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While working in Singapore with India’s largest software outsourcing company Tata Consultancy Services, Shankar G discovered that there was no proper mechanism that rookie sales executives in the tech industry followed to qualify leads.
The sales executives would often pursue unqualified leads, missing out on those that might clinch deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars for companies. Often, new sales guys found it difficult to even connect with a prospective client.
While at TCS, Shankar was responsible for deal management and revenue forecast for the region. Every deal clinched or lost helped him learn more about the sales process.
That’s how he thought of a startup that would help the ordinary salesman.
Shankar G, CEO and co-founder of GetSpini – a sales lead generating platform.
In 2014, along with his friends Eddie Chau and Chong-Kian Soh, Shankar started working on GetSpini, a platform that incentivizes the public to share leads online. This makes it easier for salespeople who sell insurance, real estate, automobiles, loans, or even education courses. Lead givers get a cut (between US$5 to US$10) from salespeople.
In a conversation with Tech in Asia, Shankar shared the secret sauce of qualifying a lead and closing a sale for newbie salesmen in startups.
Qualifying leads
In today’s sales context, a “lead” is thought of as just the name and number of a person. “If you start with this premise, it will simply lead to cold calling your customer. Instead start your sales after qualifying your lead,” advises Shankar.
He listed four factors that determine a qualified lead:
The customer has an imminent need
The customer has a budget
The customer is the decision maker and has the authority to spend or buy
The need is clear with details
10 tips to utilize a lead and succeed in sales
1. Qualify: This is the first and foremost step. Collect as much information as possible to qualify and know your customer, including insights from their professional and personal lives.
Shan says it’s important to utilize the massive amounts of personal data available on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other websites.
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