Have you ever walked into a party too early or too late? Either way, it’s uncomfortable and you realize better planning could have resulted in arriving right on time.

Likewise, in sales, connecting too early or too late with your prospect has some serious disadvantages. What are those disadvantages and how can you dodge them? We’ll discuss them in today’s blog.

Know where your prospects stand in the sales cycle
Ted and Carla are both MSPs, each running their own MSP business. Both get an inquiry from Marilyn, whose firm is looking to invest in an intranet system for the office. Ted and Carla are set up for a sales pitch with Marilyn and her seniors and asked to present before them.

During the pitch, Ted seemed to hit all the right notes with the bosses, while Carla came across as mediocre. As a result, Ted’s company got the contract.

What really happened?
As a part of his preparation for the pitch, Ted researched Marilyn’s recent IT company research activities like:
– What whitepapers she had recently downloaded.
– What links she had clicked.
– How she spent her time (on specific pages) on the website.
– Relative inquiries she made on her social groups online, etc.

All this gave Ted a clear idea of what Merlyn was looking for. This 360-degree overview of his prospect ensured that he was ready with the right pitch for his prospects.

As prospects will do their own research before they meet you, you need to be on the same page as they are when you meet. If you are not able to answer your prospect’s questions in the first few minutes of their pitch, you will not impress the client. The key to success is in knowing where the prospects stand in the buying cycle, even before you ever meet or talk to them the first time.

Follow up with relevant messaging
MSPs often wait to call the prospects back thinking that they have done their part and now it’s the prospect’s turn. However, before that happens, a small yet unavoidable step escapes their minds.

Follow-up:
Research reveals that 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact with the prospects, and yet almost 48% of sales people never follow up. Company reps who get in touch with you for your product are a busy lot. These will usually be decision makers with many responsibilities within their organization; meeting your competitors for the same product, being one of them.

In order to demonstrate your service or product, it is important that you follow up with your prospect with relevant messaging. What were their fears and concerns when you met/spoke to them? Which of your features or benefits appealed to them the most? Which are the most frequently asked questions you generally face in such situations?

Shoot an email to them that reminds them what they were looking for, or send them some useful e-books that can help them in their research process. Avoid the urge to force-sell your product in your follow up e-mails. It is all about relevant messaging. Watch this space for more about how you can keep your MSP Marketing and Sales Enablement on point to appeal to your prospects.