The Art of Business Development

The Art of Business Development

Every business understands that a pipeline of prospective new business is critical to a company’s growth and maturity.  In many opinions, the fuller the pipeline, the better. Typically, for the simple reason that some of these will be viable prospects, some will require a lengthier process, such as, nurturing and seasoning, and others simply won’t be viable for you or them.

But once you receive a lead, what is the best way to qualify that new prospect into your pipeline? 

As CEO & Founder of SOS Sales Help, Jason Siefken has the primary responsibility of Business Development for our company. So, of course, we decided to ask him the “the secret to his success” over the years to which he was happy to do.

So even if you only take pieces of his “tried but true” process, you will be the better for it.  So, you may be eager to ask, “what is it?”

The Introduction

Jason feels the introduction is so important to his business development as it allows him to get to know the person, the company, and the product or service, and build rapport and trust.  In this introductory process, he also digs deeper in understanding customer or prospect base, current or past experiences, their financial goals or return on investment and much more.

As he discusses the product and service, he then probes for what type of call center solutions they have and/or presently want to engage in – like Outbound acquisition, Inbound care, Appt setting IB/OB, Lead Qualifying IB/OB, Chat, Email and so forth.

The prospect might have a specific need or more commonly, we have the opportunity to provide them color on what each service is and how it works. From there, we can then explain when and why SOS excels in those areas including case studies and testimonials.

This also allows you to crossover into SOS Capabilities that can be tailored to them such as:

  •                 Hours of operation, Days of week
  •                 Goals & expectations
  •                 Timeframes
  •                 Data, campaigns
  •                 Reporting and analytics
  •                 Deliverables, next steps
  •                 Technology/CRM

This then will let you lead into the agreement process, for instance what they need, what we need, formats, templates, timing, executing.

Follow Up

With deliverables, secure both general and specific next steps that would include Follow up.  During this phase, it is customary that SOS submit a formal proposal that outlines all of the above including Pricing Proposal, usually which is also discussed in your exploratory session with them.

Regardless of where they are at in this stage, always schedule the next follow up and also what you and they need at that time.  If it has progressed to a higher level and even obtained a verbal commitment, then you can schedule your contractual negotiation.

Note to self – Always be willing to compromise in your negotiations but only when it makes sense for you.  Don’t just agree to get the agreement as that doesn’t benefit either party in the long run.

With a fully executed agreement, then it’s time for onboarding and implementation. But then alas – that’s a whole other blog.

We want to thank Jason Siefken for his insight on this so important process to any business.  Cheers to you!

As President of SOS Sales Help since March of 2017, Craig expertly leads the team that manages the development, execution and growth of Account Management, Partner Operations and Strategic Services as well as HR, Quality and Training for the company in this executive teleservices business. Prior to this, he invested the last thirty years at Infinity, APAC and Entertel in successful leadership roles.

Partnerships are Important

Why are Partnerships in our Community & Nationwide so Important?

For me personally, this is one of the most fulfilling and rewarding parts about owning your own business is the fact that it allows us to develop partnerships with other community leaders and really and truly help each other in driving growth and success for each other.

In addition – it has been eye-opening the number of meetings and organizations that occur in the community to drive business growth and success. My professional advice is to get involved with all of them and be as active as you can.  The more people you know and interact with; the more people that are now part of that group that know and understand your business and can be an ambassador for you with others.

So you might ask, are there any bad matches?  Well to be honest, I haven’t found any yet from my personal opinion.  But of course you want your partnerships to be successful, rewarding and long-standing so you want to be sure that your goals and aspirations align with one another.  With all of your partnerships, make sure you are investing them with time and reciprocity.  Then you should plan and communicate with these partners on a regular basis, so you can continue to build on your relationship, give/get regular updates on each other’s business, and create opportunities for an exchange of resources and opportunities.

You can constantly evaluate the progress of the relationship and what it’s doing for you or your business. However keep in mind that relationships especially like this can be mutually beneficial for many reasons, and that sometimes opportunities are like a sales pipeline:  It just takes time.  The beauty is that your relationships in the community will continue to evolve.

A few tips to share in building these community relationships –

  • Be direct in your communication, ie Ask the right questions, Share your insights
  • Add your feedback as you never when what you say will influence your comrade
  • Share your values with them and hopefully you share similar values with your new community partner
  • Plan ahead with your ideas and meetings so you can be sure to be in tune with one another
  • Always be thinking about your relationship, for instance what groups are you in that they might benefit from to, who else is in your network that would be benefit from their product/service

As well, this goes the same for Nationwide although in the obvious larger scope.

So get out there, meet people, engage with them, and mutually prosper.

As President of SOS Sales Help since March of 2017, Craig expertly leads the team that manages the development, execution and growth of Account Management, Partner Operations and Strategic Services as well as HR, Quality and Training for the company in this executive teleservices business. Prior to this, he invested the last thirty years at Infinity, APAC and Entertel in successful leadership roles.

