People ask me a lot where I find great customers and great prospects. Today, I will walk you through 10 things you can do to find them right now.
As I share, I want you to take notes. Also, be sure to hit subscribe, because I put out a new video every week. Each one is full of practical tips that you can put into play right now to increase your sales.
Let’s walk through the ten things. Most of the content I am going to share comes from my books. Have you read my newest book, A Mind for Sales? I guarantee it will show you how to have a mind for finding better customers and better prospects.
1. Existing Relationships
When we talk about how to find better prospects or just prospects in general, a lot of you say you don’t know how, but have you tried your current database? Have you tried existing relationships? Who’s in your CRM system right now? You’ll find a tremendous amount of leads and opportunities just by starting to reach out to them. Who are you connected to on social media? Who is in your circle? Who are you close to that have other people in their circle? Simply start by leveraging your existing relationships.
2. Existing Customers
First of all, never think for a moment that you can’t get more business out of existing customers. There always is more business to be had. There is constantly a chance of new business with a new division, new person, new department. Go out, reach out, grab it, and make it happen.
3. Industry Associations
I love doing a deep dive search into all of the associations in which I need to be working with. Then, I find out the members of each of those associations in my industry. Again, this is all done by way of the Internet, because it’s an amazing tool for something like this. I sit there and dig into each industry. Who are their members? Who are the board members? Who are they connected to? You’ll quickly find that you can build that out.
4. Supply Chain
People in your supply chain have a vested interest because they want to see you do well. That’s right.
Reach out to people in your company supply chain. Ask them questions. Talk to them. They will share ideas with you. They will share their insights because it’s in their best interest to help you succeed. This is the same with your customers. Your customers have a supply chain as well. Look into who is in that because again, those people have a vested interest because they want to see you achieve great things. Don’t look past the supply chain.
5. Social Media
This one is a double-edged sword because sometimes you can find yourself lost in it. In my book, A Mind for Sales, I talk about how you can’t take ‘clicks’ or ‘likes’ to the bank. However, social media becomes a great place to identify and do a background search, whether it be through Sales Navigator with LinkedIn or any number of other programs. There are a variety of programs that will help you dive deeper into social media.
However, I do suggest that you limit your time on social media, otherwise it can suck you in and you’ll never come out. It becomes kind of like Hotel California. Remember that song by the Eagles back in the 70s? Yeah. Ok, I’m old. You’re right. You can check in, but you can’t check out, so you have to frame it up. You have to contain it, but social media will give you a tremendous number of opportunities to connect with people. Again, it will vary by industry, though.
6. Internet Search
Start doing something I particularly love to do, but many salespeople don’t do let alone love it. Take a customer that your current currently working with, put their name into a Google search and see what other companies come up. It’s amazing what you’ll find. Other companies will come up that become perfect prospects for you to reach out to.
7. Be the expert
You have to be seen as the expert. Here’s the thing I always tell people: nobody wants to do business with someone who isn’t seen as an expert in their field. You’ve got to be the expert. Do this by carefully positioning yourself and all of your information – whether it be on LinkedIn, social media, your website, etc. – that portrays you as the expert.
8. Be Patient in Developing Good Leads.
Anyone can go out and grab a bunch of names. Hey, phone books are even still being printed. If you want names, you can get them; but you have to be patient. It’s not about the number of leads you have. It is about the quality of your leads. You must be patient in sticking to your plan.
I’ve done some other videos about the process for building out a prospecting plan. Go out and watch them on my YouTube channel. I literally walk you through step by step just like I’m doing here. Remember that you have to be patient.
9. Referrals, Referrals
I want you to actively give out and ask for referrals. Now, referrals are not a quid pro quo type of situation.
I’m not saying that if you give two referrals, you’ll get two in return. I am saying that you need to set yourself up to win. Again, I’ve got a video out there on how to get referrals. Watch the video.
10. Networking
I intentionally made this number ten for a reason. Too many people believe that all they have to do is network and they’ll have all the leads they could possibly want. This is false. Networking is a long-term play network whether going to networking events virtually or in person. They are not instantaneous builders. They’re just not. You may gather lots of names, but you’ve got to nurture. You have to qualify them.
I find that it’s important to allocate a certain amount of time to networking and keeping it a very small amount of time. It is a way to begin to source. The key is to make sure that you’re networking within the circle that you want to do business. Just because it’s a networking event does not mean you should jump on it. Each networking event you decide to attend must be totally relevant.
And you want to participate in the same networking events as your customers. For instance, this is why I like LinkedIn. What groups linked those that you know that you could potentially sell to? What groups do those people belong to? Who could become your customer? See the groups that you want to belong to once you find the network of your current customers.
Like I’ve shared multiple times already, I have tons of videos out there just for you. I want you to watch them and often. Watch one right now! I also have sales content on one of my other books, High-Profit Prospecting, too. I want you to read that one as well as A Mind for Sales. Both will help you – I promise! Now hit subscribe and start watching.
Copyright 2020, 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.
