The ultimate guide to successful prospecting in marketing and sales.
The most successful sales professionals tend to work long and hard.
A significant chunk of those hours typically get dedicated to networking, prospecting, phone calls, emails, hosting guests, visiting people, and developing raving fans who champion their cause. Ever wonder how to increase sales?
No matter how busy you may be, you need to get out of the office and show up at networking events. We need to reach out and engage the world around us. As a rule of thumb, you need to have meaningful encounters with people in your network every day—including weekends.
I admit that’s a demanding standard.
The good news is that these encounters don’t necessarily have to be at formal functions held informal venues. Your sphere of interest is ubiquitous. Strike up conversations with people around you. Reach out to people and get to know those who might refer a desirable prospect to you someday.
The majority of prestigious, big-time clients in the typical industry can only be reached through relationships. They do not commonly walk into your office, asking to be your customer. They are not amenable to cold calls, and they won’t respond to your direct mail piece no matter how pretty it is. You have to go out and meet them face-to-face in the places where they live, work and play.
“Big elephant” clients know they are essential, and they expect to be wined and dined. They are big deals and hope to get treated like a big deal. That requires sales professionals to go out into the world and actively communicate. Getting access to the highly desirable clients requires you to be among your sphere of interest regularly.
Get out there and meet everyone you can. Ask questions. Be like a detective turning over every stone, looking for any shred of evidence that can help you make the sale. Great salespersons are seemingly “everywhere.” They live their lives so actively that other people feel as if they see them everywhere.
If someone ever says to you, “I see you everywhere,” you know you’re doing something right.
Relax. When you hear an objection or are gearing up to the close, keep everything in perspective. Remember to focus on what the prospect values, be your authentic self, and plunge forward.