I’ll preface this blog by letting you know that I’m not an avid runner. I’ve never run a marathon in my life, but I can say that I understand the saying, “It’s a marathon; not a sprint.” I’ve used this tidbit of advice on many occasions: big dinners, binging on TV shows, days spent shopping, etc. Now I can add teleprospecting to the list of things this saying has shown me to be true.
As someone who spends most of her day communicating with potential customers via phone and email, I have learned through experience that passing leads and closing deals is a process, and you cannot expect to hit goals and numbers in a short period of time. Building a pipeline is important, as it helps you find timelines in which you might be able to close some deals at the ends of months and quarters when you need to bring numbers up. But more importantly, building a good pipeline allows you to plan ahead and navigate through different groups within organizations.
Each day is a new opportunity to create relationships with the prospects, administrators, and sales reps with whom you work. This is great for someone like me, who sets high expectations for reaching goals early and hitting daily numbers. Hitting a call number or passing extra leads over my goals each month gives me a sense of pride, a feeling that I can achieve something that will make my clients happy. And I know that having a game plan for building a strong pipeline will increase the opportunities created.
Having weekly or regularly scheduled check-ins with clients and customers can help them understand where you are in your processes and guide them along with your nurtures and upcoming opportunities. If clients do not have a background in sales or teleprospecting, they might not understand the time it takes to maneuver through an organization and uncover a fully qualified lead. Keeping them up to date is helpful on both ends so everybody knows what to expect for the month and other long term goals and check points. Without communication, your expectations might be different from those paying the bill, and you could lose business.
This might sound a little tortoise-and-the-hare-ish, but slow and steady does prove to be the most efficient. Sure, pounding the phones is going to help with conversations and leads, but having a plan to increase your pipeline will work best in the long run of your client’s contract.
