This morning, during a call with a business owner, he shared with me about their latest product upgrade. As he talked, I could hear passion in his voice about how his product could help others. Without hesitation, he stated why his solution was better than his competitor’s offering. In this compelling conversation, he convinced me to believe.
There is a major parallel between prospecting and leading. When leading, you have to get people to do things that they might not otherwise do. When prospecting, you have to make people see things that they might not otherwise see. Great leaders don’t hesitate to ask tough questions or have engaging conversations, if they know it’s necessary. Those good at prospecting do the same thing- they ask tough questions and create engaging conversations.
Prospecting is About Helping Others:
Are you willing to engage your prospect with non-superficial questions? Do you engage the prospect with your questions? Do they create conversation? In the end, do your questions give the prospect confidence in you? Think about the people who lead you or have lead you in the past. Most likely, you followed those in whom you had a strong level of confidence and learned from the most.
Prospecting and leadership share the same principles. With this, why are so many people jumping at the chance to lead but then cowering when it comes time to prospect? If you’re willing to lead, you must be willing to prospect! They both involve the same thing, which is helping others see and achieve what they didn’t think was possible.
Prospecting is about helping people. Sometimes, that involves interrupting people. It’s no different than the parent who has to remind a child 10 times to do the same thing. To the child, the parent is interrupting and making them do something that they don’t want to do. From the parent’s point of view, on the other hand, he/she is helping the child learn responsibility.
Prospecting and leadership are one in the same, so who will you lead today by prospecting them?
Copyright 2019, 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 Result
