Habit 45: Do the Research!

November 22, 2017 Selling Comments Off on Habit 45: Do the Research!

To continue with the “Account Development Habits”, let’s look at Habit 45: Do the Research!

Earlier newsletters talked about developing “Target Account” lists. How do you do that? Where do you do the research?

There are many databases available including your own customer list that can assist you in developing your “Target Account” list.

Regardless of the service used, the important issues are the search criteria. The development of data is not what you are after. You are after the development of accurate data that details a list of companies that do the very same thing as your existing customers so that you can leverage the successes.

Developing a list of companies that are similar to your “Success Companies” is not what you are after. You are after a list of companies that do exactly the same thing as your “Success Companies.”

Areas that you should use for sortation are as follows:

• SIC or NAICS code that is identical to “Success Companies.”
• Geographical definition by state, county or zip code.
• Company size stated in number of employees or revenue dollars similar to “Success Companies.”
• Contact titles that are identical or at least similar to those of your “Success Companies.”
• Secure data that includes:
  • Name and title of the contacts
  • Address for each contact and all locations including headquarters
  • Phone number and e-mail address for contacts
  • Products produced at each location
  • Other information as desired
• Be sure the data is produced in Excel or other desired format.

List maintenance is a time-consuming and difficult task. If however, you use this ‘Target Account” list on a daily basis and integrate it into your calendar, it becomes a living thing. Maintenance for something that is used daily is not difficult. So, the key becomes daily use of the “Target Account” list.

Habit 45: Do the research and develop “Target Account” lists for companies that are identical to the “Success Companies.”

“A Habit” is not work, but just a thing that is done every day and doing the research and developing “Target Account” lists for companies that are identical to the “Success Companies” is critical to your success in sales and can easily become a Habit.

TIME MANAGEMENT. For Top Performers every task is planned and focused on the goals that earn the results. Top Performers plan and then engage. They act on their plans, they work hard and they get results.

Coaching these skills is a critical part of what we do. We are here to help you develop and implement your Strategic Plan and coach and develop the skills to implement the plan successfully.

We are having great success coaching and implementing these methods and skills and our clients love it!