Back to Business Building: The Magic Never Stops

If we’re going back to business building, we also have to reconsider how we feel about prospecting. Be honest. Where would you position yourself on the prospecting love-hate continuum?

Prospecting

1	2	3	4	5
Love it				Hate it

Why does prospecting for new sources of business pose problems for salespeople? Why do more sales professionals hate it than love it? For significant numbers of salespeople, prospecting for new business is a hated experience, punctuated with so many painful rejections that the activity literally drives many out of the selling profession. In reality, however, if you want to succeed in sales, prospecting is your umbilical cord. It’s your connection to the never-ending body of prospective customers who, once they have the opportunity to hear your story, actually purchase what you’re offering. When you prospect, you’re looking for qualified buyers who can use your product or service. Although you may have a superb product or service, if you haven’t found enough prospects to listen to your story, you won’t succeed in bringing in new accounts or in replacing the percentage of existing accounts that you lose due to normal attrition.

  The Secret to Business Building Is People.
No Customer Can Be Worse Than NO Customer.

No matter where you placed yourself on the love-hate continuum, if you want to stay in sales you have to prospect. You have to make looking for that person who consciously or unconsciously is looking for you a daily activity. The activity will test your endurance, resilience, and motivation to succeed. And it will be just when you want to quit that you’ll really need to keep going. Just as exercise conditions your body, prospecting for new business hones your sales acumen. And it must be scheduled into your selling day. Give it up or slack off, and your career turns to flab. Work at it, conquer the sting of rejection, and your career becomes a well-oiled machine. The shape your career is in begins with prospecting. So does the shape of your bank-book. If you are willing to work to build business, you’ll end up building your bank account, too. Referrals can help the shape-up process.

Referrals are an underused sales resource. Consider this: You readily recommend restaurants that please you to others. You freely recommend movies you enjoyed to friends and acquaintances. Why wouldn’t a satisfied customer be willing to recommend you to someone else who could also use your product or service? It’s up to you to leverage the good work you’ve performed into referrals. It’s up to you to transform pleased clients into consistent lead generators.

Lead the Way

In the space provided, identify your top ten customers. Your objective during the next week is to call and obtain at least three leads from each one on your list.

It’s not only satisfied clients that can serve you up referrals. Sources of referrals are literally unlimited. So get into the world and become a referral detective. Referral givers are “resting” all around you, ready to be awakened by a simple question or request. They may be dining in the restaurant you frequent, or chatting with you at a cocktail party, at the family reunion you didn’t want to attend, or on the plane you’re taking to a convention. Talk about business with people you meet every day, and people in business will talk about you—and your successes. And that’s sensible selling.