Field Sales Prospecting, just do it!©

In my experience, field sales professionals are missing a tremendous opportunity to make their lives a lot easier. The single most important selling skill for any field sales professional is Prospecting. That is the only skill that gets you in front of someone so you can use all your other selling skills!

Imagine if you made 240 Prospecting calls this year. How would that change your life? For most of us, it would make a very, very significant improvement in our sales life.

And it would be ridiculously easy to do, yet most won’t do it.

I am talking about making Field Prospecting calls. Yes, our old style simple to do, face to face Prospecting calls.

Two very important results occur when you perform these calls. Your in the field driving by anyway, why not stop?

First, you do “field intelligence” work on the Prospect company. You see their building, their property, their parking lot, and probably some of their products. You can get a good sense about the company.

Second, in many instances you will talk with the Prospect.

When I am in the field making what I call BLITZ CALLs with a salesperson, we may make 15-20 in one day, primarily because I am teaching the skill and doing all of the calls.

During those calls we will talk to a lot of people in companies. We will learn a lot about each company in a very short amount of time.

And, yes, we do use another selling skill during these calls. That is questioning, so be sure to have some good open end questions ready.

Keep in mind that in commercial/industrial sales people buy after the 3rd call, so keep this initial call brief. I say 4 minutes max, unless the Prospect wants to talk longer. Two 4 minute calls 3 times a week should seamlessly fit into any schedule. Do that for 40 weeks and you have made 240 Prospecting calls in one year.

How many did you make last year? If you made 240 last year, how would this year be different?

Also, know that follow up is essential. If people buy after the 3rd call that means you will have to make at least 3 calls! Dah, I know that is obvious, but most salespeople stop following up after two tries.

Another thought. Since BLITZ CALLs are so easy to make, you may think, “if 6 per week is good, then 18 per week would be fabulous.” Wrong!

If you do too many in a short period of time, you will generate so much activity that your follow up will fall off and you will stop Prospecting. Then when things slow down again, you will have no Prospects to work with so you will do too many again and start the cycle all over.

I instruct my clients to Prospect every week. Do your 4-6-8 every week, whatever number you can comfortably maintain.

Remember, once someone gets into your system, they need follow up and sales nurturing by you. Don’t let them get lost because you have too many other things to do.

Two valuable facts about having a Prospecting System like this is that you have a virtually limitless supply of Prospects in the system and you can drop people with whom it is unpleasant to work. Let your competitors work with them!

So, when it comes to Field Sales Prospecting, just do it!

Sell Well and Often, Bill Truax Bill@BlitzCall.com

© Copyright 2007 WJ Truax Bill Truax is a field prospecting coach based in Cleveland, OH. He sells The BLITZ CALL® Prospecting Kit and other Prospecting materials. All product and contact information is at www.BlitzCall.com



Field Sales Prospecting, just do it!© - To learn more about this author, visit Bill Truax's Website.

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