Prospecting for new clients seldom thrills you if you're like most entrepreneurial salespeople. You want to meet with the customer, discuss the benefits, demonstrate the product, complete the sale, and receive the commission.
In his book, High-Profit Prospecting, Mark Hunter, CSP, tries to persuade salespeople to take a new strategy.
To go to the next stage in the process – and advance that lead to customer status – he believes you need to adopt a fresh mindset toward prospecting and acquire certain strategies, tools, and tactics.
In the next 10 minutes or so, you'll discover the fundamentals of prospecting, which will change the way you think about this crucial part of the selling process. Let's get this party started.
Basic Truths and Myths
There are many misunderstandings regarding prospecting, one of which being that "cold calling" is no longer effective. The following are some of the most popular myths:
- I have no idea who to call, I don't have time, I've never been taught, and I'm just plain terrified.
- 'One and done,' or "spray and pray," as the case may be... I'll receive a certain proportion of answers if I just send out a bunch of emails.
- I'll prospect once I've taken care of my current customers.
- It isn't easy to find time to prospect.
- Prospecting is only possible for "born salespeople."
As you can see, attitude plays a big role in all of the above. According to the author, altering your mindset may make a huge difference in achieving your sales goals.
Not only must you understand that rejection is a part of life, but you must also ask yourself questions like, "Would you purchase from yourself?"
Also, try to think of prospecting as a "privilege" in that you're giving your prospect the same level of exceptional service and products that you've previously offered to your other customers.
Maintain your concentration and motivation, and remember user mistakes, not system errors, cause that failure.
You wouldn't generate huge commissions if prospecting were simple. We must remember that prospects do not desire "average" throughout the prospecting process.
Throughout the process, there are numerous strategic and tactical ideas to bear in mind.
Strategic Issues
- Is my strategy causing the client to have erroneous assumptions about what I offer, forcing me to spend extra time later "reshaping" those expectations?
- Is my prospecting centered on what I have to give rather than learning more about the customer?
- How does the customer see me? And how long does it take for a lead or prospect to develop confidence in me after meeting them?
Tactics
- Where do your leads come from, and what percentage of those do you ultimately close?
- By customer type, list the key reasons each customer tells you why they will not buy from you.
- Break down the time it takes to close a sale from when the lead is first developed by source (referral, networking, cold calling, etc.).
- Is there a time of year when prospects are more inclined to make a decision or avoid making a decision?
- What percentage of your customers are experiencing your product for the first time? How many of those new customers are lost customers to a competitor from the same industry?
"Cold calling" vs. "informed calling."
The majority of salespeople nowadays believe that cold calling is no longer effective.
A far superior method is "Informed Calling," which includes your understanding of the prospect's firm, specific challenges they may be facing, industry developments that your product or service solves, and a genuine desire to solve a prospect's problems.
The procedures and decision-makers are entirely different if what you sell is deemed a normal buy vs. a capital expenditure and large outlay.
A capital cost has several phases, several decision-makers, and the possibility of being included in the annual budget. When dealing with this, understanding how significant expenditures fit into the capital plan will help you.
To compete for prospect attention, make sure you are not duplicating or competing with other events.
Voicemail
Given that you may be dealing with voicemail the majority of the time, it's critical to craft a concise message that explains who you are, how your product or service solves an issue for the prospect, and how they may contact you (by leaving your phone number TWICE at the end of the message).
Above important, your brief message must mention VALUE and include a call to action.
Making an educated call before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m. is another method for contacting decision-makers. Administrators and "gatekeepers" work conventional hours; decision-makers, on the other hand, tend to come in early and remain late.
Consider using an "8 before 8" or "5 after 5" strategy while making prospecting calls. And, with each of these calls, be prepared for the possibility that the prospect will pick up the phone.
So, whether you utilize some of the approaches we've discussed or you employ succinct "scripts," be ready for live interaction.
