Using External Data to Identify Premium Leads

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Sales teams at industrial manufacturing companies searching for new customers in existing and new markets are often faced with greater challenges than expected. In attempting to identify target businesses, they are probably not aware of all the businesses located in their TAM – total addressable market. And of the businesses they reach out to, they may not know how good a customer each of them will be; in other words, whether a target business fits their ICP – ideal customer profile.

These circumstances give rise to two fundamental problems. The first is insufficient knowledge of the TAM, that is, lack of knowledge causes you to miss out on many target customers in your TAM that you would approach if only you knew about them. And second, due to the lack of pertinent information about the businesses you do pursue, you may end up following up poor leads, wasting time, effort and money that should be spent on businesses that are highly likely to convert to customers.

The answer to both these challenges is data, specifically external data. When it comes to detailed information about customers and potential customers, sales teams generally possess some degree of relevant data in their CRM systems – more about existing customers and less about possible prospects. This lack of data significantly hampers sales efforts and hinders growth.

Thus, in the effort to efficiently and intelligently grow sales, the first order of business is to procure relevant external data that helps identify all the businesses in your TAM and then determine which of those businesses to pursue.