Sales and Marketing in Tough times!

“Fish where the fish are.” - so follow the money even when looking for a loan.

For most of us in the sales and marketing side, prospecting is the most challenging activity we do. 

We hate the thought of picking up the phone to make a living. No matter what product or service we sell, success in sales is built through effective planning and prospecting.

Here are five ideas that will help:

1. Establish a routine. You must schedule time for prospecting every day at preferably the same time. Do not allow anything to interfere with your prospecting time. The salesperson who has a set daily routine of making prospecting calls at a specific time and adheres to this schedule without distraction has a massive advantage over others

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2. When is the best time to prospect? The best time to make prospecting calls is when you have the most energy. I always prospect early in the morning because that’s when I have the most energy. It also gets me off to a winning start, which sets up my day for success.

3. It gets easier after the first call. The first call is always the most difficult. Getting yourself to make the first call of the day is normally the biggest hurdle. After you make the first call, you realize it was not as difficult as you had imagined. Prospecting is fun after a few positive calls. You will often find receptive people on the other end of the line who are open  to your call. Just do it, break through the barrier, your confidence will soar when you realise that prospecting is the trigger to all successful selling.

4. Set prospecting goals. Set a specific goal of what you want to happen on each call. Know what you want that prospect to do. It is difficult to achieve prospecting success without clearly defined objectives.

5. Prospecting is a numbers game. I guarantee you that the more prospecting you do, the more deals you will secure. Prospecting allows you to plan your income and results. If you track your prospecting efforts, you will find that you have clear ratios in your sales efforts. Once you know how many prospecting calls you need to make in order to get a client presentation and therefore a closing opportunity, then you have a good measure of how to achieve any sales target.  

Prospecting is truly the starting point of success in any sales profession. I teach a simple sales model – the more you effectively prospect, the more presentation opportunities you will get, and therefore the more sales you will close.