Tweet

Prospecting: Working Smarter, Not Harder

Written by: Kathy Ziprik

Article Overview: Five tips to successful sales through prospecting efforts from Building Leaders, Inc.

Prospecting: Working Smarter, Not Harder

Forget about the old-fashioned idea that some folks are “born salespeople.” To successfully sell building products, you need to learn the science behind the sale.
Rick Davis, president of Building Leaders, Inc. and author of the book, Strategic Sales in the Building Industry, offers these tips for strategically prospecting leads in the marketplace:

Tip #1 – Schedule Appointments – Planned meetings equal good sales results. If you try the “drop in and hope” approach to prospecting, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Even cold calls should have established appointments. An unscheduled visit, whether with a client or a prospect, is an imposition on the time and assumes that the person has plenty of time to drop everything and meet with you. For a solid start to prospecting, establish an appointment and confirm it via phone or e-mail beforehand.

Tip #2 – Database Management – Knowledge is power, and your ability to harness knowledge makes you a powerful sales person. To achieve this, use whatever system works best for you, but write down and save key sales prospect information. Devise a way to include both personal information (i.e.: birth dates, sporting preferences, etc.) and business details (i.e.: competitive products used, company history, etc.). Make sure to update your filing system daily to stay on top of prospects and customers.

Tip #3 – Script It Out – First calls to prospective customers are always the hardest. Make life easier by having a written script or bullet points of information to convey in front of you while making the call and come to the point immediately. Don’t forget that your goal is to gain an appointment, so don’t use the phone call to qualify your prospective customer. Use it to get the face-to-face meeting.

Tip #4 - Territory Management – With the rising cost in fuel, it is more important than ever to manage your windshield time effectively. In addition to scheduling appointments to ensure productivity in the field, map out your territory to maximize your effectiveness during the day. Criss-crossing your marketplace wastes time and gas --- two precious and expensive commodities for any sales person.

Tip #5 – Prospect Rating – To make your prospecting efforts more successful, rate your customers and prospects on their potential profitability to you. Asking the right questions will lead you to determining if a customer has the potential for purchasing 10 or 1,000 widgets from you in a given year. Once you determine profitability potential, rank your customers and prospects from A to D. Spend the most amount of time with the A accounts and start looking to replacing the C accounts.

###

Related Articles
  Get going to get results
  Are Men Smarter Than Women
  The Paradox of Sales Training
  Get In a Rut
  Prospecting - Time really is money©

Article Tags: building leaders, bullet points, business details, cold calls, company history, competitive products, e mail, filing system, knowledge is power, management knowledge, prospective customer, prospective customers, rick davis, sales person, sales prospect, salespeople, schedule appointments, strategic sales, territory management, windshield time



Related Forum Posts
Prime Means of Selling - Prospecting and Selling aren't the same. Prospecting is finding the few within a target group who are prime candidates for your service. I don't think everyone will agree on what "prime" means but I'd say if the prospects actively want what you're offering and have the ability to pay for what you're offering then they qualify as "prime".
Re: What is Your Favorite Thing About Owning A Business? - [quote="freddyb45":1t3lpfi8]For me it's the fact that all the time and effort you put in is worth a lot more, due to it making you "business" more profitable. Working for yourself is also a positive, although employing people you can trust is quite different.[/quote:1t3lpfi8] I like this idea. Working for yourself means you are investing in your own future, not someone else's, although there is value in working for someone else first to gain experience and confidence. Working for yourself does not automatically mean success, fame and fortune. For most entrepreneurs, it takes much work and dedication to get to the point of financial success and comfort - sometimes years. But the benefit is, again, you know you are investing in yourself and building equity for your own future. GT :-]
Re: help wanted in u.k. - Working on it all, a new world to me cheers brendan
Motivational Books for Entrepreneurs - Searched but did not find a comprehensive list of books for us entrepreneurs: Here are some of my favorites: Napoleon Hill - Think and Grow Rich The greatest secret in the world- Earl Nightingale...listen to it, then listen to it again. Jeffrey Gitomers books- Red book of selling, sales bible, Green book of getting your way. Your Erroneous Zones - Wayne Dyer Thinkertoys - Michael Michalko How To Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie The Magic of Believing - Claude M. Bristol How to Talk to Anyone - Leil Lowndes Get Smarter- Seymour Schulich What are yours?
Re: What is Your Favorite Thing About Owning A Business? - For me it's the fact that all the time and effort you put in is worth a lot more, due to it making you "business" more profitable. Working for yourself is also a positive, although employing people you can trust is quite different.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Life is a Balancing Act!

10 Golden rules to survive the Global Crisis

Here's a great ROI

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.