyzed by using firmographics. times each year and in some Industry Classification System),
Commonly used firmographics countries also private companies released in 1997. In Europe, a
use industry, location and need to share their key financial similar classification system is
company size. figures each year. called the Statistical Classification
of Economic Activities in the
In most countries, most of the There are several commonly used European Community, often
firmographic data is public industry classification systems referred to as NACE.
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Firmographics
For salespeople, using a based segmenting allows people providing vendors doesn’t cut it for
combination of industry, company to quickly find their own target high-performance salespeople.
size and location provides a companies in these situations. These lists are based almost
simple way to narrow down exclusively on company's annual
their list of potential prospects. Sometimes, firmographics also reports, consisting of firmographic
Salespeople might prefer refers to other variables such data, and are only updated
companies nearby because of as performance (growth, credit yearly.
easy access to face-to-face rating), status and structure
meetings. Their offering might not (legal status, a relation of one In Chapter 8 you can read more
be relevant for small and medium organisation to another), age, about the benefits of using a
ownership and position (market modern prospecting database
Today, salespeople share, industry position). that gives salespeople access to
up-to-date open and public data.
are increasingly
In today’s world, basic
relying on other data firmographics don’t often reflect
points than static clear differences in needs,
firmographics. benefits and product use. That’s
the reason why salespeople are
sized businesses, which makes it increasingly relying on other
critical to filter companies based data points and trying to make
on their revenue. Many sales their prospecting approach more
organizations have also assigned pointed and timely. This is also
certain industries for certain the reason why prospecting with
salespeople, and using industry- static prospecting lists from list-
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U sing
technographic
footprints that can help you as a
modern salesperson understand
their identity or future direction.
Using technographic data in
applications companies used.
Recently, several software
providers, including Vainu,
have started to collect this type
data in prospecting prospecting refers to salespeople’s of information automatically
refers to sales- attempts to better understand
their prospects by analyzing their
by systematically indexing the
company websites.
people’s attempts to technology stack. The decisions
companies make regarding Technographic data includes
better understand technology can reveal useful a number of categories such
their prospects insights on prospects’ intentions,
their priorities and the way they
as marketing automation,
e-commerce platforms, customer
by analyzing their want to run their operations. feedback management,
application tracking systems, live
technology stack. Back in the day, several vendors chats, event management and
provided this type of information many more. Take, for example,
Whether it’s to monitor marketing about companies, but it was California-based information
or to keep track of customers, difficult to do at scale because technology company Synopsys.
technology in B2B these days the data collection process When they released a new
cannot be escaped. was manual. Junior analysts e-book, the campaign page
interviewed executives and tried for that e-book provides a lot
The technologies that companies to collect as much information of useful insights. Researching
use actually leave digital as possible about the tools and that page, we can determine
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Technographics
Synopsys does systematic large- targeting their counterparts that technology. For example, here
scale content marketing (they use use platforms without integration at Vainu we systematically target
Eloqua), they try to systematically options. An agency providing companies that use modern
improve conversion rates (they content marketing services most marketing automation solutions
use Crazy Egg for A/B testing) likely wants to segment their even though we are in a separate
and that they are also willing to prospects based on how much vertical. We have recognized
advertise their content (they use companies already invest in that companies operating with
Facebook Pixel). They also believe content marketing today. marketing automation platforms
in account-based marketing and
web personalization because they
use vendors from those categories
(Demandbase and Adobe Target). Artificial intelligence can help
salespeople uncover correlations
WHY IS THIS DATA USEFUL FOR that would be extremly difficult
PROSPECTING PURPOSES?
to understand with human
For some vendors, the value
is crystal clear without further brainpower alone.
explanation. If software vendor
provides handy integrations
with other software platforms, Sometimes technographic data tend to have a certain level of
targeting companies that use can act as important proxy technical sophistication and are
those other platforms often have for things and needs that are usually systematically trying to
a higher conversion rate than seemingly unrelated to the improve their key performance
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T
Technographics
e-commerce platforms,
sales pitches not only based
on firmographic data but also
customer feedback
based on a technographic profile
of the prospect. When it’s done
systematically, it leads to more
meaningful discussions with management,
prospects because part of the
discovery and needs analysis has application tracking
already been done automatically
before the first initial engagement
with the customer.
systems, live chats,
event management and
many more.
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N othing is harder
to sell around than
made quickly to result in closed
deals. This is the exception and
not the rule though, as it isn’t often
that the timeline you’re working
is likely to need your product or
service so that you can focus on
the accounts most likely to turn
into paying customers now.
a prospect unwilling on matches up with the timeline of
or unready to buy. your prospect.
