Prospecting stinks. It just does – there is no better way to describe it. Interrupting strangers to ask them to give you their time is brutal, demoralizing, and at times, depressing. However, there are three wonderful benefits that come from prospecting – two you probably know about, and a third that I bet you haven’t considered.
When I ask sales people to name one benefit of prospecting, every one of them tells me that scheduling appointments is the one primary benefit of prospecting. Whether it be 1978 or 2020, that’s the main goal of prospecting. When I push a little deeper, most sales people tell me that discovering intelligence is also a benefit … and they’re correct. Stopping by a facility or calling around to different departments can deliver more accurate information about an account than hours of online research. When I ask for a third benefit, I usually hear an assortment of incorrect answers, or complete silence.
In today’s environment, there is a third, hidden benefit that comes from prospecting. Since it’s virtually impossible to get the right contact on the phone or to agree to see you in the lobby while you’re making a cold call, appointments are usually secured when a prospect calls a sales person. Most sales people receive that call after the solution has been designed, and now the customer needs some pricing options. The great ones get that call much earlier in the process. The great ones know the third benefit of prospecting, and they know how to realize that benefit.
The hidden, and maybe most important, benefit of prospecting is … gaining credibility with your prospects.
Credibility? Most prospects get annoyed with sales people sending cold emails and making cold calls, right? Yes, unless you’re bringing material that makes them better. Are you sending emails that simply state how great you are? Are you leaving voicemails asking to stop by to introduce yourself and learn more about their facility? If so, then yes, you are annoying your prospects.
Instead of doing what you’ve been trained to do by the master prospectors of yesteryear, try something new. Email a link to an article that illustrates how other similar companies have solved a problem, and then ask for an appointment. Leave a voicemail that tell them exactly why you want to meet and make that reason helpful to them – not just “to introduce myself”. When stopping by, drop off a hard copy of a case study showing how you helped another company like theirs … and then call the next day asking for an appointment. Share valuable information with them on LinkedIn and then ask them for an appointment to share more.
After a year or so of giving away these little bits of intelligence to your prospects, you’ll slowly be gaining credibility with them. During the same twelve months, the traditionalist will make six cold calls, dropping off their business card and leaving voicemails with their name and phone number, asking for an appointment to “shake their hand and get to know their organization”. Think about these two scenarios. When a prospect is in a meeting and a potential problem arises, who do you think they’re going to call?
Yes, it’s harder than ever to secure appointments through prospecting efforts, but maybe that shouldn’t be your primary objective any more.
