Imagine trying to stream the latest big hit movie on Netflix, but all you get is the dreaded buffering wheel. Frustrating, right?
That’s what it feels like prospecting in the internet provider industry–if done incorrectly.
One of the biggest challenges with prospecting in the internet industry is cutting through the noise with the latest and greatest. Everyone and their grandma has an internet package these days. Everyone's inbox is a battlefield of "special offers" and "exclusive deals," and breaking through that chaos feels like trying to find a Wi-Fi signal in a dead zone.
The good news is, prospecting for an internet provider company is difficult but not impossible. It’s all about keeping your signal strong by connecting with prospects human-to-human.
In the world of internet connections, you might hear about the signal-to-noise ratio—the clearer the signal, the better the connection. Prospecting is no different. The key is to amplify your signal (your value proposition) while reducing the noise (generic pitches and meaningless jargon).
We’ve compiled the best prospecting strategies for internet provider companies to cut through the noise with stronger sales techniques that’ll keep your customers connected to you at all times.
Here’s a brief overview of what you’ll learn:
- Preparing your network for success
- The importance of data for prospecting
- Nailing your elevator pitch with the Netflix thumbnail approach
- Handling sales objections with the “Jedi Mind” trick
- Avoiding the ‘special offer’ overload
- How to follow-up without overloading prospects
- Staying on top of tech innovations for prospecting
Let’s dive in.
📕 Psst…Ready to dive into ISP sales prospecting? Explore our comprehensive directory of the top internet service provider companies in the U.S., with all the contact information you need to start building your prospecting lists.
Step 1. Prepare your network for success.
The first step to prospecting in the internet provider industry looks no different from prospecting in any other industry: build a robust contact list.
Imagine your contact list as the backbone of your high-speed internet service. Without a solid infrastructure, everything else crumbles.
In the internet provider industry, you probably don’t have the time or bandwidth to manage thousands or millions of lead data. Instead, you can use a contact list building tool like Seamless.AI to help you strengthen this backbone. With Seamless.AI’s lead data search engine, you can find verified cell phones, emails, and direct dials in a matter of minutes.
Related: Sales prospecting, explained (Strategies, tips, and best practices)
Step 2. Rely on data like you’re a hacker in a heist movie.
You’re not just a sales representative for another internet provider; you’re the insanely smart internet guy in every heist movie looking for every small detail to anticipate needs and strike at the perfect moment.
If you’re prospecting in-person, like at a Sam’s Club with an ATT booth, you’re going to need to brush up on some good old, traditional sales techniques to get a conversation going. Don’t just start out the conversation asking how a prospect’s day is going; try leading the conversation by asking them about their internet. Or break the ice by approaching them with a compliment or making small talk that leads to more in-depth conversation.
Take advantage of being in-person to take note of all the details of your prospects: their demeanor, their body language, the phone they’re using, and a little bit of guessing based on their appearance (demographics).
The key is to take note of all the small details–without being weird or too personal.
If you’re prospecting online, the possibilities are endless. You can use advanced CRM tools like Salesforce or prospecting data search engines like Seamless.AI to dig deeper into prospects’ pain points and preferences before even reaching out to them.
In the internet provider industry, you should be able to read a prospect’s digital footprint and figure out a plan to approach–just like planning a heist in an Ocean’s Eleven movie (note: you’re not plotting against their downfall but instead anticipating their needs and challenges).
For example, using Seamless.AI you can leverage intent signals. Buyer Intent Data is like a digital breadcrumb trail that outlines your prospects’ online behavior, including online searches, website visits, article browsing, etc.
This type of data helps you know when a prospect or client is interested or likely to be interested in your internet services based on their digital breadcrumbs.
Imagine trying to do this research on your own, manually, for every individual prospect–sounds like a nightmare. Look into a tool like Seamless.AI to help you capture the purchasing signals of millions of domains across billions of interactions each month across thousands of websites. It’s all done for you at the click of a few buttons.
In addition to leveraging intent signals, simply having your lead data all in one place makes it easy for you to personalize your outreach. You get access to their contact information, company information, social media digital footprint and more to help you personalize your outreach messages way ahead of time–just like optimizing internet bandwidth for individual users.
Step 3. Nail your elevator pitch: The Netflix thumbnail approach
When you’re scrolling through Netflix, you’re scanning through tens or possibly even hundreds of TV show and movie thumbnails. It’s like browsing for candy at a candy shop–where do you even start?
The average user spends about only 1.8 seconds looking at a thumbnail on Netflix. In that split moment, you subconsciously make a decision whether you want to watch the program or not. These thumbnails are the break or make factor to gaining another viewer the same way your sales elevator pitch makes or breaks your chance to connect with a new customer.
It’s no surprise that Netflix spends top dollar to optimize these thumbnails. They’ve even developed an elaborate thumbnail selection process called aesthetic visual analysis (AVA) that starts by pulling all the frames from a video. From there, they go down a rabbit hole of more ranking processes and factors.
The point is, treat your internet provider sales elevator pitch like a precious Netflix thumbnail. Your opening line is like the welcome screen on a reliable internet service; it sets the tone for the entire experience. You only have a few seconds to make a great impression, whether you’re prospecting in-person or online.
Your pitch doesn’t have to be long, but it has to make an impact and tell a compelling story in 30 seconds or less. Thankfully, you might have a wee bit more leeway in time compared to a Netflix thumbnail.
The kind of impact you’re aiming for with your internet provider elevator pitch is to compare your service to a seamless Netflix binge experience: no connection breaks, no ads, and no lags in audio or video.
