Prospecting doesn’t just occur on its own. You have to do the work.
Prospecting is a lot like a gym membership. You can’t get a membership to the gym and expect to be in shape. You’ve got to go and work the machines, put in the reps, spend the time.
Last week I shared how Prospecting Is a Mental Game…let’s look at 10 ways prospecting is all about your activities.
1. Prep before you start.
If you set up a prospecting window of time and you’re not prepared, guess what? You’re going to spend that entire time getting ready to prospect, and you’ll never prospect. Thinking about prospecting is not prospecting.
2. Have a plan and follow it.
This drives me crazy. The biggest reason why salespeople fail is because they don’t follow their plan.
Any plan is going to work. And that means just a daily routine of phone calls I’m going to make, emails I’m sending out, and you just keep repeating.
Go out to the Sales Hunter University. There are some courses there that can help you do that step by step.
3. Block your time.
You’ve got to have time blocked on your calendar. If you don’t have time blocked on your calendar to prospect, it’s not going to happen. Inevitably, you’re going to get caught up in everything else.
4. Love your CRM.
Don’t run from your CRM. Don’t rebel and say, “I’m going to keep all my notes over here.”
Instead, love your CRM and use it, because I’ll tell you what, it’s there working for you.
5. Love your tech stack.
This includes whatever tools you have. Now, don’t run out and go buy a bunch of tools. If you’re with a company and they’ve given you a tech stack, use it, embrace it. Don’t fight it; use the tool to your advantage.
6. Don’t deviate.
“I think rather than sticking with my list, I’m going to go over here and I’m going to ...” Nope. Stay right there.
I’m not a NASCAR fan, but can you imagine if a NASCAR driver said, “You know what? I’m going to win this race by not going around in circles. I’m going to go out in the parking lot and race around the parking lot, and I think I’m going to win.”
It’s not going to happen. You have to stay with the plan.
7. Measure the activity.
How many calls did I make? How many emails did I send out? Can I measure how many questions I’m asking? What about how many callbacks have I gotten? What’s my level of engagement?
You’ve got to measure the activity because otherwise, how do you know? And how can you improve?
8. Own it.
No excuses. You have to go through the steps regardless. Yes, things come up and things don’t happen, but I can’t play the blame game.
I have to own it. It’s my duty to prospect, and not the client’s fault, or marketing’s fault, etc.
9. Follow-up wins.
Prospecting is not making one random call. “Well, they didn’t call me back. They must not be interested.” Follow up, follow up, follow up! That’s how you win the sale.
It’s staying engaged to keep things going.
10. Never stop.
Don’t think for a moment that you can stop prospecting.
The reason salespeople have peaks and valleys is because they don’t prospect consistently. Or, they get on a mountaintop because they’ve been prospecting, and then they stop. This happens to every salesperson out there.
Do You Have Prospects or Suspects?
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Mark shares three qualifications to weed out the suspects.
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Copyright 2023, 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.
One Response
Thank you Mark for remind me about How powerful Is prospecting. I experimentes it I’m the last months. I am sure I can improve it. Hace a good day. Take care.