Categories: Sales Qualification
In the fast-paced world of sales development, you’re often confronted with hot inbound leads that need follow-up fast. According to research, your odds of qualifying a lead decrease by 21 times after the first five minutes. However, despite the need for speed, you want to have background on the prospect before trying to engage them to ensure you can provide value even during your initial connection. To strike that balance, use the 3x3 approach.
The 3X3 approach says you should spend three minutes finding three relevant pieces of information about a prospect. If you follow these guidelines, you'll still be reaching out to your prospect quickly, but also with enough context to make for a valuable call.The key things to look for are trigger events that indicate something has changed for the prospect, their company or within their industry. You should be on the lookout for events in these three categories:
- Personal: Promotions, Changes in company, Social media engagement
- Company: Leadership changes, Product launches, Press releases
- Industry: Regulatory changes, New competitors
The best way to find this information is to leverage social channels, database queries, internal information your company has on the prospect, even google searches. Asking a prospect something you could have easily found with a quick google search is a fast way to lose credibility. Remember, your goal is to respond quickly, with purpose.
The 3x3 method can help with any prospecting function and ensures you don't fall into the trap of endless research. While having great knowledge about a prospect is a valuable tool, the more efficient you can be with your selling activities, the more successful you'll be.
Ivan Gomez is a Force Management Partner who specializes in training Inside Sales Teams. He's also the President and Founder of NextStage, LLC, a consulting firm that helps companies accelerate go-to-market strategies with sales development and inside sales.