Buying signals help
In other words, it’s not enough you determine when
Nothing is harder to sell around to rely solely on luck. The
than a prospect unwilling or best salespeople strategically a company is likely to
unready to buy. A company that use buying signals, modern need your offer.
checks every box in your Ideal technologies and data to increase
Customer Profile doesn’t hold their chances of landing at the The reason why buying signals
weight if the decision maker isn’t right place at the right time. should serve as your sixth sense
in a position to sign a deal with during sales prospecting is simply
you now. Buying signals, also frequently that changes within a company
named prospecting signals, (recruiting, funding round,
According to Hubspot, as many as sales triggers or, sales signals, expansion, new product release,
25 percent of the deals that are refer to events that indicate merger or acquisition) open up a
marked closed-lost are because an opportunity for you as a window of opportunity to do sales.
of timing, or rather, the lack of it. salesperson to reach out to a Look for companies matching
Yes, there are cases in which the prospect. Buying signals help your Ideal Customer Profile that
stars align and decisions are you determine when a company recently sent out a buying signal
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Buying signals
that indicates they have an on your company’s offer, what OFFERING RECRUITMENT
increased need for your product companies you go after and your SERVICES?
or service now and see your hit- method of doing sales. You’ll Look for companies that expand
rate in every step of the sales have to do some legwork on your and are about to open up an office
process increase. end to understand what signs to in a new location, they will need to
look for that would indicate an increase their employee base.
If you aren't yet convinced, read uptick in buying probability.
through this chapter to find out WORKING IN THE TRANSPORT
more about the instant benefits A first step to determine what INDUSTRY?
we've witnessed when companies sales triggers to keep an eye Look for companies initiating
follow trigger signals. out for is to look closer at your a new construction project or
existing customers — again, this ones that are opening up a new
WHAT BUYING SIGNALS is the same way to approach production facility.
INDICATE A GOOD SALES LEAD building an Ideal Customer
FOR YOU? Profile. What happened in SELLING THE REAL ESTATE
Finding out what buying signals their organizations before they INDUSTRY?
you should look for works similar became customers? If you know Look for companies that have
to defining your Ideal Customer your customers well you might recently hired many new
Profile. In the same way there’s already know the answer but, employees or, on the contrary,
no universal definition for an even if that’s the case, make sure recently were forced to do
Ideal Customer Profile, what to validate your gut feeling with significant downsizings. They might
sales triggers indicate a solid data-insights before you make need a new office space suitable
opportunity for you depends this hunch your truth. for their current organization.
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Buying signals
If you can identify an actionable Many signals have a best-before YOU CARRY OUT SMARTER
lead through one, or a series of date. In Vainu you can do detailed CONVERSATIONS
signals, using this data should searches, filtering companies with Customers are getting smarter
be the basis of your prospecting. specific features and signals that and more selective, meaning
Once you find a correlation occurred in a specific time frame. your sales tactics need to also be
between a happy new customer For instance, you can find all smarter right alongside them. Not
and a buying signal, you'll find a companies that moved to a new only do sales signals help you find
large number of warm, actionable office last week, or who recruited the right companies to contact
leads. a new Head of HR in January. now, they also help you carry out
smarter conversations with those
PRIORITIZE THE RIGHT IDENTIFY WARM LEADS companies. By knowing what’s
COMPANIES WITH THE HELP OF THROUGH NEGATIVE SEARCH going on inside of an organization
TRIGGER SIGNALS Not all signals indicate a great you’re targeting, you can tailor
When you already have a long time to contact a company; some your pitch based on their current
list of leads, signals can help signals will actually tell you the situation. The prospect will feel
you know what companies to opposite and when you should not like you understand their business,
prioritize now. Start by looking at reach out. For example, if you’re which is extremely valuable for
your current customer base and a real estate company, don’t building trust.
see what signals preceded them call prospects who just moved
signing a deal with you. You can to a new office to offer them Vainu extends far beyond helping
later use these signals as criteria assistance on finding a new one. you just find accounts that recently
for filtering actionable leads out of went through a specific change.
a longer list of leads. With the negative search function,
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T
Buying signals
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by using insights from companies' websites
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C ompanies’
websites are pure
Companies’ websites are pure
treasure chests; there are
more jewels to collect than
just the insights from website
never again have a hard time
finding quality leads.
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Website technologies
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Sales Prospecting
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II nbound sales
prospecting
to it than that. It’s not enough for
successful inside sales reps to just
reach out to any company that the
marketing team has handed over
interested in a piece of content on
your website it isn’t enough to call
the company a solid prospect is
one step in the right direction.
is really all to them.
about scrolling Leads come in to sales reps every
Prompt your reps to see
through leads day through marketing efforts, the value in researching
downloadable content, demo companies before
that marketing requests and more. When inbound initiating contact with
automation marketing rose to fame towards
the end of the first decade of them.
workflow provides. the 21st century, first in the U.S.
