Useful Tips on Prospecting |
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Posted By: Julie Shenkman In: Sales & Sales Management
What are some effective prospecting techniques? Learn more at SalesHeads.com.
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One of the most critical elements of forging a successful sales representative career is the ability to prospect for new customers. It's also one of the most difficult components to master, and requires a good amount of focus, determination and resourcefulness.
Most sales rep jobs and tele-sales jobs require the salesperson to conduct at least a small amount of prospecting, regardless of whether or not your employer provides the majority of contacts. Still other jobs are completely reliant on independent prospecting. In either case, an effective salesperson is always on the lookout for ways to broaden their customer base, and prospecting is a method that, once perfected, has the capacity to pay off tenfold.
Perform a self assessment.
Before you can set any realistic goals, you have to determine where you stand. The best way to do that is to take stock of your situation.
- Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest with yourself.
- Take a look at your product in relation to your geographical location. Make a list of the businesses and individuals it would appeal to most. Break them down by industry or demographics.
- Determine if there are any direct competitors operating in the region. Make a list of who your competitor does business with.
- Review your prior sales record and figure out how many leads you had to go through on average in order to make a single sale. This is known as determining your conversion rate.
Improve your game.
The next step is to take the information you collected, and put it into practical use by setting goals.
- Review your list of weaknesses and determine what actions you need to take to improve. For example, if you determine that you have a weak sales delivery, work on your talking points until you know them front and back—but avoid coming off scripted.
- Create a list of business types or demographic groups to target.
- Set a specific sales goal, and determine how many leads you’ll have to go through in order to achieve it.
- Utilize your resources (Internet, yellow pages, personal contacts) to expand on your list of targets.
Taking decisive action is the final step, and is frequently the most difficult move to make. But once you’ve accomplished the difficult task of assessment and self improvement, you may find your sales experiencing a dramatic increase, and eventual promotion to a top sales job easily within reach.
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