Aren’t you forgetting something?
There are a few things I often see salespeople forget when prospecting.
When it comes to the basics, we can’t get sloppy. Are you including these elements when prospecting?
If you want to prospect effectively, follow these tips.
For in-depth training on the most important prospecting skills from the comfort of your home office–or anywhere–check out my Masterclass offerings at The Sales Hunter University.
1. Awareness
Is the customer waking up in the morning and saying, “Oh man, I hope Mark Hunter calls me today?” No, my mother doesn’t even do that.
We have to be able to create awareness. You may work for HP, or Coca-Cola. Yes, people recognize your company name, but they don’t recognize you.
That’s why awareness is a critical aspect, and why many cold calling strategies go awry–because they don’t have an ability to create it.
2. Relationship
Imagine we’re having a conversation for the first time, and I try to take you all the way to the close. It’s probably not going to be a very smooth close. I’d venture to say it’s not going to be an optimized close for the customer or for me either, because there’s no relationship there.
Of course, this is different between a big company and a small company. However, within a big company, too many salespeople rely on the relationship, the attitude or the beliefs that the customer has towards the big company. But, they’re dealing with you. You have to be able to create that relationship.
3. (De)Education
Now comes time to educate–or perhaps de-educate.
Many times you’re dealing with the customer’s preconceived notions. They’ve already done their homework, or they’ve been buying from your competitor and they have all these ideas. Not all of them are correct, true or helpful.
After I de-educate, now I can finally be in a position to educate. Word to the wise: if I try to educate before I de-educate, it goes right over their head.
4. Understanding the need and the validation.
This is where the proposal gets on the table. See, I’ve gone through these other pieces such as establishing the relationship, growing in awareness, and education. Now, I can seek to further understand the need, scope it out, and validate the need.
I can actually begin to do this in the prospecting phase, because if I don’t understand what your need is, and I don’t understand how you’re going to validate if you’re going to make a purchase or not, why am I dealing with you?
5. Decision.
I’ve got to understand their decision-making process. This ensures I get in contact with the right people, not just some gatekeeper or lower-level manager. Ask questions such as:
What is the criteria you’re going to use to make your final decision?
How have you decided who to go with in the past?
You might even find out who your competition is from their answers!
I recommend you read these 5 Essentials Before You Negotiate for more tips.
This week on The Sales Hunter Podcast…
Every company has their strategy to get you to discount your price.
Whether they look for a quick price quote, or take advantage of a weak presentation, you’ve got to be ready.
What should you say if a customer calls you up for a quick price quote?
How can you clearly communicate urgency to a customer who doesn’t see it yet?
What’s your confidence level with regards to price?
Mark shares his top strategies for getting full price….it’s time to quit discounting! Listen in Thursday morning when this new episode drops.
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I know that The Sales Hunter University has helped so many earn more money, feel more confident, and make bigger impacts. We’ve seen our platform grow to achieve international attention and accolades.
To celebrate the great achievements of our members, and our platform, TSHU will be growing in new and exciting ways. In addition to the great content already available (i.e. coaching sessions, masterclasses, the sales vault of training videos) be on the lookout for new masterclass offerings, as well as flash courses, mini-masterclasses, and live workshops.
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Copyright 2022, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.