Instead of just being reactive to
and the in Europe, it more or
less meant an exclusive focus on that person who has expressed
What’s inbound sales interest in your company,
prospecting? Inbound sales individuals’ behavioural data.
proactive sales reps should dig
prospecting is really all about deeper into the lead’s motivation
scrolling through leads that Today, as customers are getting
smarter and more selective by for doing so in order to make a
marketing automation workflow real connection.
provides. the day, your sales tactics have to
become smarter right alongside
them. Understanding that if one Prompt your reps to see the value
That’s putting it simply because in in researching companies before
reality there should be a bit more individual within a company is
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Inbound prospecting
initiating contact with them. It’s soon – especially if this individual like Vainu to enable your sales
not enough to know what content isn’t a decision maker with a reps to easily access insights on
piece they downloaded. mandate to make or affect a both a company’s basic and not-
buying decision – there’s plenty so-obvious characteristics all in
Many more valuable insights can of company insights that help one place.
be found through your marketing salespeople qualify incoming
automation tool, where you should leads. The more information
be able to to find their visit history
on your site. If they have paid EXAMPLE: about a prospect a
repeated visits to your product You’re selling translation services rep has, the better
page and possibly also had a look and the marketing director of equipped she is to
at your pricing page, this reveals Company A downloads your
that the company is already in the e-book. If you also know that this prioritize incoming
buyer's journey and the rep can company recently announced that leads and handle
craft his or her message based on they will release two new product conversations with
this insight. categories in the Middle East, this
information helps you understand the most promising
FOCUS ON ACCOUNTS – NOT that this prospect is not only a ones.
INDIVIDUALS good fit, but also has a window of
While one individual's behaviours opportunity open. The more information
doesn’t forecast how likely a about a prospect a rep
company is to end up a happy Invest in a subscription for a has, the better equipped
and paying customer any time dynamic B2B company database she is to prioritize
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Inbound prospecting
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H igh-performers
within sales use
we all?). High-performers within
sales use dynamic data and
more data-points provided in
recently or that’s expected to go
through a certain organizational
change soon.
dynamic data and a smart prospecting platform
when looking for new accounts to There are a lot of great
more data-points approach with their offer.
softwares and applications
provided in a As a result of this, there are now that help salespeople to
smart prospecting a lot of great software platforms discover potential buyers.
and applications that help
platform when salespeople to discover potential The data that static lists are based
sales prospecting. buyers. With a modern, dynamic
B2B sales database - like Vainu
on usually comes from companies’
annual reports and therefore is
Prospecting used to mean - you can use endless criteria only updated once a year. Using
purchasing a static lists of to filter out the most promising web indexing technology, B2B
prospects from one of the many companies based on both their sales lead platforms collect a
vendors out there offering these. static data and insights from myriad of data about millions
open data. For example, you of companies every day. Some
In today’s hyper-competitive could search for IT companies prospecting tools focus on
sales landscape static lists based that are located in a chosen city company-level information, some
only on basic firmographics don’t with over X in revenue that use provide mainly contact details for
cut it for salespeople who aim specific website technologies, that decision makers and some tools
for strong sales figures (don’t have given a specific sales signal are mainly used to facilitate the
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Prospecting platforms
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Prospecting platforms
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Prospecting platforms
InsideView also provides relevant paid premium offering, Sales Salesforce.com app and an API.
news mentions and social media Navigator. Sales Navigator makes https://www.lusha.co/
feeds of companies. it easy to build prospect lists
https://www.insideview.com/ based on decision makers’ job OUTREACH
titles and responsibilities. It also
LATTICE ENGINES allows users to monitor relevant
discussions, allowing salespeople
to find more meaningful ways to Outreach is a platform that
engage with both existing and helps salespeople build sales
Lattice Engines is another new contacts they find on the sequences. A sales sequence is
predictive lead scoring vendor. platform. a multi-step process including
Established in 2006, they provide https://business.linkedin.com/ several different engagement
an application that predicts who sales-solutions/sales-navigator tactics such as phone calls,
will buy, what they are likely to voicemails, and emails. A typical
buy and when. LUSHA sequence includes 5-15 steps
https://www.lattice-engines.com/ that users can also A/B test in
real time. The goal is to create a
LINKEDIN SALES NAVIGATOR: systematic and scalable process
Lusha is a browser extension to engage with prospects and
that allows you to find email customers in a more effective
addresses and phone numbers manner.
