A lot of years ago I wrote a training manual for salespeople, one of the first elements covered prospecting for new clients. As this was directed toward the tractor industry and with a good season before us, I thought I'd share I'd share the chapter on PROSPECTING as I'm convinced everyone will benefit from a little revision even if they choose to do only one thing covered by the text.
PROSPECTING
Prospecting can be the most daunting task
a sales person can perform. It is not easy but if you want more success from
your selling, then it is very important that the habit of prospecting becomes
part of your everyday routine.
The best way to overcome any fear you may
experience is to break the prospecting task into smaller pieces. To understand
the process better, and make the whole operation easier to manage. While we are
doing this we will record our progress in order to measure any increase in our
performance
I think of the procedure in simple terms
that easily identify the components that are "Prospecting"
1.
Suspects
A suspect is an individual, organisation
or government agency that you believe may have a need for a product that you
sell. These suspects can be found anywhere, the phone book, debtors' ledger,
family, friends, acquaintances, golf club, 'Honour Roll' etc, in fact anywhere
that you can get a name and contact number or address.
Exercise 1.
·
Find
three names in your local phone book and list them with their contact number
and address.
Okay that wasn’t too hard and best of all
you now have five more possible sales. All you need do is talk to them and
identify any need that you can fill.
The next part of this process is to
prepare for the call. Have ready a reliable pen, contact pad, a list of the
products that you sell, a list of your colleagues.
We are now going to call these people and
identify if these suspects can become prospects.
2.
Prospects
Prospects are
suspects you have contacted and are going to buy something that sell, or
something that competes with what you sell one day.
Ten points to practice when prospecting by phone:
1.
Start with a clear desk.
2.
Use a good pen
3.
Write the name and number
at the top of the page.
4.
Have a glass of water handy.
5.
Make sure that you have
an easy to read list of your products in reach.
6.
Take a couple of deep
breaths,
7.
Smile when you Dial
8.
Introduce yourself and
your company
9.
Ask if the person has a
few minutes to talk to you.
10. Tell
them your purpose.
Remember these first calls will always be
the most difficult but as with anything the more you practice the better you
get and the easier this will become
Exercise 2.
·
Write the contact details
at the top of the pad SMILE and DIAL.
A study done many years ago proved that
smiling before you speak projects a relaxed and confident voice to the
listener.
·
Remember we want to find
out what we can about our suspects' needs and at the same time remain polite
and courteous.
·
Be confident, you are good with people and you
are here to serve the customer.
When
this is completed review your results. What was the strike rate?
·
Did you find anyone who
was abusive?
·
Did you find someone who
needed your product now?
·
Did you find a client
needing something in the future?
·
Were you able to make an
appointment to see the prospect?
·
Did they refer you to
someone that they knew who is in the market?
·
How many were not at
home?
·
How many were dead?
From the five calls, if you had one person
say they were going to buy something in the future
you have scored a
twenty-percent strike rate. Not
Bad!
Phone prospecting can probably deliver one
qualified prospect for every five calls and if you were lucky enough or rather
skilled enough to get a referral, that’s even better.
Referrals
Throughout your life you will get to know
many people. If they can tell you of someone they know who may be in the market
for some of your products, this is known as a referral. Successful sales people
are experts at soliciting referral clients and have often built their careers
around a good referral business.
It is reasonable to assume if you have
been ethical in your dealings with your customers and they have enjoyed dealing
with you they will recommend you to their friends. Be sure that if they do this
you are able to reward them in some way.
The use of spotter's fees to reward
referees is common practice within our industry. If you have developed
excellent relationships with your customers and they trust you to treat their
friends the same way these rewards may not be necessary. When rewarding a
contact for a lead, set yourself apart from your competitors by doing something
more creative. You may want to try thanking the person giving you the tip with
a small gift, a bunch of flowers, a weekend holiday, or tickets to a show etc,
this type of reward will often do just as well.
The point is, make sure that you do
recognise the person putting you forward to their friends and then deal with
them professionally, with integrity. They will then feel confident in putting
you forward to their friends when they want to buy.
To make sure that you can be easily found,
give out your business card freely and keep in touch with your old clients, ask
them for referrals and reward them when you are successful. These rewards
should happen the same day that the product is delivered and payment made.
Remember that the longer it takes you to reward, the longer it will take to get
the next referral.
It
is also important to keep a balance in the reward size. If someone offers you a
lead that results in a big sale with lots of margin, then they can expect a
bigger reward than if they had offered a lead on a much smaller deal. Keep it
in perspective.
As many dealerships pay spotters fees
they should be passed on as promised and if you feel inclined to add to it,
then you begin to set yourself apart from the competition.
Cold Canvassing
Like phone prospecting Cold Canvass is
another effective method of finding prospects. What is cold canvassing? It is
sometimes referred to as cold calling and is often done by politicians at
election time.
How can it help
you?
1.
You meet the suspect face
to face and there is an immediate chemistry between you and, good or bad, it
will set a more focused tone to the meeting.
2.
It gives you the
opportunity to see the suspects in their own habitat and you will observe their
buying tastes reflected by the assets that they have assembled.
3.
Farm machinery sales
people have used this method of prospecting successfully for many years because
of the previous point. They are able to observe the farming practices and
preferences of the suspect, therefore they have a head start on what the farmer
may need.
4.
