Outbound sales performance has changed as the business world evolves to a more qualitative, relationship-focus world. Kerri Jankelow, Regional Sales Manager, Sales Solutions at LinkedIn shared compelling solutions to this business shift in a Data.com webinar with our own Shannon Duffy, VP Marketing, and Tom McCleary, VP Business Development and Strategy.

Having built successful field and inside sales teams at several top companies, Kerri was a welcome guest for the team’s discussion on moving from a traditional outbound sales approach, where success is a numbers game measured quantitatively, to a more modern approach with a focus on the qualitative, where relationships are more carefully built and your sales rep truly takes on the role of a trusted advisor.

Here’s a quick look at five things you can do today to improve your outbound sales performance in today’s business world.

1. Find the Right Prospects

Finding the right prospects is more important than ever before. With an average of as many as four people involved in B2B purchase decisions, it’s important to understand the dynamics of the evaluation committee you’re dealing with. Both Tom and Kerri note the importance of recognizing that purchase decisions are made through consensus. The key is to cultivate several connections and champions within your target organization. Having one champion is great, but what if that champion leaves the company in the middle of a sales cycle?  Being multi-threaded is crucial for keeping a sales process on-track.

2. Know What’s Important to Them

So much information is available now via social networks, blogs, websites, review sites, etc., that consumers are now highly prepared before they purchase anything. Tech savvy, socially empowered customers now have no compelling reason to take a sales person’s call during the research phase of a purchasing decision. Today, they can find someone in their networks who’s used your product, and they value the word of those in their networks more than they do the word of a sales person or company website.

Keep an eye on “trigger events” that could be the impetus for a change. This involves spending time where the decision makers are spending their time, identifying what they’re discussing and what their current challenges appear to be.  You can learn a lot from someone’s digital footprint now. Remember, there’s as much information out there about your prospects as there is about your products and organization, so start using that intelligence to understand your prospects better and be more relevant.

3. Leverage Your Relationships

Think about receiving a cold call or cold email. Do you respond? Your prospects feel the same way.  Kerri notes that according to recent studies, cold calling is ineffective 97% of the time. It’s time to make the shift from relationships to networks, and networks need to be nurtured.  It’s about professional social networking now, reducing the degrees of separation between you and your prospects.  Find your path in. Opening up your network to find mutual connections makes prospecting more qualitative. Even the mention of a name of someone they know drastically increases the likelihood of a prospect returning a call or an email; now imagine the power of actual warm introduction.

4. Establish Credibility

With 75% of B2B buyers likely to use social media as part of their purchase decisions, it’s imperative that you are participating on social networks. These channels offer ample intelligence on your prospects and opportunities to become truly knowledgeable about your prospect accounts. As well they give your company the opportunity to deliver useful information through thought leadership and great content. Tom notes the quickest deal killer is a sales person asking, “So, tell me about your business.” Becoming a trusted advisor with credibility in your industry and knowledge of your prospect’s industry is a must.  At that point, you could identify someone’s problem before they even realize they have one.

5. Keep the Relationship Going

People change jobs more often than they did in the past. The median tenure of today’s salaried employees is five years with their current employer. It’s important to keep track of organizational changes and where people are going.  There are tools now that make keeping track of these changes easier.  It’s crucial to stay on top of comings and goings.  As Tom notes, if you had a champion at company A that left for company B, you now likely have an in at company B.

Be sure to check out the webcast in its entirety including a terrific Q&A with all three panellists.