Keys to Effective Business Prospecting

“Never mistake activity for achievement” - John Wooden, Legendary UCLA Basketball Coach

Prospecting is separate from sales. Prospecting is discarding all the unqualified leads and retaining the qualified leads that are likely to buy your product now or in the future. Selling begins after this process is complete.

Prospecting takes time. Commit to prospecting two to eight hours every week, depending on your pipeline. Lock in that time in advance and build the rest of your schedule around those regular sessions. Work smarter, not harder - focus only on qualified leads and your sales should follow.

Lead Generation:

1. First, ask every existing satisfied client or customer for ideas on where you might find new business opportunities. Satisfied customers will often give you recommendations, leads and introductions if you ask for them.

2. Develop a pool of partners who share common prospects with you, but perform different or complementary services. Cultivate those relationships to stay “top of mind” and gain the most from your partnership.

3. Obtain a list of participants from key industry seminars, symposiums, and conferences. These participants may either be good prospects for you or they may become potential partners.

Other lead sources can include: webinars, seminars, third party reports, conferences, and podcasts. Use these tools to offer industry updates in which you can work synergistically with your partners. That way you share the cost and get access to their clients and prospects. You can also buy lists from many industry sources. They are usually harder to qualify, but you may be able to get a bigger pool of prospects.

Qualifying Criteria

Key criteria in qualifying your leads are: identification of decision makers, current supplier situation, their financial situation, decision timeframe, and price issues. Research every company and key executive on your target list.

Even if they’re not yet ready to buy, cultivate all long-term qualified leads. When they're ready, they will remember that you stayed in contact and offered good solutions to their needs. You will have already gained credibility. This persistence pays off when they are ready to commit to and buy your product.

Follow Up Activities:

1. Send out key information that provides value to the prospect and demonstrates your expertise in the marketplace. Provide white papers, case studies, research reports, press releases, or invitations to trade shows. Follow up with a phone call or email to make sure they received it, and schedule a time to discuss the material.

2. Have your follow-up materials at hand and make sure you record next steps into your calendar, CRM software or contact manager.

3. Your messages and talking points should include value statements that will provoke interest or action at each level of contact you have with an organization. Be familiar with your script it so it does not sound as though you are reading it. Have responses to all the common objections posed by your potential customers. Turn them into benefits wherever possible. Take notes and record key points, so during the next call, you can recite what they said last time and show you were listening.

Work with a coach to help you plan, prepare, network and hone your skills in the area of prospecting that lead to new opportunities.

Talking the Talk Part I - Getting the Appointment

"You miss 100% of the shots you never take." - Wayne Gretzky, Hall of Fame Hockey Player

We’ve written quite a bit on this blog about how to sell. At Possibilities Unlimited, we train people how to identify prospects, do research and get up to speed on social networking. We work with people to manage their time and schedule sales calls into their calendars. We do everything we possibly can to prepare people to sell.

What’s next? You still have to pick up that phone, or knock on that door, and talk to your prospect. You have to know what to say in order to get an appointment, make your presentation and close the sale. You can do all the preparation in the world, but if you don’t pick up the phone, you will not sell anything.

The first phone call is usually to introduce yourself and set another time to talk when you can present your product. We often call this the pre-approach, or the warm call. You want to create enough interest so that the prospect is willing to make time for you later. Typically they are not expecting your first call, so you want to be considerate of their time.

I think it’s good for the first few calls to have a script handy to support you in case you freeze up. You never want to read directly from the script, but have it there in case you need help. Practice with a colleague a few times before you pick up the phone. It’s very helpful to hear your own voice saying the words, so that you feel comfortable talking the talk. Actors have to rehearse before they go on stage. You should rehearse too. It takes a lot of the anxiety out of the situation.

Here are some suggestions for what to say when you want to set up an appointment with a prospect:

1. State clearly your identity. “My name is Lee Ann Farmer, and I work for Possibilities Unlimited.” Be sure to use your first and last name. People know a lot of Joe’s, Laurie’s and even Lee Ann’s.

2. State what you have in common – have you met before? Did someone refer you? Do you belong to the same professional association? Do your kids go to the same school? “Ralph White knows you from the local chamber of commerce. He asked me to give you a call.”

3. State what you have to offer. “Our company works with businesses like yours to create results in sales.”

4. Ask for the conversation. “I’d like to set up a time to talk about how your sales department is doing, and discuss how we’ve been able to increase sales at other companies like yours.”

Once you’ve got a few of these calls under your belt, you’ll become more and more relaxed and confident about selling. I always try to make every call personal, but not take it personally. Do your research, be friendly and engaging, but move on if the prospect is a dead end. Use your script, but only as a guideline. Find something unique to say to each prospect, and just keep going. Before you know it, you will have appointments booked weeks in advance, and you’ll be winning the game of sales.

In a future blog, we’ll delve into sample conversations for presenting your product or service.


Are you ready to win?