Sales Prospecting

“We are too busy closing business to prospect”
“There’s no time to prospect, we are too busy with our existing base”
“You can count on me to start prospecting as soon as I close the big one”

Sellers hate to prospect. In fact, most sellers would rather sit in the dentist’s chair and have a tooth extracted than pick up the dreaded phone and begin to prospect.

Sellers have a keen ability to convince sales management that there is no time to prospect or that real prospecting is actually going on. This reluctance to prospect can severely inhibit a company’s ability to meet revenue goals or profitably grow their business. Companies whose sales and marketing organizations don’t, won't, or can’t prospect for new business are at best crippling their company’s ability to be all it could be and at worst driving the company out of business.
Sales managers advise sellers to prospect for new business and this is good. However, rarely do they tell their sellers how to go about doing it. As a result, they have become part of the problem. Despite a lack of support from their manager and after some trial and error a few sellers will figure out how to prospect, but most will fail.

Pressure from sales managers will cause even the most reluctant sellers to eventually pick up the dreaded phone. However, all too often they have bad experiences, become discouraged, and quit. These sellers will then find “more important” activities to keep them busy and, if they can help it, will never pick up the phone again.

What is behind the reluctance to prospect? Most salespeople know the answer to this question; it’s the fear of rejection. No one wants to be rejected! Think about the sellers who call you during the evening hours. What’s their technique? How do they make you feel? Do they get your interest or do they create tension? Very few capture our interest and keep it.
These poor sellers are getting a lot of sharp and pointed rejection. On a good day, 98 out of every 100 calls they make will result in a “no.” What person in their right mind would purposely continue down that road? They do what comes natural; they get busy with an existing account, while avoiding prospecting altogether and their performance over time looks like a roller coaster.

At Sales Training Associates, we have learned the key to prospecting is to reduce rejection and improve the hit rate. We can do both by creating interest in what we have to say. The goal of phone prospecting should be to have the prospect say, “Tell me more”. Creating interest and not tension becomes the foundation for building a prospecting culture within your company.
In concert with the simple and clear message from management that prospecting is mandatory, a key responsibility for the sales manager is coaching sellers in how to create interest on the phone and then providing them with support and tools to undertake this task. As the seller’s skill level increases, success will follow along with increasing confidence.

Research indicates that we have no more than about 20 seconds to create interest and curiosity during a telephone cold call. Given the infinite number of things that could come out of our mouth during those first 20 seconds, this is not the time to “wing it.” Have a plan and know exactly what you are going to say.

Sales Prospecting Techniques: Where to begin

In order to create interest and curiosity in the short time we have, we must focus our efforts on answering the following questions:

Where should I prospect?
Who should I call on?
Can I anticipate their goals, objectives, or critical business issue?

How do I increase the probability of the prospect saying, “Tell me more”?

Sales Prospecting Profiles: 3 types of prospects

So, where should we prospect? Surprising to many sales professionals, there are three kinds of prospects out there to consider:

Prospects, who have a business problem, are motivated to solve it, and know what’s needed to solve it.
Prospects who have a business problem, a desire to solve, but don’t have the faintest idea of how to go about fixing the problem.
The third group of prospects have a business problem and are either unaware that a solution exists or they have rationalized that it couldn’t work for them because it’s too complicated, too expensive, too hard to implement, etc. These prospects have a latent need, and are not actively looking to address it.

Most companies target the first two groups, which we classify as prospects that are actively looking to buy. The flaw with this approach is that it unnecessarily limits your potential hit rate. Ask yourself how many prospects are actively looking for what you sell. When I say looking, I mean: requirements on paper; budget is allocated; and a “power person” involved.

The typical response that we get to the question I posed in the last paragraph is 5-10%, which means that 90-95% of the market has a problem that you can help solve but they don’t know it. Another thought to consider is that if you do find someone in the 5-10%, who is it that got them to look in the first place?

This “not looking” market is huge, uncluttered with competition, and represents an opportunity for your company to be first; in creating interest, hope, and to lead the prospect to discover the solution to their own problem. There is a direct relationship between being first and winning, and to us this is the perfect place to prospect.

Effective sales prospecting is the future of your business. There is no alternative. Learn how to do it!

Effective Sales Prospecting Techniques: The future of your business

Sales Prospecting Techniques: Where to begin

Sales Prospecting Profiles: 3 types of prospects