Progressive Distributor - Tele sales prospecting: A human-driven CRM

Telesales prospecting: A human-driven CRM

by Frank Hurtte

Yesterday, I Googled the phrase “Customer Relationship.” The search returned 99 million responses. Sometime between when I started working in distribution and yesterday, things changed. For at least half of the listings, Customer Relationship equates to a software package. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has migrated from being a process to being a code word for a new generation of software.

But when I visit distributors, these software systems either sit idle or are used as glorified Rolodexes. The issue isn’t with the software; the problem stems from the lack of a well-planned process that links customer needs, customer value and modern technology. The vital link between customer and distributor, need and value lies in a plan to build a human link. Telesales prospecting is that link.

What is telesales prospecting?
Telesales prospecting gathers strategic customer contact data via telephone, e-mail and fax. The sales force benefits from expanded contacts within their most active accounts. Sales activity yields more results and a better return on investment because salespeople have access to more data and contacts from targeted accounts.

Simply stated, telesales prospecting provides a deeper view into customer organizations. The process attacks the issues of identifying qualified leads in existing and potential customer organizations. Non-traditional customers – once not economically feasible to develop – become viable because telesales prospecting streamlines customer maintenance.

The process separates “technology users” from “technology appliers.” Value-based selling depends on the ability of the sales organization to prove customer advantage. Distributors have traditionally focused their efforts on technology appliers (such as plant engineers and maintenance) rather than technology users. This traditional customer group often thinks in terms of bits and bytes, band vs. blade rather than dollars generated by reduced scrap or improved production metrics.

Technology users better understand the value drivers required to improve productivity, reduce scrap or justify a project. Historically, poor communication within customer facilities exacerbates pushing the real value proposition.

How does it work?
A specially trained telesales prospector with close ties to sales management builds a database of technology users, categorized according to specific disciplines and financial drivers. Examples of these disciplines could be maintenance managers, safety managers, quality managers, production supervisors, IT department heads, and many others.

The telesales prospector systematically works through the customer contact database, touching each client contact, inquiring about informational needs and updating information in the company database.

Each call is carefully designed to gather three pieces of information:

• Product informational needs. Is their previous investment working according to promise?

• Accuracy of current database listing. Do we have all of your personal information listed correctly, did you receive our last e-mail, would you like to be added to our mailing list?

• Referrals to other employees. Who else in your organization would benefit from non-sales based training, information or technical references?

Each successive pass through the customer database uncovers more names, information and value interests. One distributor that worked this plan began with 250 names and, over the course of two years, grew the database to more than 3,000 contacts.

Here’s how the process works: Every quarter, the prospector calls, e-mails or faxes each contact to verify information and gauge interest in specific solutions the company offers. In many instances, the process identifies projects or future informational needs well ahead of any type of sales-based initiative.

An important point to remember is that this person is not engaged in sales activity. As a result, the contact views him or her as a valuable information source. However, the telesales prospector should immediately report information requests to the sales team for follow-up.

In addition to normal sales activities, the traditional sales force conducts seminars, workshops and Web-based events to match needs with information presented. This moves the sales folk into a consultative role with the technology users. The telesales prospector makes sure all new contacts receive regular attention to maintain a warm connection. At the same time, these groups receive focused information matching their needs.

What kind of results can we expect?
Interaction with those who understand your value proposition. Telesales prospecting establishes and maintains warm relationships with warehouse managers, production teams, quality managers, safety coordinators and plant managers.

A broader base of contacts. Expect to see new faces in solutions-based seminars. Maximize your impact by getting past gatekeepers and by becoming the preferred source for new information. Salespeople and specialists react differently when the questions move from “How much does that cost?” to “What should I expect to invest?”

Increased involvement in customer events. Your company will be invited to participate in Kaizen events and identifying “lean root cause” discussions. When new products are introduced, you will ask yourself completely different questions about the benefits. You will participate in fewer shotgun blast market discussions and more marksman-like rifle shots to exactly the right person, and salespeople will become more effective over a wider range of disciplines.

How do distributors and manufacturers benefit?
Distributors must drive toward increasing the efficiency of their sales force and continue to justify the value they provide. Telesales prospecting achieves this result. New levels of customer communication are possible with the added benefit of reaching into the difficult technology user segment. This allows faster and more efficient introduction of new products and rapid expansion of existing products.

For manufacturers, telesales prospecting allows finer product targeting without resorting to alternative channels.

Distributors can access standard industrial classification (SIC) codes and also the inner workings within the SIC code. Advertising becomes more effective and customer ad awareness is amplified. When the data is properly gathered and measured, marketing budgets become better long-term investments. Plus, the data helps manufacturers pinpoint products to a specific functional contact.

A locally run distributor-based program achieves synergy not available through typical marketing campaigns. Because selling is a person-to-person process, a local distributor is more likely to uncover important data than a person working from a central location. The strong integration with a local manufacturer’s sales representative and the distributor sales force allows for better coordination throughout the entire process.

How can channel partners make this happen?
Telesales prospecting works best in a joint venture environment, yet the costs associated with such a program clearly go well beyond the traditional distributor model. The burden of launching such a program can be shared between all beneficiaries. Here are some ideas designed for discussion between equal business partners:

• Pay for leads generated
Manufacturers run ads in a wide variety of publications. A distributor could receive a bounty for each new contact name provided through telesales prospecting. The distributor would share the leads with the manufacturer’s marketing department for further analysis.

• Assistance with software costs
By sharing in the software costs and IT support, a manufacturer could ensure that data is available in a format easily integrated into the manufacturer’s own database.

• An extra percentage on co-op funds
The distributor that provides telesales prospecting assumes additional duties in the supply chain. An extra percentage on co-op funding could easily drive the behavior of other distributors in the channel and, at the same time, pay early adopters for developing and proving best practices.

• Pay for highly targeted marketing data for survey purposes
Marketing professionals have long heralded the value of closely focused surveys. A telesales prospecting professional could conduct localized versions of the survey with a fraction of the preparation and lag time normally associated with surveys.

A simple test
If you wonder if telesales prospecting is something you should consider, try this simple test. Gather your top three salespeople in a room and ask them to list their top five accounts. Now, ask them to list the names of the following people:
    1) Plant manager
    2) Production manager
    3) Engineering manager
    4) Maintenance manager
    5) Quality manager
    6) Lean or Six Sigma leader
    7) Logistics manager
    8) Safety manager
    9) Facilities manager
10) Chief financial officer

If you’re like most distributors, your score will probably fall in the 40 percent range. If so, you might want to consider making telesales prospecting part of your future.

Frank Hurtte of River Heights Consulting has 28 years of real world experience and is available as a speaker and executive coach. His new book “Telesales Prospecting – the human process of CRM” will be released in winter 2007. Contact Frank at (563) 514-1104 or (frank@riverheightsconsulting.com).