Most salespeople use LinkedIn, from anywhere on the web with https://outreach.io/
but only some utilize LinkedIn’s just one click. They also provide a
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Prospecting platforms
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Prospecting platforms
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Prospecting platforms
I
overwhelmed with all these sales technology jungle we’ve also
different options. Before you sign created an e-book where we list
up for too many applications,
it’s smart to define your key
53 sales tools all salespeople have
to know of. Download it here and n today’s
performance metrics for your
prospecting efforts.
receive all information you need
to choose exactly the tools and
hyper-
In Chapter 9, we will introduce
technologies that are right for your
sales team and organization.
competitive
several interesting KPIs to guide sales landscape
in the process of finding the
prospecting solution that fits your static lists based
needs.
only on basic
MORE VALUABLE TOOLS AND
TECHNOLOGIES FOR SALES
firmographics
PROFESSIONALS
As a sales professional I’m sure
don’t cut it for
that you know that there are salespeople who
millions of tools out there that
promise to make you and your aim for strong
sales team more efficient and
close more business. To make sales figures
it easier for you to navigate the
(don’t we all?).
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Prospecting
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TT he most
successful sales
There’s no one right answer to
the question of which prospecting
KPIs are the most important ones
to track. Sales development teams
While prospecting is often
associated very strongly with the
activity happening at the top of
the funnel (Number of leads /
organizations are work differently and there are lot opportunities) most companies
the ones working of variables that have an impact acknowledge that the quality of
on an ideal KPI mix. each prospect has a significant
systematically. And impact on hit rate, average deal
to do that you have A good starting point for
prospecting KPIs is to look at
size and also sales cycle.
to have clearly the sales velocity formula. Most Typically, people who are
sales professionals are at least responsible for finding and creating
defined goals. somewhat familiar with this new opportunities are called sales
equation. development representatives
The most successful sales
organizations are the ones
working systematically. And to
do that you have to have clearly Sales Velocity Formula
defined goals.
Number of opportunities X Hit Rate X Average Deal Size
Therefore, high performance sales = Total Sales
development teams have well Average Sales Cycle
thought out KPIs that are being
tracked daily, weekly and monthly.
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Prospecting KPIs
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Prospecting KPIs
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Prospecting KPIs
high performance
which shows the monthly increase
in number of sales and qualified
sales development
leads the company is able to
generate.
tracked daily,
people feel they can impact their
individual KPIs and metrics. On
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combining outbound &
inbound sales prospecting
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T he fastest growing
companies in the
As inbound grew stronger,
marketing departments did the
same and some companies came
to only trust inbound activities to
prospecting is really all about,
walk you through how your
organization can become a
more effective sales machine by
world are doing drive business to the company. combining these two methods and
both outbound and Today, the fastest growing
explain why a strong data-driven
approach is necessary for you to
inbound, the front companies in the world are doing maximize your results.
both outbound and inbound, the
runners combining frontrunners combining these two WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE
these two processes with a strong data-
driven approach. This is what
BETWEEN OUTBOUND AND
INBOUND SALES PROSPECTING?
processes with a we at Vainu have chosen to call
smartbound sales. Hubspot, First things first, in Chapter 7 we
strong data-driven Zenefit, Zendesk, Salesforce, digged deep into the advantages
approach Box and Vainu are all examples
of companies leveraging this
of inbound sales prospecting.
But what’s outbound sales
During outbound’s period of strategy. By only doing outbound prospecting, and how does
greatness, the sales department or inbound, you are missing out on it differ from inbound sales
at pretty much every company growth opportunities. prospecting?
outnumbered the marketing
department by far. In this chapter, we’ll define what The difference between
outbound and inbound sales inbound and outbound >>
product.vainu.io 52
Smartbound
product.vainu.io 53
Smartbound
qualified lead when one or many marketing team to create shared A smart data-driven
individuals from that company short-lists of companies they
have shown interest in its content want to engage with. Once these
approach provides
marketing. companies are identified, both access to more
sales and marketing teams can information about your
WHY YOU SHOULD COMBINE work proactively to connect with
OUTBOUND AND INBOUND them, online or offline.
prospects.
