Prospecting: Working Smarter, Not Harder
Prospecting: Working Smarter, Not Harder
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.
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Prospecting Working Smarter Not Harder - To learn more about this author, visit Kathy Ziprik's Website.
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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.
###
Prospecting Working Smarter Not Harder - To learn more about this author, visit Kathy Ziprik's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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