The “sniper shot” vs. “shotgun approach” to Target Account Prospecting

Linked In “trick” for you to consider…  Very high conversion rates can be achieved. 

Step 1: Find the high level contact you are looking to reach at the organization you are trying to get into (you can do this with Hoovers, Jigsaw, or Linked In).

Step 2: Search for that person in Linked In.

Step 3: Find out where they used to work.

Step 4: If your company has a lot of customers, odds are one of their prior employers was a customer of yours!

Step 5: Email the person (through Linked In, or directly by looking up their email address in Jigsaw), and mention that their prior employer ABC CO. is a satisfied customer of yours, and wouldn’t they like to see similar business benefits at the company they work for now (benefits include: x, y, z).

Step 6: In the email, ask for a “referral” to the person responsible for ______________ (whatever it is your sell).

Step 7: At the same time you push send, make a phone call (< 30 second vmail) and refer to the email.  Example: Steve, congratulations on your move to ABC CO.  As mentioned on email, your prior employer (s) saw the benefits of using this solution to achieve ______, ______ and _______, if you would let me know via email or phone who should we talk to, we can likely provide similar results.

Step 8: Enjoy a very high conversion rate.  When you use “sniper shots” vs. shotgun approach, you will get a much much higher conversion rate.