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Prospect to Prosper

Written by: John Brennan

Article Overview: There’s an old joke the rookie sales rep asks her sales manager ”How long do I have to keep prospecting?” Her answer, “Until you want to.” Most of us are like the rookie; we prospect because we have to. In the beginning we have to generate leads to build a good book of business. Then we have to prospect to find replacements for the inevitable 20% of our clients that become inactive each year. Does it ever end?

Prospect to Prosper

Well, yes and no. Yes, you can build your business to a point where you make no more cold calls by developing a network of satisfied customers and business associates who regularly refer you business. No, it does not ever end because you must do some prospecting of a sort to recruit your network of those that send you referrals. (By the way I’m excited about the potential of online networking through web sites such as Linked In, ( www.linkedin.com )

Wherever you are in your business growth cycle, you must prospect so you might as well be good at it. Here are some tips:

• The goal of prospecting is to convert suspects into prospects. A suspect is someone who appears to fit your target market, e.g. retail businesses with less than $2 million a year in volume, or the 14607 zip code, etc. A prospect is someone who has the Money, the Authority and the Desire (MAD). A fully qualified prospect meets all three criteria. In B2B sales, your objective is to get appointments with partially qualified prospects to fully qualify them.
• Don’t waste time pursuing suspects who are not fully qualified. Perhaps you just wish they were qualified, or you hope that they’ll be qualified or they are such a good match that they should be qualified. Denial can inflict the best of us.
• View prospecting as the integral part of the sales cycle that it is. Not something that you do when you have time, or something that you rely on others to do, but a routine first step down the road to a sale. Accept that you have to turn over a lot of rocks to find the goodies, and just take one suspect at a time.
• Prospect with a plan. Whether it is by geography, vertical market, sales volume etc., prospect systematically. Reason; none of the good prospects will fall between the gaps, you will get a sense of accomplishment in having covered a specific market segment and it is more efficient.
• Prospect regularly and frequently. Prospecting should be part of every sales person’s daily activity. Not monthly, or weekly, but daily. If you want a steady supply of prospects, you must have a steady supply of leads.
• Make friends with marketing. It’s their job to generate leads. Get to know them, give them ideas and find out who they are targeting and when. If you can help them improve their job you both benefit.
• Persistence counts. According to a recent National Sales Executive Association survey, 80 percent of all new sales are made at the fifth call to the same prospect. So, review your prospect list regularly and make those calls.

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Article Tags: prospecting, replacements, sales rep



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Re: Hiring introverts vs. extroverts - [quote="Evan":37xmbjab]It's generally hard to be a good salesperson if you are an introvert.[/quote:37xmbjab] Evan, I was thinking about the same right? Then I was put in charge of training sales teams and found out interesting traits among the successful ones. Often times, the extroverts talk "too much" and kill a sale. They attempt to overcome every objection by giving answers while NOT understanding they are not hearing true objections. When objections are answered but the buyers aren't proceeding for transaction, they're not telling you the real objection. When that happens, there is a psychological shift occurs that the more you appear needy to sell as a salesperon, the less attractive your sales team becomes because people like to be facilitated instead of being sold. So the hybrid of both characteristics will serve best in sales. The tone of your voice, posture, attitude, all work well... and you want to look confident, mature, calm and not attached to the end result of the transaction. It's like saying.... Mr. Prospect, I certainly would love to welcome you as a customer, but even if you don't proceed, it wouldn't be my loss... but saying this through your tone of voice, look on your face and everything else instead of in words. And some extroverts ones have hard time expressing these messages through unspoken communications, seeking approval for their answers to customers objections by speaking too much. Interesting isn't it? Warmest Regards, Takuya
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Established micro business with bad credit but great b-plan - I am a true entrepreneuer. Meaning I have created a business by simply having a great idea and run with it. I have also failed, lost time and money and decided to try it all over again when I had another bright idea. Recently I had to seperate myself from a business partnership and create another company. My new business is 12 months old and going strong. We provide sales & marketing assistance to entrepreneurs and small business owners. The company has three seperate revenue streams. 1) We provide direct outside sales representation to small business owners. Essentially, we function as manufacturing reps but for local small businesses. 2) We do business and marketing plans for start-up and companies seeking to grow. 3) We are a disabled veterans business enterprise. Located in California, this provides us with unlimited opportunities for contracting with city, county and state government. My problem is that I cannot secure funding to support basic operating expenses for the next 12 months. Banks that claim to have special programs for disabled veteran business owners turn me down because of my credit score. Angel investors turn me down because my business plan does not show explosive growth. Prosper.com, circlelending.com and all of the internet based unsecured lending companies have turned me down because of my credit score. I have spoken with lending professionals with various levels of experience and I keep hearing the same advise; "own property and use the equity, get a partner with assets, borrow from family." None of those work for me at this time. Now I realize I damaged my credit by taking far too many risks in the past and raising my score will take time. At the same time, I have 6 clients that are simply waiting for sales representation and I don't have the funds to recruit and hire salespeople. Worst of all, I have to pass on certain contracting opportunities because I cannot accept a job where payment takes 45 to 60 days because I have to pay people every two weeks. I currently have myself, two part-time sales reps and 4 loyal clients that together provides my company with average sales of $5,000 monthly. So I am still extremely small, but I have a solid plan and marketing strategy. I have run out of good ideas.


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