Most salespeople would rather stand in a cold shower and rip up $100 bills than prospect for clients. Your mantra, almost your plea, is, "More referrals." Yet, from bitter experience, you know that whenever you start a prospecting campaign, your income goes down, not up.
There are two main reasons why producers hate prospecting. First, they may not have landed on a successful technique because sales and prospecting are two different subjects. You have been trying to prospect the same way you sell. Moreover, some sales techniques, when applied to prospecting, not only do not work but also create such misery and stress that countless millions of salespeople have left a potentially lucrative career because they tried to sell their way to prospecting success.
The reverse is actually true -- you have to prospect your way to sales success.
In "Sales Catechism," an apparently secret book quoted by countless generations of sales managers and gurus, you will find this verse:
"Your sale will be made after the prospect has said no ___ times." Various editions of the book differ on how many times you should press on after hearing "No," or worse, "We want to think it over." I have heard you should wait three times, six times, 27 times, or "as many times as the prospect says 'No' plus one."
Let's take a look at a selling scenario to see how this wisdom applies to selling.
To persist or not to persist
You have gone on an appointment to visit Cox and Paige Craven. He is 35; she is 33. They have two children. He makes about $150,000 a year; she is a stay-at-home mom. They need more life insurance. You have just proposed a $1.5 million term policy. The price is right. The company is right. The conversation goes like this:
Paige: I think we want to get one more quote on this. Can you call us back next week?
You: Not a problem. Wednesday OK? (You pack up to leave.)
Not a chance, right? Throughout your entire sales career, you have been taught the virtue of persistence, so there you would never just pack up and leave. Instead, you try to overcome the objection.
Now, let's apply this same virtue of persistence to a prospecting scenario.
You specialize in group health and life. A primary prospecting tool is the cold call, proclaimed by many to be dead, but certainly not in the business-to-business market.
You have just placed a call to Milo Swinburne, owner of the Fireball Oven Company. You get right through to him.
You: Good morning, Mr. Swinburne. My name is Susan Agentman with Reliable Insurance Services ...
Milo: Excuse me, but we wouldn't be interested.
You: I understand you wouldn't be interested. If you had been interested, you would have called me, correct?
Milo: Well, I didn't call you. Look, I'm busy now.
You: No problem. Why don't I drop by? As a matter of fact, if you look out your window, that's me coming around the corner in my motor home. If I stay longer than five minutes, it's because you had some questions, fair enough?
Milo: DO YOU HAVE BRAIN DAMAGE? CAN'T YOU HEAR? I was trying to be polite. I'M NOT INTERESTED!!!!
Click. Dial tone.
"Bummer," Susan thinks. "If I could have just gotten him to say 'No' one more time, I would have gotten the appointment."
That may not be so, however. In fact, when applied to prospecting, persistence can actually drive you out of business.
It is nearly impossible, then, to convert a "We're not interested" to a "Come right over" when dealing with prospects. It can be done, but in the time it takes to do it, you can normally find several people who are interested and qualified right now. Ultimately, it's a question of time.
Rules of prospecting
Prospecting has its own set of rules, including the fact that it takes less than a minute to find out if someone is a prospect, and that when the prospect firmly says, "I'm not interested," you should believe him or her and politely disconnect.
Here's how the conversation between Susan and Milo should have gone:
You: Good morning, Mr. Swinburne. My name is Susan Agentman with Reliable Insurance Services ...
Milo: Excuse me, but we wouldn't be interested.
You: Thank you very much for your time. Have a great day.
Click. Dial tone.
What works in sales, therefore, most assuredly does not work in prospecting.
To hate prospecting less, or to even come to like it, then, throw out the sales catechism when you put on your prospector's garb. One size certainly does not fit all when dealing with clients and prospects -- tailoring your technique will assure the most prospecting success.
Bill Good is author of "Hot Prospects" and chairman of Bill Good Marketing. He can be reached through www.hotprospectsbook.com.
