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The Make-It Or Break-It List

CHAPTER TWO. The Make-It Or Break-It List. 3 Characteristics of a Good Prospect Company List.

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The Make-It Or Break-It List

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  1. CHAPTER TWO The Make-It Or Break-It List 3 Characteristics of a Good Prospect Company List

  2. Now that you’ve decided how you’re going to stand out from your competitors, you need to determine your best company-level prospects. Which companies are going to be most interested in your experience, expertise, and what you have to say? Which companies do you think you can help the most? What companies are you especially interested in and excited to work with…and sell to? Now that you’ve defined the list you need, you need to get the list you need. Easier said than done. Actually coming up with that list is hard work. Let’s start by defining what makes a list great. Accurate and Timely. Your list should consist of accurate and current information for each of your target companies. Things change – your list needs to change as well. Keeping your list up-to-date with key facts and information about your prospects will make your list work hard for you. You need to pull companies off who you later determine are not good sales prospects, and add in new companies that you may have initially excluded. You also must be diligent at keeping your prospect list separate from your client list, so that errors aren’t made and someone erroneously calls a client, thinking they are a prospect. You need to demonstrate that your whole organization is “buttoned-up”, and on the same page. 1.

  3. Size. How many prospect companies do you need? It depends on you and the resources that you plan on bringing to bear in your sales effort. One approach is to think about your hit rates and work backwards: How many proposals does it take to generate a sale? How many sales presentations does it take to generate a proposal? How many people do you have to contact to generate a sales lead/ capabilities presentation? What sort of sales resources do you have? In our experience, anywhere from 100-200 companies is generally in the ballpark. You don’t want too many that it’s overwhelming, but you also don’t want to have to go through the process again for awhile. 2. You only get one chance… Ranked or Tiered. Consider ranking the companies on your list in terms of desirability, from 1 to 5, A-F, or whatever works for you, so you have a starting point. Some prospects will always be ahead of others in terms of desirability…so why not start there? With that said, if you’re just setting up your outreach effort, or testing a new service, it can be best to “test the waters” with lower-tiered companies to make sure you have everything tightened up. “You only get one chance to…”, well, you know. 3.

  4. Here are some “how to” steps for building your list of companies: • Start with your current company prospect list. Are the companies on your list still the ones you want to work with? If not, take them off or give them a lower rating. • Whenever possible, consider starting with a clean database. It can be incredibly frustrating and time-consuming to clean someone else’s list…and oftentimes it’s best to just start from scratch. • To build your list of companies, consider using free market research industry publications like Quirk's Marketing Research Review (www.quirks.com); buyers guides such as Greenbook (www.Greenbook.org); research conference attendee lists (including CASRO, PMRG, ARF, etc.); paid resources such as Hoovers (www.Hoovers.com), Data.com, or ZoomInfo (www.ZoomInfo.com); and general internet searches. • Whether you have a dedicated outbound sales force, depend on e-marketing, or are just doing it yourself, the quality of your company target list is paramount to your sales success. If you have any questions, need a fresh perspective, or just want someone else to do the work, the team at Bridgemark Solutions can help.

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