From the course: Sales Prospecting: How to Connect with Today’s Busy Buyers

What is a touchpoint strategy?

From the course: Sales Prospecting: How to Connect with Today’s Busy Buyers

Start my 1-month free trial Buy for my team

What is a touchpoint strategy?

“

- Suppose you were planning to visit your local gym for a workout. To make the best use of your time, you'd likely create a plan which would include selecting the ideal time to visit the gym, choosing comfortable clothes to wear and possibly even selecting a workout. These steps ensure that your time at the gym is both productive and efficient. The same holds true for your prospecting. You should use a prospecting touchpoint strategy as a guide, providing you with the steps and activities that allow you to focus your time and energy to be effective. A touchpoint strategy consists of three components. First, selecting the number of prospect touchpoints you'll use. Second, identifying what value you'll provide at each touchpoint and third, introducing a feedback loop to continuously improve your strategies' effectiveness. The number of prospect touchpoints is determined by the length of your sales cycle. If, for example, you sell capital equipment and have a long sales cycle, maybe 12 to 16 months, your number of touchpoints will likely exceed 15, given the duration of the cycle. Alternatively, if you sell cleaning supplies and have a shorter sales cycle, possibly one to three months, your number of touchpoints will be fewer with the number of touchpoints identified, what value will you share when you reach out? First, what message will you share that will, through multiple touchpoints, spark the interest of your prospect? Next, what methods will you use to nurture a relationship once you spark the prospect's curiosity? For example, touchpoint one might be a package that you send via courier. Touchpoint number two might be an email to introduce yourself and reference the information you sent by courier, and touchpoint three may be a personalized phone call to confirm the information arrived and to share why you sent this information along. With your method and message selected, you'll need to develop a feedback loop to ensure that you can continuously improve the effectiveness of your touchpoint strategy. Your feedback loop consists of two events that cause you to revisit your methods and messaging. First, when a touchpoint is successful, ask yourself, can I use this message or method more frequently? Second, when a touchpoint is not successful, ask yourself, is there something I should change or improve in this method or message for better results? Take a moment now to map out the three components of your touchpoint strategy. Start by selecting the number of prospect touchpoints, then identify your message and methods and finally introduce your feedback loop.

Contents