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Prospecting Personas that Drive Sales Conversations

Laurie PageManaging PartnerThe Bridge Group, Inc.

How do you ramp new Sales Reps on your key buyers?

In onboarding, understand day in the life

Prospecting PersonasIn prospecting, show them you know them

In messaging, relevant to their goals

In execution, one sheet of music

But there’s a problem.

Good for some. Rough for others.

Built from few deep interviews

Detailed: surveys, profiling, focus groups, user data,

win/loss analysis

I need to understand and move an archetype

through their buyer’s journey

100s and 100s of quick interactions

Phone + email actionable

I don’t want to get hung up on

Skews Female Age 35-45

Edu: 4 year college Married

Dual HH Income $140K

GOALS / OBJECTIVES Take advantage of products that automate business processesFulfill requestsImplement new processes/technologies

METRICS Platform adoption Project timelines met & within budgetSLAs – platform availability and down-time

IMPORTANT TO CLIENT

Ease of implementation, configuration & usageQuality of technical support

UNIQUE TO US Training programs Licensing Models – conducive to growth/scalabilityTechnology partner vs. Tool vendor

A Marketing Buyer PersonaCathy, Collaboration Manager

Skews Female Age 35-45

Edu: 4 year college

Married Dual HH

Income $140K

Cathy, Collaboration ManagerGOALS / OBJECTIVES Take advantage of products that automate

business processesFulfill requestsImplement new processes/technologies

METRICS Platform adoption Project timelines met & within budgetSLAs – platform availability and down-time

IMPORTANT TO CLIENT

Ease of implementation, configuration & usageQuality of technical support

UNIQUE TO US Training programs Licensing Models – conducive to growth/scalabilityTechnology partner vs. Tool vendor

Not 100% relevant to sales

GOALS / OBJECTIVES Take advantage of products that automate business processesFulfill requestsImplement new processes/technologies

METRICS Platform adoption Project timelines met & within budgetSLAs – platform availability and down-time

IMPORTANT TO CLIENT

Ease of implementation, configuration & usageQuality of technical support

UNIQUE TO US Training programs Licensing Models – conducive to growth/scalabilityTechnology partner vs. Tool vendor

Skews Female Age 35-45

Edu: 4 year college

Married Dual HH

Income $140K

Cathy, Collaboration Manager

Features

Not message-ableNo value

statements or

questions

From buyer persona to prospecting persona.

Three sentence intro. Net it out for them.

Bite.

Sized.

Chunks.

Real customer quotes.

Organizational need

Departmental need

Individual need.Prospects are people, too.

Where do they fit in the

buying process?

Key questions

Killer value statements

How to create personas that drivesales conversations.

1. Interview customers

2. Interview customer-facing reps

3. Use quantitative data high-response email templates, effective marketing campaigns, popular ebook/webinar themes

4. Online research

LinkedIn- How do they describe their role? Key accomplishments?

Job posts- What key responsibilities and metrics are listed

Professional orgs- Often describe the challenges and headwinds the role faces

It Isn't Cheating to Use…

Get beyond features

Refocus on strategic challengesWhat gets them promoted? What gets them fired? What are the political 3rd rails?

Conduct a ‘reality check’ with customers and customer-facing reps

Make Them Sales-Ready

Executive Leadership

Product and Marketing

SDRs and AEs

Customer Success

Call in Bench Strength

• Create personas with phone & email in mind

• Think CliffsNotes© for Sales

• Eliminate product speak

• Open-ended questions to uncover need

• Quotes and stories

• Practice, coach, and role play with reps

Operationalize your Personas

Conduct interviews with customers

Get input from customer-facing reps

Research roles & responsibilities

Focus on organizational, departmental, and personal business challenges

Eliminate product speak

As you get smarter, update regularly

Checklist for Success