What is a sales list? A thorough explanation of how to create and manage them!

What is a sales list?

A sales list is a list of potential customers to be utilized in sales activities and telemarketing. It is sometimes referred to as a target list or an attack list. Creating a sales list in line with your company's strategy will improve the efficiency of new business sales.

HOWEVER, DUE TO A VARIETY OF PROBLEMS THAT CAN OCCUR, SUCH AS DISTORTION OF NOTATION, DELAYS IN OPERATION CAUSED BY INFORMATION ACCUMULATION, AND INPUT ERRORS, AN INCREASING NUMBER OF COMPANIES ARE CREATING AND MANAGING LISTS USING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT TOOLS (CRM) AND SFA TOOLS.

Benefits of creating a sales list

Data Accumulation

By creating a sales list, data on customer information is accumulated. By managing data centrally within the company, not only can the progress of sales be monitored in real time, but it is also easier for the entire sales department to grasp a sense of sales issues and winning patterns.

Improved efficiency and closing rate of new business development sales

Creating a sales list will increase the efficiency of new business sales. Without a sales list, you would have to call or dive into every single company that might introduce your products or services to make appointments. Such an unproductive sales approach will not only fail to close deals for your products or services or obtain appointments for business negotiations, but it will also be a factor that hinders the motivation of your sales staff. Creating a strategic sales list will lead to increased sales efficiency and closing rates.

Improved work efficiency

Consolidating customer information into a sales list eliminates the need to search for sales data in different files and tools, thereby improving work efficiency. More efficient work leads to higher productivity and motivation of sales representatives.

Sales List Creation Process

There are three main processes for creating a sales list.

STEP1: Prepare a sales list
STEP2: Gather information to create a sales list
STEP3: List customer information

The following sections will explain each of these in detail.

Preparation of sales lists

Let's start here to organize the preparation of the sales list. There are three main steps in preparing to create a sales list.

Select targets
・Define customer ranks
・Set up necessary items to be filled in the list

Each will be explained in detail.

1. Selecting targets

When developing a sales list, it is important to create a list that is consistent with your company's sales strategy. When selecting targets, it is essential to not only focus on your products and services, and the industries and sizes you wish to focus on, but also to utilize existing customer trends and on-the-ground information from your sales representatives. These factors, taken together, will ensure strategic target selection.

2. Define customer rank

WHEN CREATING A SALES LIST, DEFINE A CUSTOMER RANK FOR EACH POTENTIAL CUSTOMER. BY DEFINING CUSTOMER RANKS, YOU CAN CLARIFY WHICH CUSTOMERS SHOULD BE PRIORITIZED AND REALIZE MORE EFFICIENT SALES ACTIVITIES. CUSTOMER RANKS SHOULD BE DEFINED ACCORDING TO THE RELEVANCE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE TARGET, SUCH AS A RANK → B RANK → C RANK.

3. Organize the necessary items on the sales list.

Next, let's organize the required items to be included in the sales list.
The required items that should be provided in the sales list include the following

-Company name
-Address
-Telephone number
-Representative name
-Department and contact person
-Company size
-Industry
-Customer rank
-Customer challenges
-Purchasing intent
-Order confirmation

It is important to note that the more information that is entered in the sales list, the more complicated the management system becomes. Therefore, in the initial stage of creating a sales list, it is recommended to focus on the minimum number of items.

How to gather free information about your sales list

Internet-based survey

THE INTERNET IS THE MOST COMMON METHOD OF GATHERING INFORMATION TO CREATE A SALES LIST. THE ADVANTAGE OF THIS METHOD IS THAT IT DOES NOT INCUR ANY COST, ALTHOUGH IT DOES REQUIRE TIME AND EFFORT TO RESEARCH INFORMATION ON EACH OF THE TARGET COMPANIES. WHEN RESEARCHING ON THE INTERNET, GATHER THE NECESSARY INFORMATION FROM THE COMPANY'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE. IF THE TARGET OF YOUR SALES LIST IS A PUBLICLY LISTED COMPANY, YOU CAN ALSO CHECK IR INFORMATION TO OBTAIN HIGH-QUALITY SALES INFORMATION.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts is a free service provided by Google that notifies you by e-mail when information containing certain keywords is published on the Internet. For example, you can easily catch up on the latest trends by entering keywords or company names in the industries you want to focus on. By reflecting the caught-up information in your sales list on a daily basis, you can create a fresh sales list.

