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This is the element that truly separates the producers from the non-producers in sales. It is the engine that drives the train of sales. During this time of more work and discipline, if you work to improve your prospecting skills your business will be more successful than ever. Confucius said, "The gem cannot be polished without friction, or man without trial". This new challenging market will prepare you to achieve a greater victory. Here are a series of concepts and skills to master in prospecting. Don't
let your feelings dictate your results. I hear continually from Agents that they
didn't prospect today because they didn't feel like it.
Since when has doing what has to be done daily have anything to do with
whether or not you feel like it? When
was the last time you really felt like changing your child's dirty diaper?
Where you got up and said, "Oh boy! I get to change junior's diaper
ten times today, I really feel like doing it today!"?
The winner in the sales game does not to allow the feeling of not wanting
prospect to dictate her success. The
loser in sales lets the reasons why they don't feel like prospecting take over.
It's easy to find the reasons not to prospect.
The champion performer finds the one reason to prospect.
The champion then acts on that one reason instead of the millions of
other reasons not to prospect. There
will always be distractions it's your choice to be distracted or to be
disciplined. In the end daily prospecting is an act of
will, not an act of feelings. I am not saying that prospecting daily will be
easy, because it won't be. It will
be difficult, but it will be worth it. When
the "difficult" part of prospecting is coming true, always remember
the "worth it" part will come true as well.
Successful people persevere, struggle and work to master the fundamentals
to reach the pinnacle of peak performance.
Prospecting is one of those fundamentals that needs to be mastered. Double
your prospecting time...now! You will need to make more contacts to
generate a similar number of leads, compared to an expanding marketplace.
You will have to search more for quality leads.
In the past, it might take 15 contacts to generate a good quality lead. In a tough market, it might take as many as 40 contacts to
get one good, quality lead. In a
tough market, to get one quality lead you have to increase the time invested in
prospecting. My
six step process to increase and intensify your prospecting:
The most
successful salespeople prospect at the same time daily from the same place. They don't work their prospecting around their day.
They work their day around their prospecting.
Start everyday fresh with a specific goal
for the number of contacts, leads and appointments.
You must start everyday at zero. We
have all had days where the results were not what we had hoped.
Stay tuned into and focused on what needs to happen today.
Your mind and other people will create more
disruptions and distractions than you can imagine.
We often will even look for them or hope that they appear.
I call that participating in creative avoidance.
The reality is, you must fight off any distraction or disruption that may
cause you to stop prospecting, with passion, discipline and commitment.
The most successful people develop the skill
of focus. The ability to focus and
be in the moment, to be able to do the exact thing that needs to be done at the
appropriate time. One technique to
help you focus is to practice your scripts and dialogues for ten minutes before
you make the first call. The
practice session will put you in the focused mindset you need to make those
calls.
I suggest that Agents should prospect in the
morning when they first get in the office, that way their day has not gotten
away from them yet. Plan the process of success.
Plan to prospect early. Plan
to acquire and achieve success. Then
follow your plan.
The biggest commitment you have is to
yourself. If you say you are going
to do something, do it. If you commit to prospect a certain number of contacts or for
a certain amount of time, then do it! Finish
what you start every time. You have
to run the whole race all the way to the finish line.
No one remembers who was ahead at 90 meters in the 100-meter dash at the
Olympic Games, unless that person won the last 10 meters.
Don't pull up short of the finish line.
Be faithful to yourself and finish what you start. Be
Organized. Your ability to have an organized
prospecting process is essential. If
you lose or misplace lists, leads and opportunities, this lack of organization
can be devastating when you are in tough times and tough marketplaces.
Create a system that you use to track and collect your leads and
contacts. Even successful Agents
lose as many opportunities as they convert because of a lack of organizational
skills. Don't neglect your past clients and sphere
as opportunities for future business and referrals. You
will not be able to live solely on referrals in a tough marketplace. Your best
referral sources will not produce as much as they did in a great market.
You will not have as many referrals because your sphere of past clients
and raving fans will not be looking as hard for you because of the market.
You will have to go deeper and wider on your referral sources.
You will have to make up the loss by talking with more people because
those giving referrals are giving fewer referrals. If your whole business relies
on referrals you could be in trouble in a tough marketplace.
I would suggest pursuing at least one other revenue stream to make up for
the loss in revenue. Do your homework...know the market. Prospecting when you have knowledge about your market will cause the conversion to be better. The people you prospect will have more questions that are market sensitive. You will have to be able to answer them with power. You need to know what exactly is happening in your market in all the price ranges. Knowledge is the true power in a tough marketplace. We have to maximize our opportunities. Utilize an efficient process, but personalize everything. We need to maximize our impact to secure
opportunities. The output cannot be so impersonal and shotgun that is doesn't
connect with anyone. You will need
to personalize all correspondence to insure it gets read.
Your prospects are investing more activity in their business as well to
stay at previous levels or to increase their business.
They will have less time for "junk" correspondence. You have to build the bridge of personal connection in your
e-mails, cards, letters and notes. Evaluate your efficiency and effectiveness
in all processes. We can ill afford
inefficient systems to create the activity necessary for growth in this tougher
marketplace. I caution you, that the real goal is effectiveness not
efficiency. Let me describe the difference. Efficiency
is doing the activities right, doing the activities quickly and expediently to
completion. Effectiveness is
doing the right things at the right time.
If you are doing the activities quickly and well, but they are not the
right activities, you will not achieve the desired results. Do the right things at the right time! You must ask key questions of yourself and of your prospects. In tough times and in tough marketplaces salespeople must get out of the answers and into the questions. There are more questions to be asked than ever before. Some questions for you are:
In the end, the most productive statement a salesperson will make always ends with a question mark? How well do you ask questions of your prospects or clients? Do you ask what you need to ask, when you need to ask it? Are you both effective and efficient in this process? Use prospecting time as a time management tool. Save time by only working with people who are qualified to give you a "yes" and want what you are selling. Treat prospecting with respect. It is the lifeblood of your sales career.
Do the prospecting in the proper order to
receive maximum gain. As an
example, you will see better return from calling past clients than cold calling. The proper order is:
Make sure you are connecting with your past clients and sphere first. We have to spend the majority of our time either looking for qualified prospects or meeting with qualified prospects.
You have to have enough leads to be
successful. You will need more than
you have had before to get the same results.
Your success depends on having enough good sales leads.
You need both quantity and quality.
The key to quality and quantity is
consistency. The real key to growth
is consistency, the skill and ability to do it everyday.
If you are consistent, you will avoid the roller coaster ride of income
that most Agents spend their whole life on. Your return will be better and easier to attain with
consistent effort. You will also be able to establish momentum and keep it.
Establishing and keeping momentum on your side will transform your
business to the next level. I would
never bet against someone who has "big mo". Start
doing it now! Prospecting is the single fastest, most
financially efficient way to explode your income right now. Your sales will increase right away if you prospect
consistently, with purpose, in the order of effectiveness and if you do it now! January 2002 Issue |
