The Old Prospector! part 1

"There's a saying among prospectors: 'Go out looking for one thing, and that's all you'll ever find.'" Robert J. Flaherty   Prospecting is hard work...   But is also job one.  Prospecting is a major area of challenge for most sales people.  Of course, it will be hard to be successful in sales if you don't have clients to see or talk to.     That explains why many sales people are drawn to programs that provide leads because prospecting is challenging.  Or they invest in a "fail proof" lead system that ends up being Pyrite...fools gold.   I do a lot of consulting/coaching with agents that market products to seniors. They hear that 10,000 people a day are turning 65 but with the various rules, regulations and challenges find it difficult to locate the people that are supposed to be right in front of them.   They are not alone.  Most sales people in other industries have a similar view of the challenge of finding an audience.   Make no mistake, marketing is tough and requires persistence and adherence to the "science of selling". As we review the possibilities for your marketing efforts, you will have to suspend judgment on what you think will work and what won't work. These methods are working successfully for those people that work them.   As a sales trainer and philosopher, I do believe that people have to work "authentically". Some of the methods described over the next few days will not be true to your personality or will have to be catered to fit who you are and your talents.    That is not an excuse not to do the hard work.    Being able to do something but not being willing to do it are two different things.    This is not a matter of whether you prospect but how you prospect. This is not a matter of if you have to do telemarketing, but instead, the script you use has to be an extension of you...authentic to your personality so it is natural and not robotic.   Ok, we know we have to prospect...how do we do it?   Let's begin by reviewing the types of prospecting methods broadly available to most sales people.  If you are new to sales, you will have to begin at the top of this pyramid and work your way down.  Not every prospecting method is appropriate for every industry or sales position.  These are broad categories that meet the needs of most independent sales "warriors" who can't afford a television campaign!    As we will see tomorrow, there are lead generation methods that cost effort, some that cost money and others that require skill such as repeat business and referrals.   There is no excuse for a professional sales person not to avail themselves of any and all of these options until their business becomes stable, scalable and sustainable.  Don't look at this list and dismiss any of these options.   "I don't have any marketing money" is the #1 answer I hear from sales people who say they do not have enough opportunity.  Lack of marketing dollars is a poor excuse and must be offset by tenacity and grit. If six-figure incomes were easy, there would be more than 8% of the population in America that earns it.   Each one of these methods engages the "science of selling" and if you engage The Law Of Large Numbers and do enough of each activity it should generate a predictable return on investment.   If you could pick which method you would predominantly spend your time pursuing which one(s) would it be?   I hope you answered repeat business and referrals.    They have the lowest cost (essentially free!) and have the highest close ratio. That puts a higher importance on each sale that you close because these two sources can only come from a current client. Make sure you put a premium on client relationships!     As I mentioned the science of selling, all forms of lead generation require you stick to it and refine it as you go, to improve your metrics. Doing it one day and giving up because "this doesn't work" is not true prospecting.   We're going to take a look at the full spectrum of prospecting, lead generation and marketing and as the saying goes "Nothing begins until a sale is made". That means that nothing really begins until you are sitting down with the prospect who becomes a sale, who becomes a client, and eventually becomes a raving fan.   That can only happen when you are...   The Old Prospector!   Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!