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Courtside with Community ft. Tibor Shanto | March 16 | How to become a pro at sales prospecting

Courtside with Community ft. Tibor Shanto | March 16 | How to become a pro at sales prospecting
rhea.desouza
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Calling all sales enthusiasts,

This one is for you! 

Welcome to another edition of the #CommunityChat, where we explore a relevant topic with specialists, and YOU.
 

Theme: How to become a pro at sales prospecting
 

In this session, we will be joined by @Tibor, a sales leader for over 25 years. Called a brilliant sales tactician, Tibor helps sales teams and organizations translate strategy to results through a focus on execution.  Tibor develops salespeople who understand that success in sales is about Execution – Everything Else Is Just Talk!  

 

Here’s a list of questions we will be tackling - 

  • What qualification frameworks do you use to identify prospects?
  • Is there a way to qualify your list of prospect, prioritizing those that are close to becoming sales opportunities? If yes, how do you do it?
  • Prospects can be reached out to via email, social and cold calling. What form of communication works best for you? What are some tips to start a conversation with a prospect?
  • Metrics are key to success. But what metrics must be captured while handling prospects and how often?
     

Come prepared with your insights, and any questions you’d like answered.
 

Let’s get talking on March 16, 9:30 AM PT.

Cheers | Team Freshworks Community

61 replies

R
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Where do we get the link ? Would it be here posted ?

 

rhea.desouza
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Where do we get the link ? Would it be here posted ?

 

Hello @Rituparna! The Community Chat will happen right here in the comments section of this discussion thread (We kick things off at 9.30 AM PST / 10 PM IST, March 16). Guidelines coming up soon!

If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help :white_check_mark:  

 

 

Cheers | Team Freshworks Community
rhea.desouza
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Looking forward to the conversation like - 

 

Cheers | Team Freshworks Community
rhea.desouza
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Hello Community! We are back with another edition of the #CommunityChat - today we explore the world of sales prospecting. 

Say hello, ask a question, share your experiences - let’s get talking!

Less than an hour to go! 

Are you ready?

Here are a few things to know before we get started with the #CommunityChat: :coffee:

  1. To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1.

  2. If you cannot make it on time, feel free to share your expertise on a particular question at a more convenient time.

  3. You can like/ reply to each other's comments to keep the conversation going.

  4. Be mindful of your comments to others and remember to abide by the community guidelines.

  5. Our members and experts present today might be able to help you out with any challenge or query you might be facing.

  6. Have a great time!

Tagging a few folks to jump in and be a part of our first sales chat

@Manasa Kumar @rashmi.nag @nivedita @LukeH @alyssia.correa @Isaac Thomas @annapoorna.v @klewandowski@dwyermail.com  @LorneH @stevemc @invokker @cky @Alvin Ng 

Cheers | Team Freshworks Community
alyssia.correa
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Really looking forward to the session! There’s going to be lots of nuggets to take away 🙂!

Ally, Freshworks Community Manager
rhea.desouza
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Espresso shot ready or not, here we go! 

It’s time for the #CommunityChat - how to become a pro at sales prospecting! 

Let me introduce the host for the hour, @Tibor Shanto, a sales leader for over 25 years. Among many accolades, he is a sales hall of fame inductee 2021, author and consultant. He says it best “Sales is about execution - everything else is just talk!”

Hello and

 

Cheers | Team Freshworks Community
Manasa Kumar
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Look forward to an engaging session! :slight_smile:

Tibor
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Hello everyone, looking ahead to a fun session.

 

rhea.desouza
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Let’s kick things off with the first question of the hour - 

Q1: What qualification frameworks do you use to identify prospects?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question Q1, start your answer with A1.

Cheers | Team Freshworks Community
J
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Looking forward to learning from you, @Tibor 

My question for you and other participants as well: How can one decide whether a lead is a quality prospect or not? Any tips?

Tibor
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Q1 - One of the easiest way to identify potential new prospects, it the notion of Lookalikes. See who is buying from you now and look for others similar to them.

alyssia.correa
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Hello everyone, looking ahead to a fun session.

 

Hello @Tibor ! Looking forward to the session today and a warm welcome to the Refresh Community 🙂!!

Ally, Freshworks Community Manager
Tibor
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How can one decide whether a lead is a quality prospect or not? Any tips? - I believe you have to be prepared to disqualify leads.  Use the filter of successful deals.  If there are common elements that are present in deals you win, then test for them early.  If the elements are not there, move on, if there is something to work with then develop the opportunity.

 

Manasa Kumar
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Q1 - One of the easiest way to identify potential new prospects, it the notion of Lookalikes. See who is buying from you now and look for others similar to them.

