Prospecting for new business should be easy. With more than 1.25 million Google entries on the subject, there should certainly be more than enough advice available to make anyone selling anything a great success.
If that's true, then why is prospecting the most daunting task every salesperson faces? Why do they fight over leads and plead with their employers to get them more?
Prospecting is incredibly difficult, as every salesperson can attest. "You can't miss if you use our system" prospecting solutions don't work, yet salespeople keep hunting for the "silver bullet."
The prospecting nonsense is endless. Here are a few examples:
o "Prospecting is the easiest path to new sales," says the president of a market research firm, who goes on to suggest these tactics: "Sales reps should focus their efforts," determine "which SIC codes match the distributor's product mix," and "pre-qualify the best prospects." How do you do all that? Easy: Hire the president's company. Then sit back and watch the orders pour in.
o Since prospecting can be so daunting for salespeople, "magic wand" solutions are incredibly appealing. Where human beings fail, software is the answer. One prospect software company claims that their product "delivers an on-demand sales prospecting and lead generation service for sales and marketing professionals looking to quickly identify prospects and gain access to buyers."
o Prospecting programs can help new insurance agents learn how to develop new customers and use their time more efficiently. Programs can be used to teach agents how to find prospects, how to make contacts, and how to close a sale. "Agents who use the programs for several years and develop some experience can improve their closing rate by 300 percent," claims one author, the group manager for a software company. With so much going for them, why do so few agents make it in insurance? There's one answer: Most have trouble with prospecting.
o A sales-training professional points out the importance of prospecting and indicates that "appointment scheduling, database management, territory management, and prospect rating" are the keys to prospecting success.
o Another consultant makes prospecting easy: He makes an appointment with himself. He takes as many calls as possible, makes the calls brief, is prepared with a list of names before he starts, works without interruption, considers prospecting during off-peak hours, varies his phone times, and is organized. Every salesperson wants more sales, and there's no absence of advice on how to prospect. Then why do only about 18 percent of agents meet their goals if it's so easy? Is the problem obstinate salespeople or ineffective sales management? The answer is neither.
The truth is that what passes for prospecting is nothing more than dialing for dollars. No matter what else they may recommend, the consultants' advice for success focuses on the telephone. In other words, make enough calls and you'll get lucky. But getting on the phone isn't prospecting. Dialing for dollars has about the same chance as winning the lottery or getting lucky in Las Vegas.
There are several basic principles that apply to successful prospecting. If you prospect the right way, you get the desired results. Here are five prospecting principles:
1. Prospecting today is not a quick fix for making the next sale. Ignoring or attempting to circumvent this first principle leads to failure. It's essential to understand that the buyer is in charge of the sale, not the salesperson. The harder the salesperson pushes for the sale, the more the buyer pushes back. In this process, even quality prospects run for cover.
2. Prospects will not tolerate being told; they want to learn. Finally, companies have figured out that one of the primary objectives of marketing is to drive prospects to their Web sites. Prospects look for venues where they can be informed. The corollary is equally pertinent: If your Web site is all about your company, prospects will ignore it.
3. Focus on finding the right prospects. Simply put, prospects must come before prospecting. It seems so obvious, but most salespeople spend their time chasing would-be prospects that don't know them and have no interest in what they're selling. The key is spending time determining exactly who fits the profile of what you want to sell and then building your prospect database.
4. Create ways for prospects to approach you. Reaching out to prospects is only half the prospecting task. New York-based License Monitor, a technology company, had spent a couple of years attempting to penetrate the property and casualty agents in New York state. In the end, the success was extremely limited.
Then, its marketing counsel suggested a different approach, starting with identifying a group of "most likely" agents. An ongoing direct mail campaign was initiated, along with a special Web site for insurance agents and an ad campaign in two insurance publications. Each direct mail package included a fax-back form, offering a series of response options.
It worked. Each response was treated as a lead, followed up with care. True prospects are those who respond to your invitation. The recipients also have the option of visiting the special Web site or calling an 800 number.
5. Cultivate continuously. The major weakness in most all prospecting is the ill-conceived belief that prospecting is an event rather than a process. Make a call, and if there's a negative response, cross the name off the list.
Even though this is how most salespeople behave, they are the first to let it be known that in sales it's the relationship that counts. The purpose of continuous cultivation is to build that relationship, something that salespeople have difficulty doing when they're faced with being blocked from direct contact.
Objectives are reached by having a plan, working it, making revisions, and staying on it. A plan is not an impulsive quick fix. That includes prospecting.
John Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. He can be contacted at 617-328-0069 orj_graham@grahamcomm.com. For more information, visit www.grahamcomm.com.
