Using Sales Triggers: How to create a winning pitch

At Selligence, one of the most asked questions we hear from prospective clients is ‘how can I increase my sales and close more deals?’ Crafting a winning sales pitch is essential for success in any industry. A great sales pitch can help you persuade potential customers to choose your product or service over the competition, but how do you create one that truly stands out?  

Simply put, you need to connect with your audience on a personal level, then demonstrate the value you can offer them. A sure-fire way of doing this is using sales triggers to back up what you’re saying and provide that extra bit of credibility that will set you apart from the crowd.

What are sales triggers?

You might know them as trigger events, market triggers, or even business triggers, but essentially, they are all referring to the same thing. The phrase refers to a range of events that happen in the corporate world, triggering an opportunity for change within a business or industry.  

For a sales professional, marketer, or executive, these sales trigger events can indicate the potential for upsell, new business, or customer acquisition. Using these triggers to monitor a whole industry (or your competition) can also offer great insights on market trends and can offer comparative intelligence for your peers.

Why should you be using sales triggers?

Sales trigger events provide the perfect opening for conversation with a prospect. Whether you’re looking to engage a new contact or are reaching back out to a client that’s gone cold, sales triggers provide an opportunity for you to bring you and your product’s relevance back to the forefront.  

For any pitch to go well, there needs to be demand from your prospect for your solution. The first step in being able to fulfil a need is to understand what that need really is. What are your prospect’s pain points? Where are they wanting to grow? What is their competition doing? Sales triggers can offer insights into all of these areas.  

Being first to the post will always make you more memorable than being the nineth person to reach out and offer their services. Having automated tracking of trigger events set up means you can act on a company’s news as soon as it is announced. Successful sales so often pivot on timing; sales triggers can make sure you’re always acting with relevance at the right time.

How can you find sales triggers?

In short, research and investigation. Of course, both of these take time and, based on the average salesperson, this can take up to 15 hours of your working week. This information is available to the public if you know where to look and if you have the time to hunt these leads down.  

Using Google alerts and scouring social media platforms is perhaps the most well-known way of picking up this news, but they’re not exclusive. To get a thorough view of the market you’d also need to set up social media alerts (think Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), CrunchBase alerts, use social listening tools, read industry newsletters and blogs, check the quarterly earnings call transcripts, read company press releases, and check financial reports, just to get you started.  

But there are easier, more efficient and effective ways to get these trigger leads too. With a solution like Selligence, all the research and admin is taken care of, so you can forget having to trawl through Twitter or the 150+ unread emails in your inbox to find that golden nugget! Selligence even lets you integrate these sales triggers with your existing workflow, meaning there’s literally no hard work for you to do. These triggers can be dropped straight into your CRM or condensed and delivered to your inbox. No fuss, no hassle.  

5 sales event triggers to grab your prospect’s attention:  

1. Funding Round – Perhaps the most obvious of sales triggers, it’s a no-brainer that a company with fresh funding in its pockets is also a company likely looking to spend that cash on growth and development. This trigger gives you a gift of an opener when it comes to first outreach, but even better is that a company with budget to spend is one that’s already set and primed for buying.
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2. ‍Key Person Change – When it comes to senior management changes in a company, ego and necessity often come into play. Whether a company has announced an appointment as an essential requirement (perhaps head of a newly announced office or team) or during their annual promotion announcements, a new appointment will often see the person in question looking to make changes and have a big impact at their new company. There’s an opportunity for trying new ideas, changing strategies, or growing their team – and that’s all opportunity for your sales teams too.
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3. ‍Expansion Plans – A company’s announcement of expansion is another sales event trigger that delivers huge opportunity. As with a funding round announcement, a company that has already announced plans to scale is one that is actively investing in their own growth. Whether the company in question is scaling their headcount, geographic outreach, or capabilities, this news provides excellent opportunity for you to reach out and understand just what their scaling needs are. A new market for the company spells opportunity for you, too: a new geography may cause unexpected regulatory and compliance needs.
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4. ‍New Office/Location – The launch of a new office, branch, or facility is a clear indicator that a company is not only looking to expand their outreach, but also suggests huge potential for that location. Whether you’re a recruitment specialist, an office supplier, or are selling an operations solution, any new location will need to be up and running as an efficient workspace to enable future growth for that company. If you pick this news up when plans for a new location are first announced, you’ll be even better positioned to make some early connections, helping you build those relationships before your service are even needed.
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5. ‍New Business – According to the ONS, in Q3 2022 there were over 70,000 IDBR business creations in the UK. So even in a tough economic year, that’s hundreds of thousands of new businesses hitting the market. Most new businesses start out with bootstrap teams (and budgets), so are keen to hear about cost-cutting solutions or products that can help them scale faster and cheaper than traditional methods. Using sales triggers to find these companies will open up easy conversations to allow you to help solve any one of the many start-up difficulties.  

