Prospecting POV:

"Wow" prospects with insider knowledge - in 10 minutes.

Happy Wednesday to 11,780 SaaS sales professionals!

This week I am giving you a step-by-step process for better, faster account research. Not only will it free up your time to make more calls. It will also improve the quality of your outbound messaging!

Let's go👇

Member Spotlight:

Nobody Loves Doing Research

Most sales professionals do little to no research before reaching out to prospects. It's why their email response rate is low. It's why they get shredded by prospects on the phone.

Why is research such a struggle?

1. Time constraint: if you spend too much time with research there’s no time left for prospecting.
2. Access to information: some information about accounts & prospects is hidden. You cannot find everything online. You have to work with some assumptions.
3. Information overload: at the same time, there is too much information online. You have to be selective on what’s relevant.
4. Quantity vs. quality: many of you face pressure to target a large number of accounts & prospects. You're spread too thin.

As a result, most sellers do superficial research. They go wide instead of deep. But that doesn't open any doors, nor does it earn your prospect's attention.

I've put together an Account Research Flow to help you conduct relevant research in a short amount of time. With this approach you can go DEEP into an account within 10 minutes!

Fast & Effective Account Research

My first tip: organize ALL your account research in a simple spreadsheet.

One row per account, one column for each of the data points below. If you design it well, this spreadsheet can be a simple step by step guide.

It turns your account research in a fast check-the-box exercise.

Here's my personal account research flow:

Step 1): Sales Navigator.

I look out for triggers such as funding, executive leadership change, or headcount growth. The account page helps me understand which departments are growing vs. shrinking. This gives me a good idea on the financial health of the company, and where they are currently focusing.

Step 2): Company Website

I try to understand in 1 sentence: how do they make money? Who are their customers? Who do they partner with? I also put myself in the shoes of their customers: does the website deliver a good experience? Is anything broken? Is there a bad chat bot or a form that doesn't work?

Step 3): Job Descriptions

Open jobs help me understand what problems they are trying to solve. New talent brings in new skills that might be missing currently. Job descriptions often list their tech stack, and the company's strategic targets.

Step 4): Review Sites

G2, Trustpilot, RepVue, Yelp & Glassdoor, etc. are excellent sources. They help you learn about a company's employee & customer experience. Negative reviews are great triggers to find problems you can help solve. There is nothing worse for a company than bad reputation!

Step 5): Google News

I recommend you set up Google Alerts on all your strategic accounts to monitor them. Company news, press releases, articles & interviews are excellent sources for personalisation. You can quote C-levels from their interviews and use that to arm your messaging.

This is my account research flow. It allows me to go DEEP into 1 account within 10 minutes or less!

Strong Opinion, Loosely Held

If you made it until here you might ask: how do I digest all this research into a cold email or a cold call script?

The simple answer: you need to build a Point Of View (POV).

A POV is a "strong opinion, loosely held" about an account. It helps you

• Customize your outreach: so it resonates more with prospects
• Digest all your research: so you can be concise
• Differentiate yourself: 99% of sellers won't do this
• Add value upfront: you engage in problem solving

Here's how to build a POV step-by-step:

1. Company trigger: what is the number 1 thing you found in your research about this account? What stood out to you?
2. Hypothesis: what do you believe is going on behind the scenes? (that you cannot see from the outside)
3. Data points: any public information that supports your hypothesis?
4. POV: what's your strong opinion about this account?
5. Problem statement: what's your assumption about a business challenge you can help solve?
6. Value proposition: how can you help solve the problem above in the unique context of this company?

Here's how to do it:

• open your account research spreadsheet on one screen.
• Open a blank Google Docs on another.
• Answer questions 1 through 6.
• Keep this to down to a one pager.

Spend no more than 10 minutes on this!

Your Account POVs will become an invaluable asset in your outreach.

Keep them in front of you to send cold emails.

Keep them in front of you to handle objections on the phone.

Watch your prospecting results transform 🚀

Are you done with trial & error? Do you finally want to implement a system for sales success in 2024?

Consider joining our private coaching mastermind to get your sales performance to the next level.

BOOK A FREE CALL