Building a Sales Funnel
This post will be dedicated to my recent sales assignment, building a prospect and lead list for a company. In this assignment, I researched a company that sold software to other companies and then compiled a lead list of potential prospects based on the information I found.
To start, the company I researched was called Paylocity. They sell HR and payroll software to other businesses. I chose this company because I used this app to track my labor hours at my serving job, so I am very familiar with the software.
Here is a list of the information I collected:
What product or service does the company sell?
HR and payroll software
What problem does this product or service solve?
Save time with employee management, simplify HR processes
Who might have this problem in a typical business?
Small business owners, large business owners
What job titles might that person have?
human resources manager, accounts manager, payroll specialist
Are most reviews positive or negative? Are there any specific features mentioned in positive reviews?
The reviews vary between positive and negative
Great for communicating with employees, tracking employee compliance, simplifying payroll, time and labor, performance reviews, online training, onboarding
Are there any customer testimonials or case studies listed on the website? Does it include the customer’s name, company, or job title?
“The time we save using Paylocity frees us up to focus on employee engagement, and we can now run regular monthly events focused on employees” -Mallory Watkins, VP of People Operations, Financial Services, 280+ Employees, Listerhill Credit Union
“You can see your labor costs, retention, turnover, and headcount by location - and you can filter it. You don’t have to run a report. It just pops up.”- Melissa Kill, HR Manager, Restaurant, 950+ Employees, The Boiling Crab
“Simplifying and streamlining HR processes has allowed us to put the focus back on developing and enriching the youth of America, caring for the community, and promoting wellness and fitness”- Gavin Watson, HR Systems & Risk Specialist, Non-Profit, 1600+ Employees, The YMCA
Are there any particular industries this company has a large presence in?
Education
Financial Services
Healthcare
Manufacturing
Nonprofit
Restaurants and Hospitality
Retail and Wholesale
Tech and Professional Services
Transportation and Logistics
After thoroughly researching Paylocity, it was time to dive into making a list of potential leads and prospects.
I started by opening SalesNavigator on LinkedIn. Here, I put in several filters to refine my search. I started by looking specifically for human resource and payroll specialists in companies with 200-1000 employees. Then, I determined the specific industries I was looking for.
Next, I sifted through the results to find potential prospects and leads. I collected their names, job titles, email (which I found on Hunter.io), and company name, size, website, and industry. I then organized all of this information on a spreadsheet so it is easily accessible. Here is my final list of 20 potential leads and prospects.
If you are interested in seeing exactly how I built my prospect list, check out this video I made with each step of the process.
Search | Sales Navigator Lead List - Watch Video
Overall, I really enjoyed this experience. It was great to dive into how a company would look for sales and prospects. I learned a lot about how to refine your search so that you have a higher chance of making sales with the leads you find.
The most difficult part of this process was finding individual contact information. I used an email finder, but I wasn’t able to find any phone numbers. Also, the process of looking for different leads and collecting their information was quite tedious.
It was great to learn more about how sales work, and I’m excited to continue this process!