Over the next four weeks the blog will be discussing why people fail at prospecting. Each blog will cover two aspects, totaling eight reasons for failure. Some of the reasons salespeople fail include: lack of a methodology for prospecting, call reluctance, fear of rejection, procrastination, failure to keep the pipeline full, lack of prospecting awareness, poor prospecting attitude, and an insufficient tracking system.
This week we will cover the lack of a methodology for prospecting and call reluctance. Since we have already discussed call reluctance in some detail in previous blogs, we will provide links to this topic so you can delve deeper into the subject matter. Relating to lack of a methodology, we will discuss game plan formulation, value positioning statements and telephone effectiveness.
One of the main reasons people fail at prospecting is because they don’t have a thorough and specific approach in which to effectively develop a game plan. The game plan should include identifying potential marketing niches, understanding market trends and how they affect your business, maintaining client retention, growth strategies and generating the right activity and behavior for your sales people; all while keeping a progressive attitude. After forming your game plan, you have initiated your journey to success by forming your methodology for prospecting. For more information regarding a game plan, check out our previous blog here.
Once the game plan has been completed, your next business tactic should be to develop a value positioning statement. This statement should be a general statement about what your business does and answer the question, “what’s in it for them.” My value positioning statement is, “I am in the business of building and implementing sales and growth strategies for emerging businesses.” Within this statement I have pointed out what I do and who I do it for. This provides the client with information about my business as well as how I can bring value to their company. Your value positioning statement should be short and sweet but have a clear message of your significance to their operations. Remember your value positioning statement should and will change as time progresses so that it accurately describes what your company wishes to accomplish.
Once you have your game plan and value positioning statement, now you are ready to contact potential clients. This step requires some forethought in creating what many people often times forget, a good telephone script. This is one of the most important tactics in your arsenal, in that it gives you a clear direction in which to steer the conversation while allowing the client to speak on their own behalf while creating a dialogue, in order to see if your services are a potential fit. In your call script you should ask open-ended questions and inform the caller that it is okay to say no if our services are not a match. These same processes of creating dialogue can be applied to digital conversations as well. We have previously written blogs regarding being okay with a no and the process of exploring new leads. You can read more on the subject here.
The next issue of why people fail at prospecting deals with call reluctance. We have covered this topic in a four part series and to read about the psychological aspects as well as a case study of one of my past clients you can click on these links to read more. (1) (2) (3)
To sum up today’s post we have discussed how and why creating a game plan, formulating a value positioning statement, and having a telephone script can provide you with a strategy for your prospecting methodology. As we’ve previously covered, call reluctance is an issue that continues to emerge when discussing complications with sales people and can be overcome through creative thought, dedication and a continuing positive attitude. Next week we will continue this series by discussing fear of rejection and procrastination.
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