So, last July, I sent a prospecting email to a New Jersey based company that had an interesting staffing technology. Out of nowhere and quite surprisingly I had received a response with interest in speaking further. We talked and agreed to work together, not for the staffing technology, but for an LIS system for clinical/medical laboratories. After ensuring there was no competitive conflicts with other clients, particularly SMARTFormulator (which is not an LIS), we engaged.
Having done little outbound previously, there was nothing to go by. No messaging, no lists, not even a real idea of who should be targeted. It was a slow start, but they agreed to continue beyond the trial. I sourced a very good list and focused on Texas, New Jersey, and a source that procured new labs. Just as the owner expressed some concern that there wasn’t success – the demo’s started. The fact that it was taking a long time to get demos wasn’t too much of a concern because the price of the software was on the high side and one of the sales reps stated that with a referral it took him 3 months of chasing the guy, calling every week, to get the demo. An indicator that there is a long prospecting cycle.
The prospecting cycle is essentially this:
- Find accredited labs that do the right testing that fit the size/type for the LIS system.
- Find the right person in the organization who would decide to make a change.
- Find out what system they are using, how happy they are, and whether they are open to evaluate or are actively looking for a change. When they may be looking to change systems – contract is up.
- Set up a discovery or demo if interest or keep in touch until they are ready to look at an alternative.
The first few demos were a disaster. The presenter did not ask any questions of the team, the right people weren’t on the call – on one demo the sales guy who would manage the account took the afternoon off. There were technical issues. The presenter kept switching rooms and would go quiet because the cleaning people were vacuuming in the background. Later demos went a bit better.
I also turned over a few leads from people who had specific challenges that I could not address who wanted to speak to more technical people/knowledgeable people at the company. They launched a billing service and had some bites of interest – billing does not lend itself to a demo, but a discovery call. I uncovered 2 or 3 people who had challenges and interest in learning more.
In June, the company had 3 demos – the culmination of continued nuturing outreach and were on track to have 2 demos in July – one demo fell through, but interest in speaking about a related project was present – it was still an opportunity.
In July, my father got very sick with a rebout of pneumonia. He was hospitalized for about five days. My mother – who is on an enteral feeding tube needed help with her machine. There was a problem with her machine and it needed replacement. I had to deal with all of that – getting him admitted and released, taking care of getting her hooked up to her machine, paying their bills, shopping for food, and other sundry responsibilities. I did not work a total of 3 days.
I told my clients, a few of them, that my father was ill and I may be short on hours this month. They expressed concern about his health and did not mind a temporary reduction in hours. I had a client end mid-month which freed up some time as well so I was able to actually make up the time and worked a few hours on the weekend making calls and emailing.
At the end of the month, this is response I received from this client when, for the umpteenth time – my invoice wasn’t paid on time and I sent a reminder:
This will be taken care of by {client’s sister}. I’d like to say that the demo’s have decreased over the last few weeks. I know you mentioned that your hours will be decreasing because you need to take care of your parents. This should be reflected in your invoice as well. I’d also like to mention that we measure productivity vs. hours spent. If demo’s decrease, that means productivity decrease. That isn’t something that we can afford to support. We will need to up the demo’s moving forward.
Sent from my iPad
The hours didn’t decrease dramatically, I still did [the mandated] hours. Demos are a result of a combination of factors – connects, need, targeting and other factors. I have no control over whether someone commits to a demo or not. Plus the demos fluctuare – now there may be a decrease in demos because I have to start with a group of new suspects whereas people I have already called or are nurturing are ready to do a demo now.