Two Keys to Increase Sales in 2013

Sales Lead Management

As the economy slowly bounces back, you can implement a series of best practices to increase your sales faster.

There are two keys to increasing sales in 2013 that build on the sales lead management best practice that we discussed in our previous blog post – sending only qualified leads to your sales team.

 

Remember, passing only pre-qualified leads to your sales team reduces the cost of selling and increases sales faster. Your sales team can focus on selling instead of cold calling unqualified and unproductive leads.

When you add these two additional best practices to your sales lead management program, your sales program will run like a finely tuned machine.

 

#1: Deliver the right message to the right people at the right time

 

After your leads are pre-qualified by SOS Sales Help, you will know what is important to these qualified leads. You’ll know what their hot buttons are and when they plan to buy.

 

This will enable you to conduct high-quality conversations with these qualified leads. When SOS Sales Help collects the right information during the qualification process, you will know what message to deliver to them and when to deliver that message. Plus, your sales team can keep these leads warm through on-going personal email communications that speak specifically to the needs of each qualified lead.

 

The right message delivered to the right people (the qualified leads) at the right time will turn more leads into buyers.

 

#2 Always be filling the funnel

 

In the classic movie about sales, “Glengarry Glen Ross,” Alec Baldwin’s character, Blake, coached the sales team, “Always Be Closing (A-B-C).” A-B-C is a good practice, but you can’t close anyone if no one is in the funnel. That’s why it is most important to always be filling the sales funnel.

 

Sales managers know that a constant flow of leads into the sales funnel avoid dry spells. When you constantly fill the funnel you won’t have months where sales were below projections.

 

SOS Sale Help can keep the flow of qualified leads spilling into your sales funnel. We can generate leads and pre-qualify the leads. When more pre-qualified leads are in your sales pipeline you have a greater opportunity to close more sales.

 

That’s what SOS Sales Help can do for you – generate more qualified leads to fill your funnel and get your 2013 off to a great start.

Company CEO, Jason Siefken, founded SOS Sales Help in 2008 after a successful career of building and managing sales and customer service teams for various Fortune 500 companies.

Mr. Siefken felt there was a need for a hands on, results oriented alternative for companies looking to start or expand their existing sales or customer service operations.

Learn Why Your Sales Funnel Needs Better Lead Generation

Not all leads are created equal. Build your funnel with qualified leads starting today!

The key to increased sales is to generate the right kind of leads. Many executives believe that all leads are created equal. Not true.

Good leads don’t come from simply buying a list of phone numbers and names and having your sales people start calling. That’s a waste of their time, which only de-motivates them. And it’s waste of your money.

Leads that turn into revenue come from targeted, refined lead generation and hyper lead qualification.

Refined lead generation and hyper lead qualification is cost-effective

To locate the right leads, use this two-step process:

1. Buy a refined list of highly defined and targeted companies.

2. Have a telesales firm economically find the most qualified leads on this list.

How to identify a refined list to buy

Before you buy a list of companies, find your sweet spot to target the right prospects. Start by analyzing your current customer base to find your sweet spot and the right kind of target prospects. Here are a few questions to help you refine the list. It’s likely that for your industry, there are other questions to ask.

  • What types of customers are the best customers?
  • What types of customers bring in the most revenue?
  • What are the job titles do your buyers and day-to-day customer contacts?
  • Do your best customers operate in your region or are they scattered coast-to-coast?
  • Is the industry of your key customers seasonal or robust all year long?

Hyper lead qualification provides your sales team with hotter leads

After you’ve defined the specifications for your refined list, don’t just hand it over to your sales people. Their time is too valuable. Instead, give the list to a telesales partner to conduct hyper lead qualification.

Lead qualification doesn’t involve asking a few simple questions about who is the best contact to talk to. No. It’s more than that.

Hyper lead qualification is lead qualification on steroids. The telesales firm conducts deep probing conversations with the people on the highly targeted list. It uncovers if leads need your product, have a budget and timeline to buy your product, and have the authority to buy your product. And, more.

With a telesales partner, your sales team will have very qualified leads – hyper qualified leads. When calling is done by the telesales firm, it was done cheaper than having your sales team make these qualification calls.

Your sales team will have all of the information they need to immediately get started on selling to these qualified leads and find the people that are ready to buy now and the people who will buy very soon. Now, your sales people can spend their time building relationships with these prospects instead of cold calling.

We’re here to generate and hyper qualify leads for you

This is what SOS Sales Help does for our clients. We conduct lead qualification on steroids. We specialize in business-to-business lead generation and lead qualification, B2B Appointment Setting, data collection and surveys, customer service and customer interactions.

Company CEO, Jason Siefken, founded SOS Sales Help in 2008 after a successful career of building and managing sales and customer service teams for various Fortune 500 companies.

Mr. Siefken felt there was a need for a hands on, results oriented alternative for companies looking to start or expand their existing sales or customer service operations.