Business card information

If you have attended exhibitions or external events in the past, business card information can also be a potential sales list. Try to find information on potential customers among the business cards you have accumulated in your company.

Seminar

Holding seminars for house leads owned by the company can also be an effective method of collection. Customers who attend seminars are likely to be interested in the company's products and services.

Seminars and webinars should provide information that customers really want to know and give them the opportunity to interact with participants through questions and discussion. Aftercare through follow-up emails is also an important relationship-building step.

Access analysis of the company's website

Users who visit your site are likely to be companies that are interested in your products and services. Therefore, they may be customers to be included in your sales list. One way to analyze the flow path is to identify IP addresses. If a company has a unique IP address, it is possible to determine which company accessed the site.

How to collect information on sales lists for a fee

Purchase of sales lists

Sales representatives must deal with a variety of tasks, such as meeting with customers, preparing proposal materials, and replying to e-mails. To reduce the workload of sales representatives, purchasing sales lists from a customer list distributor may be an option.

Sales List Generator

A sales list generator is a tool that automatically collects information on sales contacts, compiles it, and creates a sales list suitable for your company. By introducing a sales list generation tool, you can improve the efficiency of your business operations by collecting information on sales contacts and creating a list of targets. Note, however, that there are costs associated with each service.

Exhibitions and Events

You can also build a sales list by attending trade shows and events and making direct contact with potential customers. Rather than making house calls or telemarketing calls from companies you don't know at all, exchanging business cards and having conversations at trade shows will deepen your relationship with them and make it easier for you to sell your products and services.

List customer information

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Finally, make a list of the customer information you have collected.

Excel

You will probably find Excel easy to use in the initial stages of target listing because you are familiar with Excel, which you also utilize in your daily work. However, if you continue to create lists in Excel, problems such as distorted notation and duplicate entries will occur, so if you are seriously considering creating a sales list, we recommend using the sales list creation tool introduced above.
Related article>> How to Manage Customers with Excel! 6 Useful Functions and How to Create a Database

Outsource to outside contractors

One option is to hire an outside vendor to handle the entire process from information gathering to customer information listing. For companies that have never created a sales list before or have limited resources for sales representatives, this can save time and costs. However, there are disadvantages such as the risk of leakage of personal information contained in the sales list and ordering costs. When considering the introduction of this system, be sure to select an external vendor while taking into account security measures and the quality of delivery of the sales list when outsourcing.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) TOOLS

The best tool for storing, aggregating, and analyzing customer information is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, which stands for "customer relationship management" or "customer relationship management. It refers to a system for building and maintaining good relationships with customers over the long term. It is a management tool centered on the customer that centrally manages customers on a database, and leads to results such as the development of potential customers and repeat purchases from existing customers, thereby expanding the company's business performance.

The detailed features and functions of CRM are explained in detail in the following article.
Related Articles>> [Latest in 2024] 14 Customer Relationship Management app(CRM)! Thorough explanation of free versions, selection points, etc.

SFA TOOLS

SFA (Sales Force Automation) is an abbreviation for "Sales Force Automation" (Sales Force Automation). It is also called a "sales support system. The main functions of SFA include automation of business processes in the sales department and data storage and analysis of information in general, etc. Since SFA is equipped with many functions specialized for sales activity management, it contributes to improving the productivity and efficiency of sales activities.

