“Ninety-nine percent of sales slumps can be linked directly to a failure to prospect” – Jeb Blount, Fanatical Prospecting.
Your Pipeline is Your Lifeline
Whether you’re a sole trader, small business owner or the MD of a FTSE 100 business, you know that sales are your lifeline. From my own experience, developing a business is a task like no other. You cannot stop trying to generate leads, and you need your people always to be working towards that goal. That is why you should never stop prospecting.
Think about your pipeline – the flow of business into yours. How long could your business stay afloat if the pipeline dried up? A week? A month? Six months? Whatever the answer is, it will probably scare you. Maintaining the flow is not only critical to success, but it’s also key to survival. Of course, when you are busy, it seems like there is too much else to do. I, for example, need to design several programmes per month, meet with clients, spend hours on the phone, chase invoices, and all sorts of everyday tasks – but I put my business development first.
Good vs Great
Good salespeople are the ones that you expect to close most of their sales given the opportunity. Great salespeople are the ones that make those opportunities. Much like I’ve discussed regarding Personal Branding, you cannot wait for opportunities to find you. Instead, you must seek them out. You cannot sell to people who are not engaging with you.
How many times have you found yourself needing something and not being able to get it? It is an uncomfortable, anxiety-inducing feeling, and it is worse when it’s business. If you need to make that sale, then you can almost be sure it will fall through. Sometimes we get lucky, but often it seems that the world conspires against us.
Prospecting is a challenge, and you need to build a ‘Growth’ Mindset‘. You cannot always clinch that sale – perseverance is key. It is often said that we make our own luck, and that’s true for prospecting. The more you prospect, the more leads you will generate. Creating more leads results in closing more sales. With more business flowing in, the sense of need reduces. When you have freed yourself from need, you can build confidence, and confident people are even more consistent sellers.
Adopt the Right Mindset
Therefore, the key to prospecting is to be tenacious. Keep hunting for those opportunities. Take an active interest in developing your business. Devise a strategy for maintaining contact with potential leads, set aside some time for writing emails, making phone calls and always keep track of how well you are performing. If you know the average sales closed from each call you make, you can quickly work out how many calls you must make to sustain your pipeline.
When prospecting, be positive and optimistic, even when you are having a bad run. People buy people first. You are much less likely to close a deal if you sound like you are having a bad day. You should always work on projecting confidence and knowledge. If you are calling, read through your pitch several times until you can speak the whole thing without stuttering, erring or sounding like you’re reading a script! You may also find it helpful to try Peak Performance Visualisation.
Make Those Calls
When you’re in the right frame of mind, then make those calls, send those emails and pay attention to what people are saying to you. Learn what works and what doesn’t and adjust your pitch accordingly. Treat every response as feedback on your pitch, that way you can always be developing your talent for prospecting. Be mindful of what people say and never be afraid to leave the script if you feel that you are building a rapport.
Above all, keep focused. Try and think of yourself not as a salesperson, or a business leader, but as the Managing Director of yourself. Feel that you are accountable for your failures and responsible for your success. Make yourself answerable to yourself above everybody else, and know that you and you alone hold the power to prospect and sell.
