How To Build a Highly Targeted Prospect List

A quality list is the foundation of a successful sales campaign.Depending on where you got your list, it still needs further qualification.Depending on the nature of your prospects, most lists allow you to narrow down your search criteria to specific locations, industries, company size or demographic qualities.To ensure that you have a properly targeted prospect list that offers a high rate of sales conversion, you will need to do a little extra work.

Step 1: Do you know your target customers?

Identifying who you want to target is the first thing you need to do to build a targeted prospect list.Your target is someone who will want to buy what you are selling.It's more difficult to identify that person or company.Look at your current customers for the product or service you are selling, and those who have bought it in the past.What distinguishes them from other prospects?Identifying the locations, industries, sizes and business models for your best customers is important for businesses.Specific demographic information can be looked at by individuals.These customers are similar to your ideal new prospects.

Step 2: Past customer data can be obtained.

When researching your ideal customer, keep any existing or past customer data, as these contacts should become part of your targeted list.Look at sales records, correspondence, customer databases, research data, market surveys, and warranty records to identify past customers.You should try to get the name, title, email address, and telephone number of each contact.Building up your list is the priority at this stage.You can make sure that it is up to date by refining it.

Step 3: You should build out your customer data.

There are gaps or incorrect information on your list of past or inactive customers.You can find the correct and current information by researching each contact.Search engines, social networks, and your contacts can be used to find missing information for prospects.It is possible to hire a data services company to get this information for you, but this will add costs to your search.

Step 4: Referred to.

You can add customer referrals to your prospect list.Customers are likely to refer others who are similar to them, meaning that the referrals will also be interested in your offering.You can get referrals from customers if you don't have an existing list.It is possible to include a space in an online survey to recommend the product to a friend or give incentives to referred customers.

Step 5: You should use your network.

New customers who you think might be interested in buying should be added to your list.Put any members of your network who are close to your target customer.These can be people you've met at industry events or shows, or just people that you have connected with on LinkedIn.If you want to identify matching prospects, go over your records and analyze your online network.

Step 6: You can analyze prospects on the professional networking site.

It is used to build and maintain professional relationships.It can also be used to build a targeted prospect list.If you're looking for individuals, you can look through your first-degree connections' pages and note the people that are similar to you on the right side of the page.Take a look at the results for people in your target industry.You can use the search box at the top of the page to perform a company search.First-degree connections are what you should narrow down on.You can also choose the size and industry of your target company.You will get your first-degree contacts at these companies.You can get contact information for the decision-maker at the company by contacting them.

Step 7: Quality content will attract online interest.

A targeted prospect list composed of your site's visitors is already built if your business has a website.To gain followers and readers on your site and social media accounts, post interesting, well-written and shareable content.Visitors can sign up to join your mailing list.They need to input their information so that you can add them to your list.Increase the size of your mailing list by using contests to drive traffic to your site.Ask for your name and email address.Asking for more information might drive people away.Multiple lists can be created that are specific to interests or product categories.It will allow each list to be more focused.

Step 8: Use other sources of information.

There are other ways to build prospect lists.You can purchase lists from online sellers.There is no guarantee of the quality of these lists.Manual methods of data collection, such as going through the Yellow Pages, company websites, or industry/trade directories, can be used to identify potential prospects.The quality of your information can be assured, even if this approach takes much longer.

Step 9: You should segment your prospects.

It is possible to split up prospects using certain criteria to make it even more focused.The process of dividing up your prospects involves demographic information for individuals, business descriptors for companies, or purchase information.Creating a list that meshes with your ideal customer should be the focus of your decisions.You can segment individuals using demographic information, such as gender, income, age, profession, marital status, interests, or other qualities.Businesses can be categorized according to their size, business type, annual sales/expenditures, or other qualities.Either group can be divided based on order recency in the last six months, average order size, annual purchase amount, or if they have made a purchase from you at all.

Step 10: Track prospects with data.

Track visitors to your website with marketing automation tools.You can see who is visiting your site with these services.You can see who is most interested in your product or service by matching visitors to your website.Better leads can be found if you reach out to prospects who have already visited your site.If you use an email marketing platform, you can do the same thing with your emails.You can match interest to your prospect list by tracking views and click-through rates.

Step 11: Corporate targets should be narrowed down to executive contacts.

If you have identified a list of strong company prospects, you need to convert them into actual human contacts at each company.You can use the internet to find the decision-makers at each company.Pick between 5 and 20 decision-makers for each prospect.If any of your connections can introduce you, then you should use your own LinkedIn network.

Step 12: Check your list's content.

If you want to have a complete list, you need to eliminate any gaps, errors, or duplicate items.Look for duplicate entries of the same prospects.Look closely, these might be mentioned in different ways.Try to fill in any gaps in your information, including names, phone numbers, and email addresses.Try to find out if the information you have is correct.Make sure your information is up to date by checking it against other sources.