Related: 10 Proven prompts to start a sales conversation
Step 4. Handle sales objections with the “Jedi Mind Trick”
Ever felt like Obi-Wan Kenobi trying to convince a prospect? "These aren't the droids you're looking for," translates to understanding their objections and addressing them with finesse.
Here’s a mind trick that works for sales objections, even on internet provider prospects: Strategic empathy and well-prepared rebuttals.
Imagine you’re working on a big fish–a mid-sized tech company known for being loyal to their current internet provider. You’ve done your homework and crafted the seemingly perfect pitch only to be shot down with the sales objection “We’re happy with our current provider. Thanks, but no thanks.”
Instead of pushing harder, you can practice strategic empathy by taking a step back to understand their perspective. Start by asking open-ended questions about their current setup and what they like about their existing provider. You might learn that they just like the status quo and don’t want to deal with downtime of switching to a new provider.
The next time you reach out to this company, you should acknowledge their fears and validate their reluctance. Your rebuttal shouldn’t just be a talking point about how they’re wrong. Instead, try showing your value through case studies of similar companies you’ve transitioned with zero downtime. Frame it as a low-risk opportunity to experience better service without the commitment.
The key to overcoming sales objections in the internet provider industry is all about building trust and showing prospects that you genuinely understand and can solve their problems. This Jedi mind trick is like using “The Force”: be subtle but incredibly effective.
Step 5. Avoid the “special offer” overload.
Let's talk about "special offers"—everyone's got one. It's like those annoying pop-ups that keep telling you there's a "special deal" if you just sign up now. Prospects get these offers all the time. They’ve become immune, like a seasoned gamer ignoring in-app purchase prompts.
When you’re pitching your internet provider services to a new prospect, be prepared to run into this common sales objection: "Listen, we get these 'special offers' daily. What makes yours different?"
It’s not enough to just offer a deal; you need to show real value and build trust. Consider shifting your strategy from generic offers to tailored solutions, digging deep into their specific needs and pain points. That’s when you’ll start seeing results.
Related: 17 B2B email outreach templates + best practices
Step 6. Follow up and check-in without overloading
Just like maintaining a stable internet connection requires regular checks, nurturing leads means staying in touch without overwhelming them. You don’t want to be like the annoying pop-up message on your laptop that reminds you everyday to update your software.
The key to timing your follow-ups is to keep an eye on what’s happening in the industry and how it’s affecting your prospect, or what’s happening to their company in real-time.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you connected with a mid-sized marketing firm that showed interest in switching to your internet provider services. After a few promising conversations, they might go radio silent due to any obscure reason. At this point, don’t respond with radio silence but consider giving them space.
Weeks or months might go by, but let’s say you come across some news that the firm landed a major new client and was expanding rapidly. They’ll most likely need more robust internet services to handle their growth. This is the type of event or signal that should time your follow-up. It can be as simple as sending them a congratulatory email with an open-invite to talk about what their internet service needs will look like with these changes.
That’s just one example, but it showcases how a well-timed follow-up is like boosting your Wi-Fi signal just when you need it most. Never cut the signal, but boost the signal strength in a specific coverage area when the time is right.
Step 7. Stay ahead of the curve with continuous learning and automation
It takes more than just putting a company-branded t-shirt on and approaching prospects with a smile to get a conversation started. It almost goes without saying that you need to have the technical knowledge to also back up your validity as someone in the internet provider industry.
To the common person, your affiliation to big name internet provider companies alone puts you in a position of being well-versed in the tech world, whether you really are or not.
Our suggestion? Keep up with all the latest technology trends, AI, and tools to truly walk the talk.
This doesn’t mean to approach prospects with a bunch of technological jargon that doesn’t make sense. Instead, your superpower should lie in being able to break down complex concepts of how internet connection works in simpler terms that resonate with the masses.
When you’re able to address common concerns with your internet expertise, your expertise helps reassure your prospects that you’re the right person to talk to. It’s like diagnosing and fixing connectivity issues: it takes the right IT person to turn a complex computer problem into a simple fix.
Continuously staying on top of what’s new in the tech world is also useful for your own prospecting needs. Rather than manually researching contacts or keeping track of industry news for every single prospect, you’ll save days or weeks worth of prospecting time with the help of AI or automation tools.
Here are a few resources to get you up to speed on the latest in prospecting technology:
- Are email extractors legal? Unpacking the email scraping dilemma
- The Best Sales Prospecting Software
- How to use AI tools for your next sales cold call
Just like Tony Stark makes constant upgrades to his suit, keep up with the latest technology trends in prospecting to stay ahead of your competitors. A lot of internet service provider companies might still use a lot of old-school prospecting methods to this day, but being able to embrace the latest in technology will help you reach your TAM faster than those companies that still do it the old school way.
Maintaining a stable connection with internet provider prospects
Cutting through the noise in prospecting is like finding a stable Wi-Fi connection in a crowded coffee shop—challenging, but not impossible. It’s about being persistent without being annoying, personalizing your approach, and showing real, tangible value. And sometimes, it’s about being a little witty and relatable, because let's face it, we’re all just trying to avoid that buffering wheel of doom.
Figure out how to set up your signals with new prospects, and be strategic about boosting your signal strength to cut through the noise at the right time.
Looking for internet provider companies in your area? Or wanting to do some recon on other players in the internet service market? Explore our comprehensive directory of top internet companies here, or use the Seamless.AI tool to start prospecting and list building right away. It’s free to make an account and we’ll give you 50 free credits to help you get started.