Is it possible to get only the Junior Sales Reps when sourcing names from a target company?

OK, read this with a grain of salt tucked under a pillow. Or whatever the saying is.

Is it possible to get only the Junior Sales Reps? Yes, though much more difficult for an inexperienced phone sourcer. And without a doubt you have to use the correct ruse.

There are a lot of variables with developing an effective ruse, such as how large is the company you're calling into, is it the HQ or a small field office, what kind of sales rep (inside or outside) and on and on...

So I can give you a fish or give you a rod and some line and teach you to fish or I can teach you how to build a fishing rod and where to get some line and you can figure out the rest.

Here's where I teach you how to build the rod; you see most sourcers approach the problem of how to penetrate the company from their own personal point of view. You need to change your point of view and think about “what would the target company need to provide to the target job title (employee)”. You see, companies are support systems for their employees and visa versa. Find out what each side needs and develop a ruse to provide it to them. Put another way you have to think strategically not tactically.

Most people think;
How can I get the names of these sales people?
Where are these sales reps located?
What are their titles?
How do I get the junior sales people and not the senior sales people?

What you should be thinking is;
What do junior sales reps need that senior sales reps don’t?
What does a company provide to its junior sales people that it doesn’t to their senior sales people?
How are junior sales reps different than senior reps?
If I were a junior sales rep just starting out a new company I wish I had FITB (fill in the blank)?

Then develop a list.
Sales tools such as software (CRM) access
Training
Mentoring
Introductions to established accounts
Phone skills seminars
Etc

Then develop a short script for each item on the list and see how it fits. Does it sound credible? If you were on the other end of the phone would it make sense?

Of course the other option is to just pull the entire list of sales people and profile everyone on the list. Usually, if you have a list of 10 targets it'll be about 50/50 as to which tactic/strategy we use here at HTC.

I hope this helps and good luck,

Jeff Weidner
HTC Research
Copyright 2008