Your Personal Sales Trainer

YOU can prospect effectively: part two.

Last week, I gave you the first five of ten principles for prospecting effectively. Here are the final five.

What does it mean to prospect effectively?

It means developing a habit.
It means becoming possessed.
It means keeping score.
It means dealing with rejection.
It means developing multiple approaches.

Developing a habit
It has been said that nearly 90% of what we do every day is habit. If we can make prospecting as much a habit as eating, sleeping, watching our favorite programs, etc, we will always have new people to see.

Becoming possessed
When you become obsessed with something, you have a hold of the idea. However, when the idea gets a hold of you, you are possessed. You must understand so clearly the value and importance of prospecting and what it means to your future that you become possessed.

Keeping score
Know how well you are doing at prospecting. How many new prospects do you get a day? How do you get them? What do you need to do improve the process? Only by keeping score will you know how effective you are.

Dealing with rejection
Rejection is a part of the prospecting process. It is not people rejecting you that will stop you from succeeding, it is you and only you. Learn to manage the rejection by understanding that people are not rejecting you, they are rejecting something they don’t fully understand.

Developing multiple approaches
Referrals are important, but they should not be your only prospecting sources. The more approaches you have to the marketplace, the more ways you will discover to find people. Some avenues will have a short lead to the presentation cycle; others will have a longer cycle. Spending the correct amount of time dedicated to each aspect is important, and having more than one way to obtain new prospects is critical.

Remember what others have said about prospecting:

I'm doing what I think I was put on this earth to do. And I'm really grateful to have something that I'm passionate about and that I think is profoundly important.

Marian Wright Edelman

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start.

Joseph Priestly