Great sales people don’t like to put limits around how many customers they can pitch or how many deals they can close, but occasionally they find themselves reaching a plateau.
After months or years working the same territory, it may feel like they know all their existing accounts pretty well, and that there are few stones left unturned from a customer perspective.
If they’re selling for a company that has long been a leader in its industry, meanwhile, there may not seem to be a lot of new prospects to whom they could introduce its products and services.
What happens once your addressable market has been largely, well, addressed?
Although there may not be an infinite supply of new sales leads for every single company, the rise of digital technologies has vastly increased the scope of potential people or firms a company can target with its products and services.
Organizations that traditionally have only been able to serve those locally or nationally, for instance, can now extend the reach of their sales team through video calling, social media, chatbots or other online channels.
The increased availability and sophistication of e-commerce capabilities, meanwhile, allow transactions to happen anywhere in the world.
This doesn’t mean an avalanche of new sales leads will automatically start falling, of course. It takes diligence and hard work for reps to continue finding new opportunities and exceeding the quota that was determined by a more traditional territory map:
1. Be your own gated asset
Hopefully you have a marketing team that’s producing a steady flow of webinars, eBooks and other resources that customers and prospects will download in exchange for handing over their contact data. You can follow the same approach, however, if you want to get some more leads coming straight into your inbox.
Recognize the fact that people download those kinds of resources because they offer some inherent value in exchange for being a lead in a sales team’s CRM. As a sales professional, you have value you’ve gained from working in your current role that could be offered as a way of encouraging customers and prospects to learn more.
Whether on your company’s blog, as a LinkedIn post or some other public platform like Medium, think of whether you could develop something that aligns with the following titles:
- ‘What my most successful customers have taught me about [topic]’
- ‘The Opportunity Companies Overlook By Failing To Adopt [Upsell Product]’
- ‘5 Kinds Of Advice Or Support I Offer Before, During And After A Sale’
At the end of each of these kinds of posts, include a call to action suggesting your readers can learn more if they reach out. Not a born writer? Try tackling these subjects as a video or podcast instead.
2. Focus on international referrals
Lots of sales reps grow the volume of deals they close by having a happy customer put in a good word with one of their peers. In many cases, though, those referrals might have been limited to local peers.
Assuming you have a good relationship with a customer already, consider how well-travelled they might be and the network to which they’re exposed. They might know prospects in other countries or even industries who are not competitors, but who might benefit from a warm introduction.
3. Make it ridiculously easy to meet
What does your email signature say? Chances are it has your name, title, company name and phone number. That’s not enough to drive people to action.
Instead, think of your signature as a calling card that promotes reasons to connect. Include a line like, “Ask me about how we help solve [typical customer problem],” followed by simple ways to connect.
Besides a phone call, mention your willingness to share quick advice through direct messages on social media, via text or even a quick huddle on video conference. Don’t forget to make mention of any upcoming events you’ll be attending where people could schedule a meeting in person.
4. Revisit the land of the lost
Within every CRM is a dormant customer waiting to be brought back to life.
When reps first get assigned a territory, they might be told by their predecessor or a manager that certain accounts are essentially a lost cause. It may be because the firm endured a budget cut, or there was some kind of disappointment over the purchases they’d made.
These are things that change with time. Set a reminder to periodically review some of those accounts and look for some ways to get back in the game.
Maybe your firm has since launched an improved product or service. Maybe the company has since been acquired and its new owner would be more open to a discussion. Maybe the industry has simply changed and this is a better time to rekindle the relationship. Don’t give up.
5. Choose a new channel (or channel-within-a-channel)
A lot of your initial sales leads might have come from attending events. There’s nothing wrong with that, but consider whether there might be some untapped opportunities by taking a second look at the online ads the company is running, or by reworking the email nurture campaign that hasn’t been changed in . . . forever.
Sometimes there are new developments within a channel you may think you already know well. Social media is a good example.
At one time there might have been early conversations with customers happening through Twitter or LinkedIn. Today, even Instagram might be a way to showcase something to prospects that will get them interested in a purchase discussion.
6. Emulate your best coworker
Sales should be a team effort, but too often becomes a siloed activity. The data-driven approach of today’s teams offers a way to transcend that.
When you look within CRM, for instance, you can start to see patterns of success across everyone on the entire sales team. Even if other reps can’t offer any immediate best practices, consider making some time in your team meetings to brainstorm further ideas to generate more sales leads. Your addressable market might turn out to be a lot bigger than anyone imagined.
