71. How to Succeed at Tier 1 Prospecting: Techniques for Targeting Top-tier Companies
And why you need to start now.
Ready to go big game hunting?
If so, you need a plan.
An approach.
A method for landing your first (or next) whale.
In today’s email:
My Tier 1 accounts
How I prospect Tier 1 accounts
Use my Account Mapping template
THE BIG IDEA
LITTA’s COO gave me this list of the UK’s top 20 fit-out/refurbishment contractors in January.
“These are our ideal clients. This is who we should be working with.”
Challenge accepted, I thought
Top of the list is ISG, a £1bn+ global construction, fit-out and engineering company.
Last month, I managed to get LITTA onto their supply chain (not that hard). We’re also one of a handful of companies invited to tender for their UK-wide waste contract (much harder).
ISG and the rest of the top 20 list are our Tier 1 prospects - our Dream 100 clients.
Why?
Because they’re the biggest companies in the fit-out/refurbishment market, they regularly need LITTA's waste collection service.
But, selling to market leaders requires insight, patience and persistence.
That’s why I allocate time every day for Tier 1 prospecting.
I have a recurring 30-minute meeting for “Tier 1 prospecting” on my calendar.
I use the time block to gather insights and identify company and key decision-maker-level triggers.
They help me tailor a targeted and personalised outbound campaign instead of taking a spray-and-pray approach.
Let’s dive in 👇🏾
How I prospect my Tier 1 accounts
Step 1 - Identify Tier 1 accounts
I have my list.
If you don’t know who your Tier 1 accounts are, you need to build an ICP (Ideal Client Profile).
Step 2 - Identify the KDMs and Key Influencers.
After building an ICP, identify the roles that buy your service.
KDMs (Key Decision Makers) are usually prospects at the C-suite, Director, or head of Department levels. They delegate responsibility throughout their team and make final, department-wide decisions.
Key Influencers are management or mid-level team members. They don’t generally have the authority to make a final decision, but they have the power to influence the KDMs. They will usually be your main point of contact at the company.
I target the following KDMs and Key Influencers at my Tier 1 accounts:
Procurement/Supply Chain Directors and Procurement Managers
Pre-Construction Directors and Pre-Construction Managers or Commercial Managers
Project Directors and Project Managers
Sustainability Directors and Sustainability Managers
Step 3 - Business Research
Spend time researching the business to get a better overview.
Check their website for case studies, new and recent projects
Google recent news or press releases.
Review the business’ LinkedIn page for the latest updates.
Set up Google Alerts to receive future notifications.
Step 4 - Build an Account Map of your ICP
Steps 3 and 4 enable you to build an account map of the business.
Account mapping helps organise your research, identify who the KDMs are and understand your prospects better.
After identifying the KDM and Key Influencer roles, you need to find who those people are in the businesses you will prospect.
I start by searching the business website. Bigger companies usually have a ‘Staff’ or ‘Teams’ page, which lists the people in the KDM roles.
I also use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to widen the search to Key Influencers.
Then, I consolidate all my research into this Account Mapping Template.
Step 5 - Messaging + Launch
Now that I've completed my research, I select 1 Tier 1 account daily and choose a KDM to do a deep dive on.
I set a 10-minute timer to research and find as many “triggers” (i.e., personalised reasons to contact them) as I can.
I look at:
LinkedIn activity
Company blog or recent news
Google
I use those triggers to create my messaging and map out a 7-10 touch personalised email and LinkedIn cadence.
Then, I execute that cadence by sending the first email.
Rinse + repeat for each KDM role before moving on to the next Tier 1 account.
If you don’t currently have a Tier 1 prospecting plan, create one.
Consider what winning a handful of these clients can do for your business.
I’ll let you know how it goes at LITTA once we’ve landed our first Tier 1 account.
Hope you find this helpful.
Thanks for reading!
Matt @ The Growth Lab
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