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Create a Prospecting Tracking Process

Guest post by: Greg van der Linde

Article Overview: Executive Summary: Adhering to processes creates consistent results. Sales leaders who regularly track the prospecting efforts of their sales reps see better, more consistent results. Making prospecting a company objective, and rewarding the efforts of sales reps who prospect effectively on a consistent basis, will embed prospecting into the culture of the sales organization.

Create a Prospecting Tracking Process

Improve Prospecting Effort Through Tracking

To improve prospecting efforts, sales leaders must create a tracking process to ensure reps prospect at the expected rate in spite of the challenges associated with it. The reality is that prospecting has a major impact on sales revenue. Sales leaders who allow their reps to avoid prospecting activities are creating a losing environment.

To incorporate prospecting as part of reps' regular duties, sales leaders must:

• Recognize the Current State of Prospecting
• Make Prospecting Trackable
• Create a Prospecting Incentive Plan
• Create Prospecting Expectations

Recognize the Current State of Prospecting

It is no secret that sales reps do not like to prospect and avoid it whenever possible. Most sales leaders are concerned about the lack of prospecting, and recognize the need to improve these activities across the organization. The majority of reps view prospecting as being a high effort, minimal return activity. Therefore, in order to make prospecting effective they must have clear expectations and be coached on the necessary skills.

Many reps rely entirely on marketing for the generation of new leads. However, our research indicates that more than half of all sales companies turn marketing generated leads into sales meetings. Marketing leads do not generate enough quality opportunities, leaving reps to focus on prospecting to make up the difference. Reps should operate under the assumption that marketing will generate no more than 50% of the required leads that a sales rep requires to achieve results.

Sales leaders need to work with marketing to better define the parameters for quality leads. They also need to ensure that marketing supports the nurturing efforts after sales reps contact buyers who are not ready to make a purchase.

Prospecting lead efforts must be divided into new and existing buyers. Research has shown that more than 50% of sales leaders believe that half of their sales team needs to improve prospecting to existing buyers. It is easier to connect with existing buyers than to develop new opportunities. Reps that can successfully improve internal prospecting skills will increase the number of opportunities in their funnel.

Make Prospecting Trackable

What gets measured gets done. Measuring prospecting creates activity that would not occur if a form of tracking did not exist. Sales leaders who develop or use a prospecting tracking tool will be able to analyze their sales reps' prospecting efforts.

They will be able to identify:

• What sales reps are prospecting
• At what rate (number of contacts per day)
• The successfulness of prospecting efforts

A prospecting tracking system can be implemented into a sales company, team, or for a specific campaign. There are many software applications currently available for purchase. If cost is an issue, leaders can easily create their own system.

Tracking should include:

• The number of prospecting calls made
• Time spent on prospecting
• Meetings secured
• Number of real opportunities that go into the funnel
• Automated follow up to diarize future calls (i.e. call back in 3 months)

It is advisable to do a trial with a prospecting system to gauge its effectiveness before it is entrenched. A system that is too complex or that makes reps feel they are not trusted will only make prospecting less desirable.

Create a Prospecting Incentive Plan

Sales leaders should recognize prospecting efforts, but not compensate directly for them. Reps are compensated for prospecting efforts through their existing commission structure. Sales reps will be inclined to participate with more vigor if there is something in it for them. To do this, sales leaders can create a reward-based tracking system. Rewards do not have to be significant and should not be monetary; they should be recognition driven. For example, take the top prospecting sales rep out for lunch. Sales leaders can thank them for their efforts and also try to gain some insight into what made the rep so successful with their prospecting efforts.

Developing a prospecting culture will improve a rep's performance. Sales leaders need to recognize their rep's effort; however, they should never pay for it. Effort is part of a rep's job, which is covered by their base salary. These campaigns are designed to tap into reps' emotions and competitive nature rather than reward them financially. When sales leaders embark on these initiatives they must follow through or it will lose its effectiveness and credibility from their reps.

Most sales companies reward reps for many different tasks. Reps are mainly rewarded for achieving a certain quota or making a certain amount of revenue during a given time frame; however, prospecting, the main task that brings business into the company is rarely rewarded.

Sales reps can be rewarded for their efforts in a number of ways:

• Acknowledgement from the company president
• Recognition in an internal newsletter
• Recognition during sales team meetings
• Name a top prospect of the month

Create Prospecting Expectations

If sales leaders are serious about improving their prospecting performance, they must clearly outline what is expected of their sales staff. Clear objectives should be set in regards to the expected number of:

• New opportunities identified
• Suspects turned into prospects
• Presentations for new buyers
• Proposals sent to new accounts

Having these expectations is only one part of the process. Sales leaders have to be diligent, manage, coach, and reinforce expectations regularly. If prospecting objectives are upheld, they will grow to be part of the sales culture of the organization. Making prospecting part of the sales culture will cement its place in the sales process and be an accepted duty of reps from the day they are hired.

Bottom Line & Business Impact:

Sales leaders cannot expect their reps to prospect just because it's good for them and a best practice. They must create an environment that is conducive to driving the right behavior,including appropriate compensation components.

Related Articles
  Prospecting's 8 Simple Steps©
  Two spectacular sales ideas©
  Sales Prospecting is the most important skill©
  Get In a Rut
  Sales Prospecting for Sales Results
  Prospecting it is simple only DOING counts
  Sales Prospecting Techniques
  How to Prospect - Common Sense Isn\'t so Common©
  The 3 Laws of ProspectingTM
  Maximize Revenues©
  Prospecting - Time really is money©
  Activity/Activity/Activity
  How to attract new business leads
  Attract as many motivated prospects as you can handle
  Keep Prospecting Simple©
  Sales Prospecting
  Missed & Lost Sales Opportunities
  Prospecting Is Not the Problem
  Remember, it is only the Behaviors that count!©
  Closing Techniques Are Bogus

Article Tags: company culture, creating consistent results, prospecting, prospecting tracking, prospects, rep accountability



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