Artur Szczybylo
By Dave Fellman
I was reminded the other day about an article I wrote nearly 20 years ago. It was titled “IQDD—An Acronymic Approach to Printing Sales.” That column introduced an acronym that stands for Identification, Qualification, Discussion & Decision.
Now I have a new acronym for you: GPMP, which stands for General Prospecting Marketing Plan. It’s a sad fact that most salespeople don’t do enough prospecting, and what prospecting they do is often poorly organized and executed. That’s where a GPMP comes in.
A Mechanical Process
My attitude toward prospecting is pretty mechanical in nature. In other words, I recommend a very specific process, and a big part of the key to success is simply repeating that process enough times to yield the desired results.
The GPMP I recommend starts with the identification of “suspect” companies. A suspect is a company that you think/hope might qualify as a prospect, and there’s no other requirement at the first stage of this process. The basic idea is to take a first look at each company or organization in your area and make a decision as to whether they’re worth a closer look.
If they are, the next step in the GPMP is to identify at least one decision-maker. That could involve Internet research, using LinkedIn, or simply looking at the suspect company’s website. It might also involve “traditional” networking, asking around to see if anyone knows who you need to be talking to at the targeted company. Failing all that, you might simply call on the phone and talk to whoever answers: “Hi, my name is Dave Fellman. I’m from Dave’s Printing, and I’d like to send some information about my company to your company. Can you tell me, please, who should I address it to? Who’s the person who’s most involved in buying the (prints/plans/drawings, marketing materials, tradeshow graphics, etc.) for your company?”
When given a name, the next opportunity is to confirm that it’s that it’s a person you really want to talk to, and to capture all of the contact information you’ll need. Please note my use of the word “opportunity.” You are in contact at this point, with a live human being who can answer your questions and provide you with the information you need.
The next step is an introductory email, and the purpose of that is simply to avoid making a cold call on the decision-maker. The email I recommend says three things—I’m interested in you and I think I can bring value to you so I’m going to call you to see if we can set up a meeting. That sets up my phone call: “Hi, this is Dave Fellman from Dave’s Printing. I wrote to you the other day and I promised that I would call to see if we can set up a meeting. How does that sound?”
Prospecting Ends
The purpose of a GPMP is to generate appointments. At that point, prospecting ends and something else begins. I’ll write more about that next time.
Dave Fellman is the president of David Fellman & Associates, Cary, NC, a sales and marketing consulting firm serving numerous segments of the graphic arts industry. Contact Dave by phone at 919-363-4068 or by e-mail at dmf@davefellman.com. Visit his website at www.davefellman.com.