Interesting concept Tibor. What kind of attributes does one look for? Would it be demographics, psychographics or anything else? Could you share examples?

alyssia.correa
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My question is - How much communication is too much when initiating conversations with a prospect? There is a fine line between over-communicating and being pushy. How do you keep that balance?

Ally, Freshworks Community Manager
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How can one decide whether a lead is a quality prospect or not? Any tips? - I believe you have to be prepared to disqualify leads.  Use the filter of successful deals.  If there are common elements that are present in deals you win, then test for them early.  If the elements are not there, move on, if there is something to work with then develop the opportunity.

 

Thanks, @Tibor, It’s often challenging to prepare yourself to disqualify leads, but it’s very essential as you said.

Tibor
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Q2 - Is there a way to qualify your list of prospects, prioritizing those that are close to becoming sales opportunities? If yes, how do you do it? 

You need to map out the buying cycle, from completely not in the market Status Quo, to those ready to buy.  You’ll find three segments, and each one has to be addressed differently.  Think of it as having the ability to speak multiple languages.  

 

I then test “which language they speak”, and prioritize accordingly.  The key is to remember that if you are talking to someone a year away from buying, they are likely not interested in product info, they are looking for insights in context of where they are vis-a-vis their decision.

Varunbk
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Hi Tibor! Thanks for the session. My question is, how effective do you think lead scoring with a CRM is? Have you used AI in prospecting, and if so, how? 

S
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Q1 - One of the easiest way to identify potential new prospects, it the notion of Lookalikes. See who is buying from you now and look for others similar to them.

Right, makes sense! What are some of the attributes that we looked at? Company size, industry? 

R
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My question is - How much communication is too much when initiating conversations with a prospect? There is a fine line between over-communicating and not at all. What is a good balance to have? 

I believe there is definitely a fine line between professional persistance and annoyance, as I learnt this from someone. So I think the best communication is when you truly listen to understand and not listen to respond. Also while prospecting , whatever metrics we follow, we should always make sure that the prospect talks more and we listen, and then communicate. It should definitely follow a 70- 30% 

Tibor
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@Manasa Kumar less demographics, and more experience in the act of making a decision.  If they have made decisions of this scale in the past, I go one way.  If they need to be “educated”, I go another way.  I then want to understand their future plan, the clearer those are, the more specific I can be in my discussions with them.

S
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Q2 - Is there a way to qualify your list of prospects, prioritizing those that are close to becoming sales opportunities? If yes, how do you do it? 

You need to map out the buying cycle, from completely not in the market Status Quo, to those ready to buy.  You’ll find three segments, and each one has to be addressed differently.  Think of it as having the ability to speak multiple languages.  

 

I then test “which language they speak”, and prioritize accordingly.  The key is to remember that if you are talking to someone a year away from buying, they are likely not interested in product info, they are looking for insights in context of where they are vis-a-vis their decision.

Interesting. What do you do to prospects who aren’t close to becoming sales opportunities but show strong potential of converting at a later point in time? Do you continue to simply nurture them or begin engaging with them when they are closer to buying?

alyssia.correa
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How can one decide whether a lead is a quality prospect or not? Any tips? - I believe you have to be prepared to disqualify leads.  Use the filter of successful deals.  If there are common elements that are present in deals you win, then test for them early.  If the elements are not there, move on, if there is something to work with then develop the opportunity.

 

That’s interesting to note. I would have never thought of disqualifying leads in the first level of filtering out. Most often we look at every lead as an opportunity and try to make something of it. Quality > Quantity seems imperative here. Spend more time on leads you know could generate value based on common elements!

Ally, Freshworks Community Manager
rhea.desouza
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We might have identified our prospects, but now it’s time to qualify them. Moving on to the next question in today’s conversation.

Q2: Is there a way to qualify your list of prospects, prioritizing those that are close to becoming sales opportunities? If yes, how do you do it?

To answer this question, start your answer with A2 or click ‘quote’.

Cheers | Team Freshworks Community
rhea.desouza
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My question is - How much communication is too much when initiating conversations with a prospect? There is a fine line between over-communicating and not at all. What is a good balance to have? 

I believe there is definitely a fine line between professional persistance and annoyance, as I learnt this from someone. So I think the best communication is when you truly listen to understand and not listen to respond. Also while prospecting , whatever metrics we follow, we should always make sure that the prospect talks more and we listen, and then communicate. It should definitely follow a 70- 30% 

70 - 30% - great way to look at it :clap:

Cheers | Team Freshworks Community

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