If you’ve been in any B2B sales role, there’s likely one thing about prospecting that you know for sure: You can’t boil the ocean. Pursuing and onboarding new customers costs money. You therefore must look at all of the potential customers in your footprint and determine which ones are most likely to a) need your product or services and b) be willing and able to pay for them. Those are the prospects that are worth the time, effort, and expense to go after.
This type of strategic prospecting calculation should be done by nearly any professional service provider — from insurance carriers and accountants/CPAs, to financial advisors, business processing organizations (BPOs), and even business consultants. This is also why people in these types of roles can benefit from a prospecting strategy based on targeting certain industries.
Research has shown that business advisors who have expertise in certain industries are more likely to win deals with businesses in those verticals. But how do you know which industries are a good match for your products or services, as well as your sales goals?
If you are interested in developing an industry-targeting sales strategy for yourself or your organization, Industry Intelligence should be an integral component of your due diligence process.
The advantages of targeted prospecting
The benefits of a calling strategy focused on certain industries extend beyond time- and effort-savings on your end. There can be tangible advantages for your clients and prospects, as well.
- When you build up your acumen about specific industries, it allows you to apply that expertise to just about any business within those niches.
- Your knowledge will help you establish a well-deserved positive reputation in those particular industries, which can boost referrals and thus profits.
- Focusing your prospecting on a handful of specific industries allows you and your team to create scalability with replicable processes.
- Developing industry-focused sales materials lets you speak directly to business owners’ pain points and opportunities.
- Industry targeting can help shorten your sales cycle while boosting close rates, retention, and profitability.
I’ve experienced first-hand the sales success that comes with taking this type of targeted calling approach. By using Industry Intelligence to select the niches you will focus on and then prepare for calls in those industries, you can achieve results that will move the needle for your sales goals while also benefiting your customers.
In our next post, we will share specific tactics that can help you narrow in on the industries that might be a good fit for your prospecting efforts.
Ready to develop a targeted sales strategy that focuses on highly desirable industries? Download our free ebook, Choosing the Right Path: Targeting Industries in Your Local Market, to learn how to create a streamlined sales strategy that will boost sales.