Why You Should Know When Your Prospect’s Lease is Expiring

  by Shannon F.   Literally all of our InsightPRM clients offer products and services that relocating companies need—like Commercial Real Estate, Telecom, IT Services, Moving Services, and much more. We stress to these clients that it’s not enough simply to target companies that are moving in the near future. Having only short-term prospects in your pipeline is the sales equivalent of going grocery shopping and just buying one box of frozen bagel pizzas. (We apologize in advance for this extended analogy.) Sure, you’ll eat for a day, but you won’t know where your next meal is coming from. Just like stocking up on staples to have on hand for future dinners, packing your pipeline with possible leads can keep you from going hungry during a period when you don’t have enough short term prospects. That’s where Lease Expiration data comes in. Our clients can use the database to check out prospects whose leases will be ending within the next three years. Why is that useful? Because having a year or so to market yourself to potential customers is an awesome advantage. By the time the customer needs your product or service, you will have had the opportunity to enter at a consultant level instead of merely as a bidder. We tell salespeople to keep on top of long term leads even if they feel it’s too early to start making cold calls. Our most successful clients send mailers and free information to prospects as soon as the lease expiration […]

The Rule of 7 Touches Just Doubled

  by Shannon F.   This rule probably once worked for you: contact a prospect at least seven times before you give up. If you’re still only making seven touches today, though, you’re likely struggling to convert leads into appointments. In a pared-down economy with fewer employees to do the same amount of work, it’s likely that you could make seven cold calls to a busy company and never even get a decision-maker on the phone. That’s why we recently started telling our clients not to give up until they’ve made at least 12 to 18 attempts. Yeah, that sounds like a lot, and it is. But here’s some good news: every touch doesn’t have to be a cold call. You can try reaching your prospects through email. You can send snail mail. You can even connect with potential clients on LinkedIn and send a personalized message. Here’s a suggested schedule for making 12 to 18 touches: First touch: Call If no success, Second touch: Call If no success, Third Touch: Call If no success, Fourth Touch: Send an email or LinkedIn message. If no success, Fifth touch: Follow up on email message with a call. If no success, Sixth Touch: Call If no success, Seventh Touch: Send a mailer or an information packet. If no success, Repeat Touch One Through Seven. So if making 12 to 18 cold calls feels like running repeatedly into a brick wall, remember that persistence works best when you vary your approaches. The same […]