Unfortunately, it takes money to make money. It takes a lot of money to make a lot of money. ( or lose from gambling) Keeping costs down is something we all aim to do and with lean marketing, it can happen. If you are starting it at the grassroots, you're just trying to officially have customers.
I speak from experience. Every advantage I've ever had was not always with a sales program or intelligence tool-It was my brain and resourceful thinking. If you are a start up company, it's debatable if sales intelligence tools are worth the initial cost for you. While they may give you great and valid insight, this comes at an expensive cost. There are quite a few ways to find your target utilizing google and "bootstrap methods." I found ways to find leadership and their contact information. Tips below..
Bootstrap Tip: I've found that when I type an executives name and "trade-show" or "PDF", I sometimes am able to find out out their direct phone number and email. VP's of Sales and Marketing become easy to find because of their involvement with various events.
I speak from experience. Every advantage I've ever had was not always with a sales program or intelligence tool-It was my brain and resourceful thinking. If you are a start up company, it's debatable if sales intelligence tools are worth the initial cost for you. While they may give you great and valid insight, this comes at an expensive cost. There are quite a few ways to find your target utilizing google and "bootstrap methods." I found ways to find leadership and their contact information. Tips below..
Tip 1: Google is your friend
No Seriously..Google is your friend. This is the most rudimentary tip but get stronger at searching on google. There's a certain way to find executives that you want to pitch your service/product toward. Just googling their company and title, I was able to find those key people that make decisions.Bootstrap Tip: I've found that when I type an executives name and "trade-show" or "PDF", I sometimes am able to find out out their direct phone number and email. VP's of Sales and Marketing become easy to find because of their involvement with various events.
Tip 2: Take advantage of "Free trial" SI
Sales intelligence tools have amazing data to help you close deals and find your customers in a more efficient way. While they can be an operational cost, the advantages of using the trials are:
Make the most of your resources. If any of you can think of other ways you "bootstrap" sales, I'd love to hear them.
- Seeing what's out there on the market.
- Getting several "free" accounts to conduct searching for leads.
- Identifying lead patterns to see consistency of each SI company.
Tip 3: Contact the Sales department
In my professional career, I've gotten a few "nuggets" of information by contacting someone in sales. Sales people can be the biggest help to finding out who the VP of Sales and Marketing are. They may not give you direct contact information, but are a good source for figuring out the chain of command. Besides, if you have information they need, you've entered into a networking relationship.
Tip 4: LinkedIn
LinkedIn is slowly becoming a favorite of mine. LinkedIn offers "free" sales intelligence on key decision makers. While their sales navigator is helpful and affordable, you can find quite a bit of information on connected contacts from just their LinkedIn profile. Who knows, you may have a contact in common that can give you a warm introduction.
Tip 5: They tell two people..and so on..
Cold calling is not completely dead. Decision makers receive so many emails lately that calling them is still a good way to reach them. The issue you may not have their direct contact line. By being sincere with what you can offer, people will at least give you an email or name that is the decision maker (Unless you are in IT security..whole nother ball game)
Make the most of your resources. If any of you can think of other ways you "bootstrap" sales, I'd love to hear them.
