“These experts preach to all who will listen that prospecting—proactively pursuing prospects—no longer works. What’s particularly dangerous about this false teaching is that it is exactly what the struggling, reactive salesperson wants to hear.”
Fanatical Prospecting
Jeb Blount, founder of salesgravy.com and author of Fanatical Prospecting, wrote that there are many sales trainers who offer all kinds of schemes designed to remove the need to prospect. He says that this is music to the ears of failing salespeople, who would rather look for a silver bullet than prospect. Good news is not always the right news, however.
There is no avoiding it:
If you want to be a winning salesperson you need to fill your pipeline with prospects. Seeking new business is a no-brainer for superstars.
If you haven’t done so, you really need to read Fanatical Prospecting. There are gems on every page.
Jeb’s 30 Day Rule should be enough to make you get hold of a copy now.
His 30 Day Rule says that from the prospecting you do over the next 30 days you will reap benefits over the following 90 days. That is, it will take 90 days to harvest the leads from the original 30 days’ prospecting.
This is great news for those who prospect regularly – their prospect pipeline is never empty – but for sporadic prospectors, it’s all bad news. Consistent prospecting will yield consistent results.Inconsistent prospecting buys you a ticket on the results rollercoaster.
What does success look like to you?
I think every person in Sales would say that they want to be hugely successful. The few who wouldn’t should find another profession!
But wanting success is not enough. You have to define what success looks like to you, set a deadline to achieve it, and plan what you must do in order to reach that level of success within the time frame you set.
And if you do formulate a plan, I’ll bet that it calls for you to actively seek new business.
You don’t have to like prospecting. But you’ll love what prospecting does for your income.
Stick at it, do it enthusiastically, do it every day.
Customers are out there waiting for you to find them. Prospect fanatically!
PS Jeb Blount is our special guest on Pittard TV on 2 September. He has a great message and I am looking forward to interviewing him and to passing on viewer questions.