SALES PROSPECTING
With more carefully defined target
Pure outbound is tough on WHY DATA SHOULD BE A PART OF
groups — Ideal Customer Profiles
resources. Only working with THE EQUATION
— your sales team will benefit
inbound, on the other hand, Today’s technology and the ever
from higher meeting conversion
means missing all potential increasing amount of open and
rates.
customers who have not public data allows sales and
expressed an interest in your marketing departments to access
Insights from open and public
content marketing efforts. more information on all the world's
data also enable sales teams to
companies than ever before.
improve proactive sales efforts
Successful organizations work
thanks to systematic tracking of
with a combination of outbound A data-driven combination of
companies’ lifecycle events, or
and inbound to make sure to inbound and outbound sales
sales triggers as we refer to these
process all potential customers on allows sales teams to create more
events in Chapter 5, as they often
your company’s short-list. Aligning defined target groups thanks to
open up a window of opportunity
your outbound and inbound more data-points available and
for product and service vendors.
efforts allows your sales and smarter lead qualification.
product.vainu.io 54
Smartbound
For sales, a smart data-driven move their cases along the funnel
approach provides access to more
information about the prospects
toward a sale.
A data-driven
listed in the CRM system. With Technology brings a lot more combination of
more detailed information about insights to salespeople's fingertips,
the not-so-obvious factors that and these insights can be used inbound and
define a company, the sales team
can tailor their message for every
to formulate relevant suggested
actions that are, based on outbound sales
company they interact with. data, most likely to lead to the allows sales teams
best possible outcome. And this
MOVING FROM A PREDICTIVE TO can be scaled when machine to create more
A PERSPECTIVE MODEL
Even though most companies are
learning models are automatically
collecting feedback and adjusting defined target
still figuring out how to get their these suggestions accordingly. groups thanks
predictive lead scoring models
in place, the frontrunners are to more data-
already moving from predictive
to prescriptive models. At the points available
end of the day, salespeople are and smarter lead
not that interested in all those
positive and negative attributes qualification.
in the predictive models. They just
want to know what to do next to
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product.vainu.io 56
S alespeople want
to find prospects
competitors can be built around
many different things. Company’s
ability to build, manage and
develop a systematic and
the basic principle has remained
the same. Salespeople want to
find prospects that have a need
and are willing and capable of
that have a need effective prospecting process can investing time and money into
and are willing definitely be one of those things. solutions / products / services they
provide.
and capable of A well-oiled prospecting machine
feeds salespeople with increasing Sales trends come and
investing time and number of opportunities that
go, but technology is
money into what convert with a nice hit rate. Those
customers that fit nicely into Ideal getting better and better
they provide. Customer Profiles also tend to every year.
stay with the vendor for a long
All companies need sustainable period of time. Companies that Not too long ago, most of the
competitive advantages in know how to prospect see lower prospecting was done by calling
order to survive in today’s customer acquisition cost and through a list of companies that
hyper competitive business higher customer lifetime value, were segmented by industry,
environment. which helps them grow faster and location and company size. There
run a more profitable business. was very little intelligence built into
These “X factors” that are the process; it was basically based
hard to copy and that provide B2B sales prospecting has its on hard work and hustle.
a sustainable edge over the roots in the late 19th century but
product.vainu.io 57
Summary
Sales trends come and go, but companies with right timing is can be achieved when using a
technology is getting better easier than ever before. Sales combination of computing power
every year. Some companies rely signals, website content, or and human brain power. With
on inbound prospecting, while even buying intent picked up the help of AI, a salespeople can
others believe in the power of from a social discussion all help "connect the dots" easier when
outbound prospecting. We like to salespeople spend their time more AI powered apps can calculate
talk about smartbound, which is wisely. the "fit score" for each prospect.
a data-driven way to combine Plus, the algorithm gets better
the best parts of both inbound Not too long ago, most every day because of more data
and outbound prospecting. available to train the algorithm.
Whatever sales tactics you decide of the prospecting was
to implement, one thing is for done by calling through Use of predictive lead scoring
sure: there’s several powerful a list of companies that in prospecting is already
technology platforms that you can commonplace, especially in the
leverage. were segmented by tech sector. We believe that soon
industry, location and we will start seeing prescriptive
TIMING IS EVERYTHING IN SALES company size. models that don't provide only
What might have been an a fit score but also a suggested
unqualified prospect yesterday The rise of artificial intelligence action how and when to reach out
can very well be a great target is also impacting prospecting to that prospect.
tomorrow. With ever increasing but, at least for
amount of data available the time being,
to salespeople, identifying the best results
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AA
Summary
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ABOUT VAINU
Vainu, founded in 2013, is a sales intelligence platform that
helps companies capitalize on data to ensure their sales
and marketing focuses on the accounts that convert. Over
1800 organizations in seven different countries use Vainu
to identify actionable account insights and timely leads
and, therefore, save time and sell more - with a better
hit rate. Vainu’s mission is to collect, read and understand
all the information ever written about every company in
the world, and then make this haphazard information
comprehensible for everyone.
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