Teleprospecting List Development: Too Big, Too Small Or Just Right?
As a teleprospecting representative, one of the most important tools you have is our list. Getting warm leads is exciting; people are familiar with your company and you can take a different approach with your outbound calling efforts. But even before you can make the decision as to how you want to approach your prospects, you need to take a look at the list as a whole.
In the past, I’ve worked with many different data sets. For one project, I was given four companies with approximately forty contacts for each, and told to have at it. For another project, I was given about one hundred companies, with only two contacts for each, which were not necessarily the correct titles. It is part of our job as teleprospecting reps to be resourceful and find new contacts or create new opportunities, but sometimes it seems like more of a hassle than a part of the every day job.
When discussing list size and quality it makes me think of the timeless Fairy Tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. You are sometimes tasked with a list that is too small, other times too big, and sometimes it’s JUST right. Having a list that is too small can cause issues with developing pipeline. It can be hard to pull in new contacts in order to create opportunities in the future. Using LinkedIn or your own CRM to find new prospects can help create stronger data. Lists that are too large can be daunting and take a long time to sort through or identify who the appropriate contacts are that you should be calling. Using different filters helps with this, sometimes sorting by company, title, date created, etc. You don’t want to miss an opportunity because it was buried in a big list.
When you have a list that is just right, you’ll be able to set tasks and pull in untouched prospects at a steady pace, building up a solid pipeline. How do you ensure that you have the best quality data possible and the right size list?
There are certain things that I look for in a "JUST right" list. There is no “perfect” number of prospects, but you need enough to sustain the outbound campaign until there is another campaign or more names provided. Also, there needs to be enough contacts for teleprospecting reps to be able to navigate through the company and find an appropriate contact while building pipeline. Approximately 5-6 contacts per account work well. This is a good base before going to LinkedIn or another source for additional prospects. Warm leads are great as well, but not always available. Having prospects that are familiar with your company’s space is helpful in two ways: they are more likely to listen to you because they recognize the name and they will usually direct you to an appropriate contact. Webinar/ event lists are a great resource as well for gathering information regarding interest, timeline, budget, and correct contacts.
What are some other ways to provide a list for your teleprospecting team that are JUST right? Does your organization believe more in quantity or do they focus on quality when developing lists?