Truth or Myth: Volume of Insights Should Be Greater Than Volume of Dials

More dials add up to more closed deals. It’s just simple math, right?

Well, not really. Upon further investigation, the truth is that a lopsided focus on quantity over quality tends to yield subpar results. So, back to our original statement. Yes, it is the true that volume of insights should be greater than the volume of dials.

Selling is about relationships. Doing your research to understand the prospect will build stronger relationships and facilitate more trust with your buyers vs. smiling and dialing. In other words, you’ll convert a higher percentage of sales prospects in less time. Now that’s some arithmetic we can all get behind.

So how can you flip that equation around for better yields? It’s a matter of using the tools at your disposal and calling upon your modern sales skills to change the narrative.

Target Effectively

The most basic prospecting rule is to make sure you’re pursuing the right prospects. While your marketing team does its part to generate demand and leads, you can do yours by prospecting with a purpose on LinkedIn. Don’t waste your time casting a wide net and then sifting through all the duds to find the best of the catch. Instead, go in with a spear so you can focus on establishing and building relationships from the start with quality prospects.

Start by setting filters by industry, roles, and skills that match your ideal customer profile. You can even use filtering to further segment prospects in a meaningful way. Let’s say your ideal customer profile shows that your most valuable customers acquire another company an average of six months before buying your solution. With this in mind, you could create an M&A prospecting group and watch for signals around M&A activity.

Reach Influential Stakeholders

It’s a given that you want to engage the stakeholders who will influence the buying process at your target account. Rather than leave engagement to chance, come up with an outreach plan.

One way to identify key stakeholders is by looking at your main prospect’s LinkedIn profile and seeing contacts by roles and how they are connected. Once you’ve formed a list, research and study each LinkedIn profile and online activity to surface top-of-mind issues and strategic initiatives. A quick glance at a LinkedIn member’s page will show you job history, mutual connections, featured skills and endorsements, interests, and more. You can even pinpoint stakeholders’ priorities and initiatives by following the clues shared by their company and colleagues on LinkedIn.

Next figure out if these stakeholders are mutual connections with anyone in your network. If so, ask for a warm introduction and invite the stakeholder to connect. If a warm introduction isn’t possible, start taking steps to make them connections over time. A good start is saving these prospects as leads and reviewing and making note of any relevant articles or posts they publish, or telling activities. This could include discussions they join, comments they make on others’ posts, or even conferences they plan to attend.

Connect with Context

Whether you connect via a warm introduction or establish a connection over time, the focus should be on connecting whenever possible in meaningful and engaging ways. After all, The State of Sales report tells us that 64 percent of B2B decision makers won’t engage with a salesperson if the communication isn’t personalized.

Options include reaching out via InMail to share a third-party report or article you feel might be of interest. Or you could kick off a discussion based on a post the prospect published or content asset that person shared on LinkedIn or another network. Whatever you do, ditch the sales pitch and keep your outreach focused on encouraging conversation.

When fitting, share what you know about the prospect’s industry, business processes, challenges, relevant trends, and other important issues. Go one step further and help them understand how to best connect the dots to arrive at a meaningful conclusion, and you will truly stand out in their minds.

Just remember: don’t cross the line into stalkerish behavior as you keep your finger on the pulse of your prospects’ activities. Stay professional in your research and outreach, be patient and helpful, and engage in smart, thoughtful conversations that get the prospect’s attention.

Ready to slay more sales myths that stand in the way of sales ROI? You’re not alone. Download "Proof Positive: How to Easily Measure and Maximize Sales ROI."