Proactive Prospecting to Increase Your Sales Potential
Ever notice how difficult it is to start a project? Then once you start it, it easily becomes a creature of habit. Take for example an exercise program. We keep putting it off but once we start, we ask ourselves, “why didn’t do this earlier?” We seem to have the same mindset with proactive prospecting. We continue to find excuses not to prospect even though we know how productive and the positive results that will come from it. So why is it that we will make every excuse in the world not to do it?
Make an appointment with yourself for one hour each day to prospect using your sphere of influence. Prospecting, like anything else, requires discipline. (Seems like prospecting can always be put off until a later day when the circumstances will be better.) Make an appointment with yourself each day to prospect.
Have a specific message. Everyone needs to hear the latest news of markets conditions in your area. It’s likely that they have some misinformation and you can become the expert to help them get a more accurate picture.
Accurately define your target market before you begin. Determine how many calls you will make in that hour or two. Some sale people will call until they get an appointment or make the sale. Or you could decide to make 20 calls in that allotted time. Whatever you feel comfortable with and reasonable within the time allocated.
I would highly suggest having a database of at least one month’s supply of names. The time allocated for prospecting should not be wasted looking up names or deciding at that moment who you are going to talk to next. Be prepared and watch how much more productive you will become.
Remember you have set aside some time for prospecting. Work in an area without interruption. Don’t answer calls or schedule meetings during this time. As you start going through your calls, you will find each call will become easier and easier. Before you know it, you will feel like a pro. You will learn as you go and practice makes perfection.
Experience and surveys have shown that the best times to contact customers is 8 AM to 9 AM, between Noon and 1 PM and 5 PM to 6:30 PM. If you are missing a customer between certain hours, then it’s best to make note of that and call them at a different time. Chances are if you continue to call at the same time and the customer is not available, they will continue to be unavailable during that time block.
Don’t stop. Persistence is one of the key virtues in selling success. Most sales/valuable contacts are made after the fifth call, and most sales people quit after the first.
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