Dirty databases kill morale.  It’s so difficult to reach decision makers these days.  More than ever, sales success is dependent on our ability to be more efficient.  If you are like most sales people, you are working through a combination of various leads lists, and those who are wise, are managing their most targeted contacts through a CRM.

Most sales roles require high activity to achieve quota, and so we get wrapped up in call, call, call… persist, persist, persist.  Ironically, the very thing that drives our success can also get us into trouble.  This is especially true if you have a ridiculously large list of unqualified leads to filter through.

Let’s say you have three or four lists to call from.  In addition, you have a “purchased” list that was dumped into your database.  None of them are qualified and you are pulling your hair out wondering where to begin.  To make matters worse, the database is filled with duplicates.

Filtering through name after name of unqualified prospects can wear you down, especially when you keep running into, “You have reached a number that has been disconnected.”  Believe me, I feel your pain!

Here’s a list of four targeting tips you can use to immediately improve your prospecting efficiency…

Too Specialized – There are highly specialized industries that primarily work with partners specific to that industry.  If your service doesn’t fit into that niche, you are probably wasting your time trying to convince these prospects that your product is better.  You are probably not even speaking their language, and you lose credibility every time you call.

Wrong Size – Let’s use employee count as an example.  If your company targets clients with an employee count of 50-500, you need to stay within that space.  It’s easy to think the grass is greener on the other side.

With small companies, you become addicted to the rush of the quick sale, and the one call close… but at the end of the day, one of two things is happening.  You are either missing quota, or you are exhausted because of the effort it required to beat your goals.  In either case, you are left wondering, “How can I ever make this work long term?”

With companies that are too large, people get sucked in to unrealistic projections.  As the deal progresses, so does it’s complexity.  Again, it takes a toll on your time and resources.  Your entire pipeline takes a nose dive, and you have very few deals that can close “today.”

Of course, people will ask, “Should I turn that business away?”  The answer is simple, “No.”  If an opportunity presents itself organically, take it, but when it comes to your everyday activities, don’t intentionally seek out and chase those types of accounts.  The odds are not in your favor.

Off Target Demographic – With this example, let’s say you have a highly sophisticated product.  It can do “backflips on the freeway” if you asked it to, and is best suited for white collar businesses.  You know you are selling to the wrong demographic when they can’t see it’s value.

Not a User – Some companies do everything in house.  They don’t currently use your type of service.  Although they have met with other vendors, they have always kept things internal.  Why waste your time banging your head against this brick wall.  Move on!

If you are in a high activity sales role, you should be striving to maintain a “clean” list of 200-300 qualified prospects.  Now when you call, call , call… persist, persist, persist… the results will be dramatically different!  You’ll be back to your old self… believing, “This is what I was born to do… sell!”

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