Now you have your prospect’s attention, you need to keep it. Stand out from the crowd by showing that your knowledge of the industry and their company is as thorough as you claim it is. You can back yourself, and add to your credibility, by using some more specific event triggers too. In fact, if you’re only using your sales triggers to open your conversation, you’re missing a trick. Market intelligence comes in all shapes and sizes, but some really do work harder for you than you might think.

Event triggers that go the extra mile:  

1. Quarterly Reports – It goes without saying that a company that’s just announced a successful quarter is in a strong position for considering new tools and future growth. But you can use negative financial results announcements to your advantage too. Companies that are looking to cut back on overall spend may still be in the market for solutions that can save them money elsewhere. Paying attention to these reports can also indicate future product plans, geographical changes, staffing changes, and their intended areas of spend.
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2. ‍Growth Revealed – Everyone loves a success story and reading up on a company’s recent growth can offer insights that will pay you back, big time. This is an event trigger that can offer huge motivation for companies wanting a competitive edge. Knowing what their direct competition is doing, what their plans are, and what milestones they’ve hit can really inspire peers in the market to push forward with their own development plans.
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3. ‍Company Receives an Award – It’s the taking part that counts, right? In this case, it’s not necessarily the award winner that you want (although, that’d make a great opener too!). Recognise the nominees for the great work they’ve already achieved in getting shortlisted but help them realise that now is their opportunity to take the edge so they can be the winner next time – by having your solution on board and making their work even more successful.
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4. ‍Job Loss – A company that announces they are reducing their headcount will likely also be looking for other ways to help reduce overall spend; an operations management solution could be just what they need. Mass layoffs usually indicate the company is facing difficult times, but it can also be an indication the company is looking to streamline their operations and focus on specific areas of business. Don’t shy away from companies reducing their headcount because they very well may be interested in other products that can help them. Products that can save time, improve efficiencies, or offer a more rounded package may well be a very welcome suggestion.  

The gift that keeps giving

Keeping an eye on your competition is so important if your company wants to become (or stay) an industry leader. Getting to the top of your game is a complex journey but staying at the top is even harder. Knowing if your direct competition is hot on your heels can be the heads up you need to successfully adjust your strategy, change your timeline, or tweak your ICP – and stay on top. Sales triggers can help you keep the whole picture in mind. As the saying goes: knowledge is power.  

Don’t neglect your existing clients either. Just because someone is already on your books doesn’t mean that there’s not scope to expand your relationship. Sales triggers will keep you up to date on their business, their wants and needs, and will also allow you to touch base with relevance. Upselling potential clients with new offerings can provide them with more value than they realised was possible and might just be the difference between you hitting target or narrowly missing it.  

What next?

Selligence is the industry leader in providing sales triggers for you to use as actionable intelligence. We recognise 46 unique sales triggers that can put you ahead of your competition. Not only that, but we also recognise an additional 71 trigger event sub-types. So, Selligence can offer you 116 (that’s it, you heard me right!) different types of event trigger which you can build into your sales strategy, and which will really boost your sales pitch.