If we want to be successful with our prospecting, we have to keep it simple. Prospecting is merely getting a contact established and creating engagement.
Unless what you sell is low cost and has a high frequency of purchase, then any prospect you initially engage is going to require a second step.
Your goal is to merely be successful in getting a first date. Too many times I see salespeople going ape over what they see as poor results, because they’re not getting that first date and turning enough prospects into customers. Yes, that’s important, but it’s time to cool your jets and realize things take time, just like they did when you were in high school and prom seemed like it would never arrive.
It’s all about one step a time.
I’m not advocating putting in more steps than necessary. Leave that for your middle school square dance. Requiring two or three steps is not going to overburden you.
It comes down to two simple things on the initial call, and let me share a bit from my book, High-Profit Prospecting, as it says it best:
Your Goal Is a First Date
At the most basic level, you want to make contact with a lead, preferably with a phone call, and do two things:
1. Find out one piece of information about the company and/or person with whom you’re talking.
2. Secure a next step: Either an in-person meeting or another phone call at a designated time.
The first call is not the time to overcomplicate things. Too many salespeople make the mistake of trying to do a huge information dump on the first call, and it winds up going nowhere. (If what you’re selling is a quick sale with a short sales cycle, then you certainly should be speeding the process along, but it still does not give you the right to do a full data dump on the prospect.) Your first call should create a level of confidence and gain leverage to have a second call.
During your second call, dig deeper and truly qualify the prospect to ensure they’re really a prospect and not a suspect. Use the criteria outlined in Chapter 8. Attempting to complete all of that on the first call is rarely doable, and too many times if you try to do it all, the end result will be nothing.
For more specific prospecting strategies, be sure to grab a copy of my book High-Profit Prospecting!
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Copyright 2018, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results
3 Responses
Very good comment! very helpful!
Thank you for this, I put a lot of pressure on myself to do more so “cool your jets” is a reminder I need. Work the process and I’ll get there
Many thanks Mark, great advice as usual and much appreciated. – Barry.