How to Identify Sales Opportunities

The G.O.A.T. sales rep can identify sales opportunities seemingly by instinct alone. But the majority of sales reps are “B” and “C” players, so teaching them how to identify sales opportunities puts them on the fast track to selling, cross-selling and upselling more. In this post, we’ll point out the top three elements to identifying sales opportunities.

1. PROVIDE AND EDUCATE YOUR REPS ON IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILES

   Creating a profile of the ideal customer, one who will recommend you to others, is key to helping sales reps be able to identify which opportunities are more likely to convert. That’s because you know their pain points and key considerations for the product or service you offer. Here are some questions to help you develop your profiles:

• Who are you targeting? (Industry, job titles, location, etc). Having some demographics will help you segment your prospects.
• What are their pain points? What keeps them up at night? Make sure you are prepared to address these needs with strong benefit statements.
• How do they find their information? (Internet, emails, social media, trade shows, etc.?) You’ll increase your likelihood of engaging them if you are everywhere they are and make contact via their preferred method.
• What kind of information do they find helpful? (eBooks, infographics, blog posts, newsletters, videos, etc.?)
• What concerns or objections do they have before making a purchase? If you can solve their business problems, your prospect’s objections may not be based on rational thought. Instead of having FOMO (fear of missing out), they may have a fear of making the wrong decision. Be prepared with case studies or anecdotes of successful customers who had similar hesitation.

Using Salesvue analytics, you can make it easier while more precisely identifying key characteristics of your best customers. Compare performance for cadences, lead sources, industry targets, job role targets, or any other Salesforce data you have using the Math of Sales™, and use this information to build data-driven profiles.

2. MAKE A HABIT OF ASKING FOR REFERRALS

   You have an existing customer base and some loyalists, so get them to work for you! Ask your loyal customers for referrals. Ask your clients to recommend your business to other businesses or customers who may need your product/service. When a recommendation comes from a trusted source, a prospect is more likely to buy. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Don’t ask for referrals until the customer has received value from your products and services. Make sure the existing client is fully satisfied with your services and has established a relationship of trust.
• Make it easy to refer your company. Whether you develop an official referral program or simply ask your loyalists to complete a survey or Google review that you can use in your marketing materials, it should be easy and not extremely time consuming for the customer to complete.
• Once they do recommend you and bring in extra business, be sure to offer them rewards. Offer something of value to those customers so that they will not only sing your praises, but continue referring people.

3. DETERMINE AND STANDARDIZE BEST PRACTICES

   Another great way to unlock sales opportunities and increase sales is to identify the steps and best practices that generate sales. For example,

• Does the contact prefer email?
• Do phone conversations work better ?
• Does the contact download eBooks?
• Do certain days of the week garner better responses from clients over other days?

With the power of Salesforce and Salesvue data together, you can more easily figure out what characteristics may be lacking in the prospects you are reaching or the sellers that are communicating with them. Then, using Salesvue, you can scale the best practices you’ve identified with configurable workflows throughout the entire sales cycle based on the needs of your prospects and customers. Turning your lower performing reps into higher performing reps is a matter of showing them how to identify sales opportunities and providing them with tools, such as Salesvue’s sales engagement platform, that let them know who to call, when, and what to say. Request a demo to see how it can work for you.