PROSPECTING
TARGET LIST
This is the first step of the sales cycle, prospecting! One of the most crucial pieces you will have to create before even beginning to reach out to potential customers. A great Target List will consist of 30 companies, ranging from enterprise/large, medium, and small organizations. Never forget, this list will be ever evolving through time, as you might discover one of your prospects doesn’t have much need for a firm like OPS.
Your target list is extremely important and one of the formulas to success in sales is having patience. You are NOT going to break into these accounts in your first 6 months. Sales is all about strategy, along with persistence to break into a company that has never worked with one of our brands before. Your list could change over time, as companies needs change constantly within technology.
STRATEGY
Your target list should be companies within your region, which could specifically be in a territory that is designed by your MD. Here are some objectives for your sales strategy when crafting your Target List:
- Companies where you can control the process Sell/gain exclusive business opportunities
- Deals that allow you to gain our targeted GP Margin threshold
- A diversified portfolio of clients, within different industries
Target List Breakdown
LARGE
As you will learn, being successful in sales means you have shown much patience. Whether you are new in sales or performed it in your past life, certain accounts take longer than others to break into. As you develop your list, you should have about 1-2 Large Prospects you are targeting. To break into a Large account, could take anywhere form 9 – 18 months. Let’s review what clarifies a large account:
• IT spend greater than $12M+ a year
• Multiple suppliers servicing account
• Complex organizational structure
• Potentially have a MSP and/or VMS
Large prospect accounts are long- term investments, as you won’t see ROI for some time. You could potentially encounter different scenarios when pursuing as well. They may not add vendors until the new year, once they evaluated their current vendors past year performance. You may also encounter bids (RFIs / RFPs) that go out to potential new vendors.
Be careful with Large Accounts, as you can find yourself devoting too much time to learn them. You should always make it a goal to have at least 1 new meeting a week with a Large Prospect.
MEDIUM
You will want to incorporate 10 – 15 Medium sized accounts on your Target List.
Medium accounts are typically well-established organizations and will still take time to develop. Let’s review what clarifies a medium account:
• IT spend between $5 -$12M per year
• Potential to work with Hiring Managers directly
• Could encounter MSP and/or VMS
You will find yourself spending a great deal of time working your Medium sized accounts, as you
will see quicker wins here than that of a Large prospect.
SMALL
Last, you will want to have 8-12 Small sized accounts on your Target List. These types of customers might only have a handful of needs throughout the year or a steady flow
of positions in a given Quarter. You might find these customers being established or we hope growing significantly. Let’s review what clarifies a small account:
• IT spend of $5M or less per year
• Work with Hiring Managers directly
• Establish C-Level relationships much quicker
• Ability to gain a Business Requirement quicker than Medium or Large
• Less competition
PROSPECTING TOOLS
Though smaller organizations won’t spend as nearly as much as a Medium or Large account will for Talent Solutions, you will find yourself being able to establish quicker wins.
As you establish your Target List, please ensure to diversify your portfolio, as companies may spend throughout the year or only in a given period. You always want to ensure you have established industries on your list, to ensure steady req flow in case something was to happen with your business. Let’s take a quick look on where you should be focusing your time.
We have many tools and resources within our organization to help craft your Target List.
LINKEDIN / INDEED
Think about our core skill sets that we work on and start searching for open positions
Once you identify an open position, review the company in detail and see if it fits within your Target List
DISCOVER ORG
This is a great tool to specifically dig in more on companies in your market by size, revenue, etc.
This will help you significantly when collecting contacts at each Target Account
RECRUITER LEADS
One of the best forms of prospecting
Our recruiters speak to many candidates who are on contract with our competitors
YOUR NETWORK
This will be a homework activity to go through your personal network and close relationships.
Identify 50 people you know, see their network and see if you can get an introduction.
NETWORKING
You each are required to attend networking events, which should generate potential new business. However, if you grew up in your market, reach out to close friends and family.
ESTABLISHED EMPLOYEES IN OFFICE
Employees in your market who have been with our organization for over a year could have some valuable information for your Target List.
REVERSE SEARCH
This is a great source of identifying where current candidates are at with our competition. Let’s review below on how to perform a reverse search in Career Builder.
BUCKET LIST
Now we have spoken about Prospecting and Target Lists. What do we do with them? Well the first 3-6 months will be a lot of Discovery. It is unlikely we will get quick wins with these accounts. We need to be aggressive with our Touch Methodology to get out infant of employees and managers and understand the company to see if they are worth working with and if we can actually work with them.
As we mentioned earlier your target list will change regularly and we should always be looking out for the best business. The goal of an AE is to build up to a book of business of around 15 Accounts where we have regular activity. These accounts will be split Gold, Silver, Bronze and Green is the new Money Account!
REMEMBER these companies and relationships are Optomi Accounts and are allocated out as deemed to be in the company’s best interest. General standard is that an AE will hold the rights to a company for 90 days with no activity but your MD may discuss reallocation as needed.
ORGANIZATION CHARTS
WHO TO REACH OUT TO?
Some of you might be reaching into new accounts that have never been pursued by an OPS employee before. Meaning, it might also take a few touches and discovery meetings to figure out the IT org chart as well. As we discover more about the company and their organization make sure to consider which of the following they are.
1. ECONOMIC BUYER
The person who has the ability to commit funds to a purchase. They can say yes when everyone else says no and vice versa. These are the power players, CIO, VPs, Directors and in some cases they are managers who have this power delegated to them from above.
2. DECISION MAKER
The person who is responsible for making the decisions by selecting the best course of action. They must forecast the success of the individual. More often then not they are the Economic Buyer but never assume. Most of our Client Visits should be with these people.
3. CHAMPION
This person has both power and influence within the organization and wants us to do well. They are actively selling on our behalf and refer us to their network.
4. COACH
This person wants to see us win and will do what they can to assist navigate the organization. They have influence but maybe not the power needed to utilize our service. These are often the producers and should be apart of your weekly call lists although don’t waste too much time with them.
5. CONTRACTORS
As soon as we have one on-site these should become your best friend. They can give you all the inside scoop, get you access to the building, provide org charts and have all the insider information you could ask for.
6. PROCUREMENT
In the larger accounts, procurement can hold the power to becoming an “approved vendor”. They are involved in the process of selecting and maintaining vendors. Discovery is needed to see if they are the Economic Buyer.
7. HUMAN RESOURCES
These are you last call. You will hear them a lot during your Discovery Stage but you should try to go elsewhere first. If you continue to hit this road block then make the call.
