The right information about existing customers and prospects is the key to building a sales strategy that lets you serve the market properly. It can be hard to know which customers to spend time on and which not to. For that you need a solid enough basis for your decisions. If you are a business selling to other businesses, there is no excuse: the information is readily available.
To run data-driven sales, we assume that you have a product that deserves its place in the market. You should also be able to deliver what you promise. Once that is in place, you have every chance of succeeding. Here are a few suggestions for where to start in getting your data flow up and running.
1. Cleanse your customer list and enrich it with information
Correct, up-to-date data is absolutely essential.
There is also a large amount of data you can add that will help you understand your customers better. Many characteristics can help you segment, so that you spend your time where you are most likely to succeed.
2. Work out the size of your market
The better you can define your target group, the greater your chances of using your resources correctly. In many cases different products have different target groups, but you should aim at as few segments as possible.
3. Work out exactly which customers you do not have
You find the customers you ought to have by using the characteristics of your existing customers to define prospects. Remember to filter out the customers you already have once you have built your contact list.
Industry is not the only criterion for finding companies that resemble one another.
Read more about prospecting here:
Data for action: Prospecting - Part 1/2
Data for action: Prospecting - Part 2/2
In fact, the blurring of industry boundaries means it often makes more sense to look at other characteristics. Companies are digitalizing and developing at great speed, which can move them away from their original category. Or, in the extreme, change their business model, which matters a great deal for how your value proposition lands.
4. Choose a service strategy
Not all customers should be treated the same. Being deliberate about which resources in a sales team are used for which customers or groups is absolutely essential.
It is a major advantage to have decided whether service should be digital and automated or based on personal contact, at a set frequency and with dedicated roles. This can save you a great deal of time and money, while making the most of the potential in the customer relationship. The prerequisite is knowing who you are talking to and understanding where it is worth spending time.
5. Use social media
Building trust and brand awareness and getting the right message out is not the marketing department's responsibility alone. When you know who your customers and prospects are, you can run highly targeted marketing on social media.
Follow the companies you want to target, connect with the people you want to talk to, and find out what matters to them. From there you can create interesting content, start conversations or take part in discussions that give you a far warmer lead than calling people at random from a list.
Everyone working in sales or sales management should set aside time for data-driven selling through social media. Here you also have a unique starting point for statistics on which combinations of message, timing and target group work.
6. Make sure your timing is good
If you have access to data that gives you a trigger for making contact, it saves you a lot of unnecessary follow-ups. You come across as far more relevant and professional, and the sales processes are likely to move faster. Indications of financial growth, crises, changes in ownership, board changes, news of new contracts or job moves can all be examples of triggers that make customers open to replacing something or trying new solutions. A need has been created.
If you also combine this data with leads coming in from your website or other sources, you will have an outstanding basis for knowing how to angle your communication.
The image shows an example from Enin's web portal of a current event at a randomly chosen company.
7. Make sure you have an overview of both breadth and depth
You should have in-depth knowledge of the companies you are going to contact. At the very least of the information that is publicly available. You should also be able to put news and events in context. That means having a view on what they will mean for finances, employees, positioning or development.
To decide whether a figure is high or low, or whether an event is good or bad, it is often a great advantage to have an overview of how the company stands relative to other companies. That calls for analyses with aggregated overviews of the industry, competitors or reference groups.
Get access to data today
You can easily try our web portal.
Here you can, among other things, see and make use of:
- A risk model that calculates the probability of bankruptcy over the next 12 months, and an aggregated overview of defined portfolios.
The image shows Enin's risk distribution within a specific portfolio
- Financial figures going several years back (so you can calculate growth or decline), annual reports and auditor's remarks.
- The ability to build prospect lists or add data yourself. You can import and export to Excel.
- The ability to make selections based on company purpose from Brønnøysundregisteret.
- The ability to select companies based on words mentioned in the media.
- A visual group structure where you can pull out overview snapshots or go into depth on individual companies.
The image shows a section of a group structure.
- Details of roles, beneficial owners and shareholders.
- Changes in the number of employees over time
The image shows the change in the number of employees for a randomly chosen company. The figures are based on the company's own reporting via the A-melding.
- An overview of news, announcements, ongoing court cases and other current events for a company or a defined selection of businesses.
The image shows an overview from Enin's web portal of stories in which Enin is mentioned.
Feel free to contact us if you would like to know more about data-driven sales and data flow!
