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Part Four - Prospecting for More Sales

Written by: Lawrence Atkinson

Article Overview: Part Four of a Ten Part Series. In this series, we explore all the different avenues of prospecting necessary for a business to succeed. Think of your business as a a beautiful garden, and then consider all the things you need to do to keep that garden beautiful and growing, rather than dreary, dead or decaying. Need help with Prospecting? Feel free to get in touch with us via our website.

Part Four - Prospecting for More Sales

Client Contact System

As I mentioned earlier, people like to be remembered. If you can recall their names and some personal details it will be appreciated. So you should look for techniques that will help you improve your memory.

One simple way to do this is to keep a contact system. There are many simple or sophisticated CRM programs around that you can use. Or another very simple way is just to keep a card system. The purpose is the same whichever "system" you use.

When you meet someone new make a special effort to remember the details of most importance. Listen, carefully, then when you get a chance, record name, spouse's name, number of children and interests on a card file. Other details such as address and telephone numbers can be added later. If the person concerned does become a customer you can use the card to remind you of the details which will personalise your contact with them. And you should also use the system to record what is said on each occasion you speak to them.

The contact system has a number of purposes. It helps you to improve your memory and to maintain cordial contacts with the people in your personal network. Most of all, however, it puts you in command of information which will make you more efficient. A quick glance at the information will remind you of your previous contact with this person so that you know what was said and what happened as a result.

Remembering details creates confidence and trust, and a contact management system, conscientiously maintained, will ensure that you do remember them.

Visibility

One of the greatest assets you can have is visibility; visibility in the market place.

Even if you had the greatest products, the greatest service, in the field it won't do you any good if your prospective customers don't think of you when they set out to make a purchase. So you have to think of ways of making yourselves visible in the market within which you work.

The most obvious way to do this is to advertise. Use local newspapers and radio stations, and the yellow pages - but if these options are not open to you, which they may not be depending on the size and nature of your business, what other ways are available to promote yourself?

Today, as you will have heard many times, sellers need to be pro-active rather than re-active. You have to go out and make calls. If customers don't know what you are selling then they won't think of you when they are looking for the type of product or service you are selling. You have to be visible and so does your product/service.

Continued in Part Five

Related Articles
  Sales Prospecting Techniques
  Sales Prospecting for Sales Results
  Sales Prospecting
  Prospecting it is simple only DOING counts
  Sales Management, Prospecting, and a Sense of Urgency©

Article Tags: assets, confidence, contact management system, contact system, crm programs, glance, memory, personal network, prospective customers, special effort, telephone numbers, visibility



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".
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz] I second the request...
Patent information - I'm also interested in Part 2. Thanks.
Patent Process - Interesting to hear your experiences with the patent process - what's Part 2?


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