Welcome to another Sales Insight blog post, where today we will be looking at the essential steps to prospecting.
Don’t skimp on your prospecting
My first piece of advice is simply, do it. And do it regularly.
In my experience, many sales people will actively find anything else to do rather than prospect. Of course, a lack of prospecting rarely hurts you in the short term but it will definitely hurt your sales in the medium to long term as your sales pipeline dries up. You need to make it a systematic part of your sales process.
Mix up your prospecting channels for maximum effect
Next, you need to ensure you are using a good mix of prospecting channels. Make sure you’re networking regularly, using social media, following up on leads, and don’t be afraid to pick up the phone or email the prospect directly.
The prospecting channel that surprisingly gets overlooked is asking friends, colleagues and customers for referrals. This is a potential goldmine of new prospects.
Find the approach that works for your business
Build a prospecting approach that works. Long gone are the days of successful cold calling; sales people don’t want to make these calls and prospects don’t want to receive them.
To stand out from the crowd, you need to engage your prospects with insightful, interesting content that speaks to them about the challenges they face.
To do this effectively, you have to do a little research, find some insights about the business function or the individual you’re prospecting and contact them with a personalised message. The key here is not to jump straight to a sales pitch.
Know when to move on
And finally, be persistent and patient but don’t be a pain. No one likes a stalker. If you’re getting no interest after three contact attempts, move on and find some new prospects.
Don’t forget, if you would like any information on this or any other area of sales, please contact me on steve@salestrong.co.uk.
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