Prospecting is one of the biggest challenges most salespeople face but is absolutely critical to a salesperson’s success. It’s vitally important that you have a broad and well-balanced approach to prospecting! If you rely on only one method, you are not going to achieve the success you would like to achieve and you could burn yourself out on that method as well.
To maintain a continuous full funnel of qualified prospects, you should employ several different prospecting methods to maintain a high level of success. You’ll end up with one or two favorites but you don’t want to neglect the others. #1: Letter Campaign with Follow-up Phone Calls for Set Appointments. Strategically written letters paired with phone calls are effective tools to set up a face-to-face appointment with a prospect. After verifying the contact information of the prospect you want to target, write a brief letter being empathetic to the struggles they face, i.e. time management, budgeting, etc, and how you specialize in solving that problem. Remember that these letters are just an appointment setting tool. You don’t want to go into detail about what your company. You just want to schedule a face-to-face interview! Most importantly, include a specific time you will call them to set up a time to bring by a copy of a white paper, article, book, or other engage tool that maybe of value to them. The letters should not be on letterhead, signed only with your name, and in hand-addressed envelopes to further increase the odds of being read by the prospect. Follow-up with a phone call at the time you promised. Most will probably not be sitting by the phone waiting for you but some maybe expecting your call at that specific time! Either way, since you have an assumptive phone appointment you are able to say, “He/she should be expecting my call.” Once again, keep in mind the telephone is to be used for setting appointments only. If you find yourself explaining your products and services over the phone, you are selling over the phone and not using the telephone properly. Stop yourself and set the appointment! (“Ooops! I’m selling over the phone again. Let me start over here.” ‘Mr. Smith, what I’d really like to do is bring you the complimentary copy of the white paper we discussed and briefly introduce myself to you. I can answer any questions you may have at that time. Would Monday or Tuesday work better for you?’) Keep the letters and the phone calls short and sweet! These letters take planning and coordinating but you should be sending out 10-30 of these each week to make sure you have enough prospects to call for appointment setting. One of the biggest challenges of telephone calling is catching the people you sent the letters to! Persistence is required and you need to try different times of the day to call to have a better chance of succeeding. Do not give up calling! However, you must walk the fine line of persistence and annoyance. More than twice a day, especially if you’re going through a receptionist, is defined as annoying. #2: Networking Some of the best business is referral business! A warm call is so much more enjoyable than a cold call. To be able to say, “Randy suggested I give you a call” is much easier than walking through a door cold. Having the contact person’s name and phone number is extremely helpful as well. * Join a leads group- there are many out there, you just have to do some research to find them. * Join your local chamber of commerce and go to their monthly networking events! You’ll be surprised at the number of people you can meet and the things you can pick up about what’s going on in your community. * Join a Toast Masters group and sharpen your story telling and speaking skills while networking at the same time. * Call some of the top companies in your area and ask the sales manager, or the sales secretary, the name of the top reps in their company. Call them and volunteer to buy their lunch to begin a relationship. Give them a lead or two and they’ll eventually reciprocate down the road. The main thing is you will have planted a seed toward growing a great relationship and added another source of referrals! # 3: Mining the Customer Base It is easier to keep business than to get new business. If you have been assigned a certain number of customers in the database to call on, take advantage of that and go visit them on-site. Even if they have no further need for your product, they may know someone who does and they may be willing to write a nice referral letter for you. The key here is to find out who your raving fan customers are and visit those first. If you are not assigned a certain number of existing customers, ask your manager for the names of five of your most satisfied customers and go visit them just to say hello. The same thing applies here, they may be willing to give you some referrals or write a nice reference letter (or sign the one you volunteer to write based on what they’ve just told you). These are typically very easy appointments to set. “Hello, Mrs. Smith, my name is Jennifer with Competitivedge and the reason for my call is that I am a new account executive for Competitivedge Systems. I’m just trying to get out and meet a few of our current customers to broaden my knowledge of our products and services. Would Monday or Tuesday be a better day for me to stop by and briefly introduce myself to you? Morning or Afternoon? Etc. If you think it would be beneficial, you could offer a small token of your companies’ appreciation for their business that you would like to bring by to them as well. “… And bring you a small token of our appreciation for your business. Would Monday or Tuesday be a better day for you? #4: Cold Calling >From the smallest leads to possible major accounts, face-to-face cold calling can be of value even if you don’t make the sale on the cold call. Make cold calls in the area you already in for another appointment. Even if all you are able to obtain is a business card and a contact name and phone number for the person you should talk to, then the visit was worthwhile. Valuable information can be gained. Just by walking into the lobby of a potential prospect you can get a feel for the culture of the company. How is the lobby decorated? Is it conservative or modern? Many times major corporations will have mission statements on the wall and sometimes you can even pick up a copy of their annual report from the front desk. You never know what may happen when you walk through that door: their copier may have just broken; they’ve been waiting all day for a service technician to come out and they’re ready to make a change. Or their current Printing Company, Computer Company, Advertising Company or Phone Company just messed up an order and they’re ready to make a change. You usually have time in between appointments, so make use of that time and visit some business in the area! Just driving around, scouting out your territory and writing down the names of businesses you weren’t aware of, or the future home of business coming into the area, is a great lead source for you. Because fifty percent of being a great salesperson is successful prospecting, you must always be on the lookout for potential prospects. Remember…everywhere you go, and every person you meet, is a potential source for a lead! By Marvin Himel
