Saturday, January 21, 2006
Back To Basics - Prospecting 101
One the keys to growing your sales is generating new business. You can penetrate existing accounts, you can regain lost accounts or you get new accounts, all ways in generating more sales dollars. Let's get back to basics and look at prospecting for new accounts.
Every time I hear the word "prospecting," I think of one of these crotchety old miners knee high in some icy mountain stream panning for hours in search of a few tiny flakes of pay dirt. In defining prospecting it is to search for or explore (a region) for mineral deposits or oil. Looking for gold! Here is one sure-fire method that will help you garner more new business and make more money.
When you have targeted and qualified your prospect, you now need to start planning and develop a strategy to get this business. Layout a plan that shows 13 sales calls. Why? Most sales people quit after 3 calls and on average it takes 8-10 calls to get the first order. List it by week number and date the call. For every sales call that you are planning to make, list a specific plan of attack. Also allow for notes on the results and the follow up needed on each of these calls.
This program can be a self-starter style by the sales rep themselves, developed by sales management or worked on as a team. I like the team aspect of it as there is ownership taken by the sales rep and support from sales management. What's the old saying - "two heads are better than one". The key to the success of any prospecting program is to follow it every week. If you miss a week, it's like starting over. You want to look at the successes within the prospects as well as any objections that occur. Continue to develop your strategies based on your results and you will find that this 13 sales call process will get you more new business than ever before.
Every time I hear the word "prospecting," I think of one of these crotchety old miners knee high in some icy mountain stream panning for hours in search of a few tiny flakes of pay dirt. In defining prospecting it is to search for or explore (a region) for mineral deposits or oil. Looking for gold! Here is one sure-fire method that will help you garner more new business and make more money.
When you have targeted and qualified your prospect, you now need to start planning and develop a strategy to get this business. Layout a plan that shows 13 sales calls. Why? Most sales people quit after 3 calls and on average it takes 8-10 calls to get the first order. List it by week number and date the call. For every sales call that you are planning to make, list a specific plan of attack. Also allow for notes on the results and the follow up needed on each of these calls.
This program can be a self-starter style by the sales rep themselves, developed by sales management or worked on as a team. I like the team aspect of it as there is ownership taken by the sales rep and support from sales management. What's the old saying - "two heads are better than one". The key to the success of any prospecting program is to follow it every week. If you miss a week, it's like starting over. You want to look at the successes within the prospects as well as any objections that occur. Continue to develop your strategies based on your results and you will find that this 13 sales call process will get you more new business than ever before.
