While previous pages go deep into prospecting or Introduction Calling techniques, this is a simple 1 page summary to help you get going.
1. Know how to get “in the door”
- Research: Use the Prospect’s website to briefly learn about the company, identify key players and get a sense of their Corporate Culture.
- Connection: Having a “bridge” will give you credibility – something you can share together (people, place, events). This is a “bridge” between you and them.
- Contacting: Don’t rely on them to call you back – keep calling, leave 1 message only.
- Qualify: Always quickly assess whether the Prospect is a “fit”. Don’t waste their time or yours!
2. Build Trust and Credibility FIRST!
- The order: Understand them. Sell yourself. Sell your company and then sell your services/products.
- Understand them: Don’t push “you” until you understand them.
- Get personal: Learn one thing personal (e.g. kids, sports, hobbies) and share about you.
- “Little touches”: Initiate lots of little touches overtime via phone, voicemail, mail and email. This will build trust and relationship and keep you top of mind for when their need does come up.
3. ALWAYS have a “next step”
- A shared path: Build expectations with the Prospect right up front
- What’s next: Don’t end a conversation without committed next steps.
- You drive: Avoid waiting for them. Whatever there is to do, you do it.
- Confirm: Use email to recap conversations, meetings just booked, and confirm future meetings.
- Follow through: Complete, on time, every action you commit to.
4.Have a purpose/goal for every step
- Strategy: Know what the desired outcome should be.
- Agenda: Define your agenda at each stage.
- Share it: Get commitment from the Prospect on each step.
- Follow it: Stick to your agenda.
At minimum, make sure they will welcome another call from you. Ask yourself … “When I call back, will they remember me? Will they welcome this call?”
IMPORTANT: “No Thanks” does not mean “disqualified”: An early error is thinking that if they are not interested, they are disqualified. Not so! Assuming they qualify, they may not have a need at that moment OR they will tell you they are not interested or disengage the discussion because they don’t feel comfortable enough yet. Remember, they hardly know you yet.
5. Increase Your Productivity
As you probably know, prospecting “when you have time” does not work for 2 reasons.
- You never really have time because inevitably something else always comes up;
- Success in prospecting comes from generating momentum – which is hard to achieve if you are only doing it “when you have time”.
So, block out time in your schedule to mentally make prospecting a priority.
Then give yourself a target for either how many call attempts or contacts you would like to make. A good call goal is 8-10/hr, while for a contact goal, 1-2/hr is excellent.
To increase the efficiency even further, use your CRM to create a View, or a Look Up to isolate your prospect list. You will save hours of wasted time searching on who to call.