The following article explains in detail the functions of SFA tools and how to choose a recommended one.
Related Article>> [2024] 10 SFA (sales support) tool recommendations｜A thorough explanation of the main functions and benefits!

The roles and functional differences between CRM and SFA are explained in detail in the following article.
Related Articles>> What is the difference between CRM and SFA? Explanation of which one to choose based on the differences in functions and roles

sales engagement

Sales engagement refers to a system that maximizes the inherent value of CRM (customer relationship management system) and SFA (sales force automation system) and creates deep relationship building with customers. Building deep relationships with customers has been emphasized in the traditional sales style, but by introducing sales engagement services, customer information can be automatically aggregated, extracted, and processed to derive insights that directly lead to sales and profits, without relying on an individualistic sales style.
Related Articles>> What is Sales Engagement? A Thorough Explanation of the Background and Characteristics that are Attracting Attention

Points to keep in mind when creating a sales list

Regularly update information

Freshness of sales list information is important. If a company on your sales list relocates, expands or changes its business lines, and you still approach them with the same sales approach as before, you may cause discomfort to your customers. Therefore, it is important to update the freshness of information on a daily basis through Google Alerts, social networking services, and regular website visits as mentioned above.

Avoid duplication

When creating a sales list, try to avoid duplication. The more duplicate lists you have, the more inefficient your sales efforts will be, and in some cases, your own sales representatives may approach the same company multiple times, which may cause problems for the other company. If you use Excel to manage duplicates, use functions to change the cell color when the company name and contact person's name match, or implement a customer management tool to prevent the same sales representative from being registered.

SALES DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONTOOL "UPWARD" INTRODUCTION TO REALIZE MORE EFFICIENT SALES LIST CREATION

WE OFFER AND DEVELOP UPWARD, A SALES DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONTOOL FOR OUTSIDE AND DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES.

BY UTILIZING "UPWARD," CUSTOMER DATA SUCH AS CUSTOMER PROFILE INFORMATION, BUSINESS MEETING HISTORY, AND ACTIVITY REPORTS CAN BE SEMI-AUTOMATICALLY STORED IN CRM WITH A SINGLE SMARTPHONE. WHEN THE PERSON IN CHARGE IN THE FIELD CREATES A DAILY SALES REPORT OR ACTIVITY REPORT, NOT ONLY IS THE REPORT FORMAT AUTOMATICALLY CREATED ON "UPWARD", BUT ALSO VOICE INPUT SUPPORT ALLOWS EASY REPORTING IN SPARE TIME. THE DATA ENTERED DAILY IS VISUALIZED ON A MAP, ALLOWING USERS TO INTUITIVELY KNOW WHICH CUSTOMERS TO VISIT NEXT. ANYONE CAN MAKE STRATEGIC VISITS, NOT JUST TO THE USUAL "EASY TO GET TO" DESTINATIONS, BUT TO THE DESTINATIONS THAT REALLY "NEED TO BE VISITED.    

In addition, by introducing "UPWARD DATA," an additional optional function of "UPWARD," a function that enables the creation of a list of new sales contacts based on "Foursquare Places," a database provided by Foursquare that covers information on approximately 8 million commercial facilities in Japan. UPWARD DATA" is automatically reflected in "UPWARD" and logof customer touchpointcan be realized based on such information.

Click here to read the case study of A-Ride Corporation, which realized more efficient creation of sales lists by using "UPWARD" and "UPWARD DATA".

summary

CREATING A SALES LIST ENSURES A STRATEGIC SALES APPROACH. A SALES LIST IS NOT THE END OF THE PROCESS; IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS UPDATED ON A DAILY BASIS. THEREFORE, THE INTRODUCTION OF CRM OR SFA TOOLS SUITABLE FOR CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT FACILITATES MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS, THEREBY IMPROVING SALES EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY.

If you are considering implementing a CRM or SFA tool, please feel free to contact us.
Click here to contact us.