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Blog Bling
Mar
20
Use Triggering Events to Keep Sales Pipeline Full
March 20, 2006 | Anita Campbell
Jill Konrath runs a website called Selling to Big Companies. (Consider it the photographic negative of this site, Selling to Small Business)
On her blog she suggests using triggering events to keep your pipeline full.
What’s a triggering event? It’s an opportunity that crosses your path that you should leverage to get in the door with big companies. Jill writes:
“Let me give you an example: Yesterday I received a telemarketing call from a copier company. The woman was using one of the most awful scripts I’ve heard. Clearly some well intentioned, but clueless marketing bozo had created it.
I immediately got on the phone and contacted the president of the company. He wasn’t in, so I left a voicemail telling him that I’d just received a call from one of his telemarketers and I had some feedback I’d like to give him.
Within a couple hours, the VP of Marketing called me back wanting to find out more. We had a good conversation and I shared some insights about how they could get more value from their telemarketing investment.
The door of this company is now open to me. I’m sending them something to read that can help them improve their sales process. I’m not pouncing. Just moving one step at a time.”
While Jill writes about selling to big businesses, the same techniques can apply to any kind of individualized sale to any size company. Smaller businesses selling services (such as Web design or consulting) to other small businesses, for instance, could make good use of Jill’s triggering event technique.
By the way, you can download the first two chapters of Jill’s book called – what else? – Selling to Big Companies.
