It’s hard breaking through the noise online and outbound prospecting is harder than ever these days. There’s so much competition that it’s hard to stand out - but it doesn’t have to be this way. 

Christopher Antonopoulos, CEO and Founder of MRM, joined Rob Jolles on Pocket Sized Pep Talks to discuss the digital landscape and how to become your own advocate as you tackle both digital and in-person selling.

With nearly 72% of the sale happening before a prospect talks to sales, it’s important that, as a digital detective, you need to have the same amount of information on the prospect that the prospect has on you. By doing so, you rid the relationship of assumptions and the vetting process has already been done.

Putting on an influencer hat is one way of doing this. If you don’t like the term “influencer”, “creator” is the same type of role. Becoming an advocate for your ICP and creating a name for yourself outside of the brand you sell under, you see this quite a bit on LinkedIn, is the best way to build trust in the market and stay top of mind to prospects when they are in-market for a solution. Don’t allow prospects to sit on problems longer than they need to - become the solution they need before they need it, but on a personal level. 

 

By creating a personal brand within the space you’re selling to, you increase the number of touchpoints in a way that’s not so obvious or intrusive - establishing intentional relationships that lie outside of a sale. Another benefit of digital detective work is the ability to conduct meaningful experimentation, seeking out problems within the landscape possibly outside your ICP, and being human - catering to relationships first vs sales. 

The podcast breakdown with timestamps is below. If you’d like to continue the conversation with Christopher on what it means to be human in the digital sales world, reach out! 

Stay curious, and stay human!

 

Podcast Breakdown

01:33 - Philosophy of digital selling

02:50 - Technology that will support digital selling

08:19 - Evolution of the sales role

13:57 - Importance of a first impression and collaboration

16:35 - It’s important to know who you’re talking to

20:45 - Digital selling vs face-to-face

25:50 - How events have changed for sales people

30:30 - Relationship building and prospect identification

35:56 - Filling the digital detective role

38:50 - How a digital detective saves the organization time