The problem with passing every lead to your sales team is that some leads will be qualified and some will not. Without filtering through leads, it becomes very easy for sales teams to generalize and say their leads are bad -- making it difficult for them to have an open mind. 

When finding the right prospects, the most important aspects are:

• Timing
• Buyer personas
• Buyer’s journey

It is important for your sales teams to consider the buyer's journey from your prospect’s perspective as opposed to your own perspective.

Your sales team is looking to convert more leads into clients.

Obviously, nothing will replace the sales professional and consultative value of helping your opportunities make the best decision. However, what are some of the things we can do to accelerate the buyer’s journey and their buying process?

Closing larger new clients requires your sales team to focus on segmentation and personalization. You cannot personalize if you do not segment.

Let’s take a walk back in history ten years ago. At this time, businesses used a lot of the following tactics to generate demand for their business:

• Trade shows
• Print advertising
• Direct mail
• Postal mail
• Rented Lists
• Emails Blasts

People are more likely to buy products and services from those they trust. Developing a trustworthy relationship with your clients requires you to educate them. Whether they are small or large clients, education is critical.

You should especially be educating your larger clients if monthly recurring revenue is part of your SMART goals; churn is toxic. If you do not want churn, it is critical you delight your clients.

When prospecting for larger sales, differentiation is absolutely critical. If you look at all the consolidation and competitive pricing going on in many industries, it is abundantly clear your business must stand for something different to stand out.

Continue reading to learn how your company can differentiate from your competitors through understanding the buyer’s journey and creating hyper-relevant content.

To attract large decision-makers, your goal should be to spark a reaction from them, known as a two-pronged emotional reaction. A two-pronged emotional reaction may sound something along the lines of:

• “Wow! This blog, ebook, or webinar has been so helpful and was exactly what I was looking for.”
• “What else do they have to say?”

To improve penetration of products, you must first recollect what your goals are and what your clients care about most. Ask yourself the following questions to better understand:

• What are the specific goals we are trying to achieve?
• Who are the buyer personas we are talking too?
• What do our customers care most about?
• Are we segmenting properly?

What can SMBs do to get access to decision-makers?

Getting found early is hugely important. One of the biggest challenges involved when it comes to getting found early is it is as if there is this overriding feeling. By the time prospects are looped into the conversation, so much of the sales process and buyer’s journey has already taken place without them.

Before you focus on company size, there are some important prerequisites you should first satisfy. We reach larger companies through four essential processes which include:

• Buyer personas
• Product/market fit
• Metrics
• SMART goals