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Sales Management, Prospecting, and a Sense of Urgency©

Guest post by: Bill Truax

Article Overview: Prospecting is critical for growth and survival of just about every company that sells a product or service. The person most responsible for overall sales team prospecting performance is the Sales Management team. However, in my experience they just don't have a sense of urgency when it comes to performing their role with respect to Prospecting.

Sales Management, Prospecting, and a Sense of Urgency©

When a company wants to grow its business, enlarge its customer base, increase sales, or do anything but become stagnant, Prospecting is going to somehow come into play.

Everyone who has ever been involved in sales knows that Prospecting is an essential part of selling. Yet, it is the most avoided skill in all of sales. The reason, of course, is "the fear of rejection." I would like to punch the guy that came up with that phrase.

As a result, Prospecting becomes a significant element for most sales people because they avoid it as long as possible. So when they finally get to Prospecting, every call is critical simply because they are desperate for new business.

We all know the person responsible for overall Prospecting performance in any company is the Sales Manager. He/she is the one who needs to be sure there is a system set up and running and that the sales team is actually doing the work. Prospecting on a regular and continuing basis makes life a lot easier.

When I am hired by a company to bring in and implement my BLITZ CALL® Prospecting System I can actually hear a sigh of relief from the Sales Management wing of the company. It is like they have delegated that responsibility and know longer have to worry about it. WRONG!

I usually work with a company one day a week. I am working one on one with the sales people, getting them set up and running, making cold calls in the field so they can see how easy it really is. Then I give the Sales Manager an assignment for following up with the people I worked with that week.

Here is where the system is failing. In most cases, there just doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency on the part of the Sales Managers to do their part. And that has a very detrimental affect on the whole system.

The Sense of Urgency by all of management is critical. As you can imagine everyone on the sales team is a bit worried about the Prospecting requirement that is coming when the Prospecting Consultant shows up. They know that expectations of change are coming; they know that management will expect them to face that "fear of rejection." Each individual on sales team is looking for a way to get out of this. I have been doing this for over 25 years, so I know how people think.

Therefore, management, not just Sales Management, must support, endorse, cheer, and be enthusiastic about this new skill base and program. If one, just one person in management is critical and lets the sales team know, it can seriously disrupt my work. You all know how stupid comments can cause all kinds of problems within an organization.

That is why Sales Management must have a Sense of Urgency when it comes to introducing our Prospecting System and doing their role in follow up. Actually, any new program or initiative needs this support, not just Prospecting, since people will fight change even when they know they need it for survival.

So, if you are in Sales Management and want to bring in a new system for Prospecting or anything else, be sure to get your peers on board so you have an entire management team sharing the Sense of Urgency. Then success in implementation will be a lot easier.

Sell Well and Often,

Bill Truax
Bill@BlitzCall.com

© Copyright 2006 WJ Truax

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