Things to remember about prospecting
Sales prospecting is important for any business.
You don't need to dread the rejection you may have experienced during sales prospecting..
Remember the following points:
1. Prospecting and sales aren't the same thing.
Many small business owners and sales reps are mistaken in this assumption. Prospecting and sales are separate jobs. They are related but not the same.
Prospecting is just determining who is really interested, and discarding the ones that really aren't. Once you have found out which ones are really interested, you can start selling. The ones that are actually interested are 'qualified' leads.
2. Always use a script.
By documenting your approach to each contact in a consistent way, you can try out different points of interest or benefits. Over time, you determine which ones seem to consistently work. Once this is documented, any sales rep could follow it. Of course he/she should personalize their presentation of it, so it doesn't sound 'canned'.
3. Success in sales prospecting is not just a game of numbers
The old view of prospecting for leads said you needed a large number of cold leads. The quality of leads you find is more important than numbers. You must find potential customers who have some reason to buy a product like yours, and the means to do it.
4. Not that much time is needed to prospect
Prospecting takes only a few minutes to discern if the person wants/needs your benefits, and could afford them. If people are definitely not motivated to buy, politely wrap up the conversation and move to the next lead. Just focus on the interested leads, which are in effect 'gold'.
5. You don't need to close a deal by having an appointment with the prospect
Many sales people act as though the appointment is the sale. Its easier for the prospect to agree to a meeting than to just say no. So that's what they do. Many, even the majority of appointments don't show.
It's better to send some more information if they are interested. This may change them from a 'warm' prospect to a 'hot' one.
And it saves a lot of time getting ready for appointments that may not show up.
Summary. If sales prospecting is done correctly it can have a large impact on your revenue. You don't have to be bulletproof or extremely bold to do sales. Just rethink the way you do sales prospecting, and challenge some of the old ideas about it.
One tool which helps to find phone numbers and addresses for prospects on the web is Net Prospector Professional. You can try it for free at our Downloads center.