It takes practice and
time management to cold canvass efficiently but it will reward you with results
when properly executed.
As you develop these prospecting skills,
you will record a valuable amount of data that will be the source of sales
leads over your whole career.
In summary.
THE
NUMBER OF SALES YOU MAKE IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONATE TO THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE YOU
TALK TO.
Some of the habits that will help you to
become more successful in selling can be developed through a continual desire
to keep prospecting.
1.
Make list of suspects to
call every day.
2.
Make at least 10 phone
prospecting calls each day.
3.
Give your business cards
to friends to circulate among their associates.
4.
Smile when you talk to
people, but don’t force it, be natural.
5.
Be prepared to offer
assistance when you don’t have the product that the customer wants.
6.
Talk to the people in
your business that have customer contact for prospect leads.
7.
Involve your partner,
often they will have contacts in fields that are foreign to you.
8.
Keep a tidy work area
that is well set up and easy to use.
9.
Be pro active about your
personal appearance. Offer the customer confidence.
10. Don’t
be tempted to say "trust me"
If we assume that in a typical day you
find five new prospects and you work at least 250 days per year, you will have
found 1250 new sales opportunities a year, even more if you can crank up the
prospecting to twenty a day.
As I said earlier, break big tasks into
small steps and this will make sure that you succeed in achieving your sales
goals.
Prospecting
Systems
We have started to build a list of names
or a data bank of people - this is your prospect file. In this data bank you
have stored knowledge about their buying preferences, etc, and you know how to
contact them. If you have been careful in your recording of this data you will
have logged their future buying details. This becomes another treasure chest of
opportunity.
Companies use varying types of prospecting
systems such as electronics, card systems or a diary. However, for a prospecting system to work
properly you must keep the data detailed, accurate and current. Know where your
old customers are, how to contact them, what their preferences are. Most of all
know their buying habits and when they are likely to be in the market again.
For example, when delivering the new
product, congratulate them on the purchase, thank them for their business and
ask them when you might help them again. Then when you have left them, write
the information in your prospect file.
If you work for a large organisation you
may have the resources of a call centre that has supplied you with already
qualified prospects and this is very helpful, but you must maintain the data
that comes from your contacts with these people.
At the end of the day, prospecting is your
responsibility. You benefit most from detailed recording and so you must be
aware that this responsibility lies only with you. You may ask someone to
manage it for you, but your effectiveness depends on accurate recording and
review.
So how will we operate this prospecting
system? Let's use a simple diary system as an example. From your phone
prospecting, you have found a client who has told you that he and his wife want
to buy a new car. They are undecided on which one exactly, but want to take
delivery next June prior to the close of the next financial year and when the
current lease expires.
You have also determined through your
conversation, that they want a six cylinder rear wheel drive that can haul a
1500 kg trailer. They wish to carry five people in comfort and, although they
haven't fully decided on a budget, they would like it to be better that the
standard version, and probably electric blue.
Research how long it will take to source a
car of similar specification and decide when to next contact them.
Then transpose all of these details to the
day page in your diary that allows enough time to make a deal and order a car
in time to meet their requirements.
On the day, phone or call on them to renew
the contact and go over their needs. If you have qualified them properly you
are well on the way to making a sale.
Electronic and card systems are similar
but usually hold more detail. An early cry of the computer Industry was
"Junk In, Junk Out" so take time with your entries as it is you who is
relying on the accuracy.
Your employer may have an in-house system
that provides a prospecting list and you may choose or be instructed to use it.
If that is company policy you must use it, but selling is a competitive
business and you may benefit by keeping your own system running in tandem.
To re-cap
·
Prospecting is not easy
and demands discipline.
·
Plan your prospecting.
·
Smile, in fact smile a
lot, as most people like to do business with cheerful people.
·
Be friendly and polite.
·
Detail all of your
contacts.
·
Qualify, Qualify,
Qualify, (this will save you time in the long run)
·
Treat the customer with
respect, the client believes they are the most important part of this deal as
without them there is no deal.
·
Note down all key
indicators about their preferences.
·
Read your notes and
correct to maintain accuracy.
·
Review and prioritise
your prospect details daily.
·
Record any changes.
·
Keep your own records.
If you develop a routine for phone
prospecting at the same time each day, you will find that it will become easy,
second nature and time efficient. Do the same with reviewing your prospect file
and your day will take on some structure. Everything you do using the same
daily routine will become geared toward better sales results and therefore you
will make more money and achieve the life style you desire.
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Beginning
with childhood memories and his early working life, Ian offers the reader an
insight into inner sanctum of the operation of the Ford Motor Company’s Australian
tractor division. Of interest to tractor people is the stories about his team’s
input into model development with both the USA and European design teams.
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A lot of years ago I wrote a training manual for salespeople, one of the first elements covered prospecting for new clients. As this was directed toward the tractor industry and with a good season before us, I thought I'd share I'd share the chapter on PROSPECTING as I'm convinced everyone will benefit from a little revision even if they choose to do only one thing covered by the text.
you have scored a
twenty-percent strike rate. Not
Bad!
Companies use varying types of prospecting
systems such as electronics, card systems or a diary. However, for a prospecting system to work
properly you must keep the data detailed, accurate and current. Know where your
old customers are, how to contact them, what their preferences are. Most of all
know their buying habits and when they are likely to be in the market again.