A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Same applies to prospecting. You can do many things right, but one weak link ruins everything.
I see people who are doing a lot of things right, more than they know, yet getting little results. If you don’t know what prospecting problem to fix, you might give up on something that is very close to working for you.
What are the links in your prospecting chain?
Link 1: The list. This matters more than anything. Reach out to bullseye prospects and you can have some weak links and still get results. If your list is a weak link, nothing else matters.
Link 2: Conversations: How many decision makers you are targeting pick up the phone to hear your “sell the meeting” pitch?
Link 3: Email responses.
Link 4: Voicemail responses.
Link 5: Conversion of conversations, to discovery calls/first meetings.
Link 6: Conversion of Email and VM replies to discovery calls/first meetings.
Link 7: Conversion of initial discovery calls to 2nd meetings.
Link 8: Ratio of discovery calls that end up closing and average value of those accounts.
Scenario A: You might be calling the right people and able to convert a high percentage of conversations to meetings, but you have too few conversions. You need to focus on the have more conversations link (link 5).
Scenario B: You book a lot of discovery calls, but few turn into 2nd meetings or end up closing. You need to retool how you conduct those initial discovery calls (link 7).
Scenario C: The accounts you close tend to be too small or less than perfect fits. That is typically a poor list problem. You need to better segment your list to improve deal size (Link 1).
If you are having a prospecting problem, which of your prospecting links need correcting?
Focus on improving those weak links and you get closer to managing a lead generation process that churns out results consistently. Don’t give up too early.
