Sales & Sales Management Newsletter
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Selling Tip: Five Life Changing Rules of Prospecting

Situation: Billy Bob was lamenting the lack of new opportunities filling his pipeline. He shared his thoughts with Mary Sue his sales leader. Billy Bob said, “I just wish more people would listen and talk to me.” “I know they would buy our service if they would just listen”.

Problem: Information is doubling every 18 months. Your customers and future clients are overwhelmed with too much information. Several reports indicated each of us is exposed to more than 1000 messages each day. Add to that the “digital deluge”, complexity of the technological revolution and speed of business today.  It becomes amazingly clear why today’s business person’s preferred tool for survival is to filter out much of what they hear and see. It has gotten so bad for business people they can not even un hook during vacation time. In addition few sales people truly “actively listen” enough to consider the buyers timing and or their reasons for pulling the trigger. The focus is usually on the company’s or sales person’s reasons and timing as opposed to the future customer’s. Buyers know that and avoid calls with knee jerk reactions.

Prescription:  Life changing by definition means, any new rule that will make you think or act in a different way. Mary Sue suggested that Billy Bob hold himself “accountable” to implementing these Five Life Changing Rules of Prospecting.:

1. Learn how to eliminate “prospecting procrastination.” You accomplish this by blocking back time during your monthly planning session. Decide the number of hours a month you want to prospect. Then schedule out both the start time and end time on to your thirty day, month at a glance calendar for each prospecting session. At the end of the month, calculate how well you did at meeting your time commitments, what went well, what needs to improve. If you are not within 95% of your prospecting time target; consider evaluating your integrity to self and your unconditional commitment to your dream.

2. Build your “Law of Attraction” muscle. People today call this “The Secret”. Napoleon Hill wrote about this concept years ago in his book “Think and Grow Rich.” Use all three of your bonding and rapport Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) skill sets; Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic to write out a specific VKA description of how you will prospect and what you intend to attract when prospecting. The key is not to allow any negative thoughts to interfere with your target. And what ever you do, don’t think this is magic. You still must lay out the detailed prospecting/action plan. Next link your specific prospecting plan directly to a daily tracking mechanism to make this a reality. The Gulas Group recommends Sales Track.

3. Do not confuse activity with accomplishment. You cannot achieve effective and focused outreaches with a fire, aim, ready mindset. Learn how and why you must build a perfect prospect profile. Then customize your micro presentation (elevator speech) for the perfect prospect profile, the industry, the role and the market you are approaching.
Design, test, experiment and refine three to five specific compelling reasons that will get you invited into a meaningful conversation about business drivers. The business drivers you must be invited in to discuss must center around these three general categories; improving revenues, decreasing costs and resource allocation.

4. Become the best chart person in your company. Like those highly paid Doctors a sales person earns their money by building a complete and thorough chart of what happened each time you enter into a conversation. Master your workload and organization skills. Learn how to build a 20-20 memory for instant recall of information (Working Smart with Outlook will help). Implement a no excuses (ask us about the book “Question Behind the Question”) follow up and call back process using every one of your essential workload management skill sets like delegation, collaboration, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly planning. Learn how and why you must control the clutter both physical and mental.

5. Master the “Crucial Element for Success” called Bravery. Bravery is the individual’s willingness to do that which is uncomfortable. Bravery is composed of five sales competencies and 43 behaviors. Make a list today of those behaviors under Bravery that you have not mastered. Then begin to build an action plan with your sales leader to master these behaviors systematically over time as you are executing your other life changing prospecting rules.

Bonus rule number six, register, then take the OMG Group’s on line assessment From the Gulas Group and determine if you have mastered a Hunter, Qualifier, Closer mindset. Do what ever it takes to master these skill sets, eliminate any hidden sales weakness so you can execute the DNA Solution Selling process.

In this 15 chapter internet interactive IModule, you'll be taken through a very detailed approach to prospect more successfully. Included in this IModule are tips on cold calling, how to create a more impressive 20 second commercial (micro presentation) and steps on how to make a Cold Calling Journal, which will help you develop a much more successful prospecting process.