Your excitement should come across loud and clear on voicemail, and your brevity will be appreciated.
If you can acquire a real email account, your technique should be similar:
- Who you are.
- How your product or service has aided a reference firm or handled a well-known industry issue.
- How you may be reached.
Two short paragraphs that go right to the point. Keep in mind that most prospects will be reading your email on their smartphones these days, so keep it short and sweet.
According to Hunter, emails should be concise, brief, and helpful to the recipient, using terms like strategic, value, profit, trust, leverage, advantage, and competitive in the subject line.
Don't employ "bait and switch" techniques; instead, be straightforward and explicit.
"Will they see it if I send it?" Perhaps. But don't assume that bombarding your prospect with emails is the way to go.
Multiple emails are frequently routed to the spam bin and remain there indefinitely. Consider sending your email after 5:30 p.m. or at 6 a.m. In the middle of a hectic day, high-level contacts may be more likely to open those.
Social Media
In terms of social media, the author poses the following question: "Would you build a house on the property you didn't own?" You wouldn't, of course. Consider it in the context of the social media ecosystem.
As you rush to spend hours upon hours updating and monitoring social networking sites, keep in mind that the site's "rules" may change at any time, impacting the impact of your work.
You should also figure out which social media platforms are best for your message, product, or service.
Facebook may be acceptable for personal, and business use, LinkedIn for exclusive business use, and Twitter may not be the ideal choice because a large volume of short, immediate updates might suffocate you and squander important selling time.
The essential thing to know with these platforms is that your posts may be used against you.
Complaining about a place you're visiting on Facebook may be amusing to your friends back home, but it's not funny to a possible consumer from that city. Prospecting on social media is unavoidable.
Hunter advises you:
- To generate a lead or prospect, speak directly with contacts.
- Prospect with individuals who can put you in touch with the options you're looking for.
- People who inquire about you should respond.
Furthermore, we should never underestimate the power of social media's search engine to find fresh opportunities. Keyword searches of job titles or business names are a high-return activity.
Do not interpret their reaction speed as an indicator of interest or lack of interest, regardless of how you engage. Response times indicate how frequently individuals interact with social media rather than how engaged or indifferent they are.
Connecting with the C-Suite
Prospecting at the C-Suite level necessitates slightly different approaches. For starters, you're more likely to hire a "gatekeeper" or administrator whose job is to screen all incoming calls and contacts and manage the time of the C-level manager.
Your response to the inquiry "Who are you and what are you talking about?" should always be accurate and professional. Include your name and business, as well as a concise value/benefit statement.
Yours is likely to be the most concise response supplied that day, which the administrator will appreciate.
Important: always respect the gatekeeper—they are a person, and you'd be amazed how effortlessly a discussion may go if both parties respect each other.
Accounts receivable or sales
Ask for the accounts receivable or sales department; they may be more ready to provide a direct line or accurate email address than the main operator or gatekeeper.
C-Suite Appointment Setting
Many senior executives and directors would flatly refuse to open any external correspondence that includes an attachment.
The C-Suite has its own set of regulations for making appointments. They are, by definition, occupied. So, requesting "a minute or two" of their time, or, conversely, requesting a one-hour appointment, will not go down well.
If you ask for 15 minutes, it will almost certainly stretch into 30 minutes if you obtain the appointment.
Also, because most C-Level executives are in meetings throughout the day, a call at 58 minutes after the hour or 2 minutes into the following hour may work, as those are typically the only moments between meetings.
Of course, the ideal method to get introduced is through a C-level referral: "At ABC business, we've cut expenditures by 13%, and Joe Smith advised I call you."
Conclusion
In conclusion, it will be worthwhile to put just a few new concepts from this overview of Mark Hunter's thinking on High-Profit Prospecting into practice.
Remember that a shift in your prospecting mindset will pay off handsomely in your sales career. Consider it an honor to inform other consumers about your product's proven benefits. We wish you luck with your prospecting!
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