Prospecting—The Lifeblood
of Selling
Chapter 6
McGraw-Hill/IrwinABC’s of Selling, 10/e
Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Main Topics
The Tree of Business Life: Prospecting The Sales Process Has 10 Steps Steps Before the Sales Presentation Prospecting—The Lifeblood of Selling The Leaking Bucket Customer Concept Where to Find Prospects Planning a Prospecting Strategy Prospecting Methods Prospecting Guidelines
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Main Topics, cont...
The Referral Cycle Call Reluctance Costs You Money! Obtaining the Sales Interview Wireless E-mail Helps You Keep in Contact and
Prospect
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The Tree of Business Life: Prospecting
Guided by The Golden Rule, remember:
People buy from those they know and trust
Prospecting is not easy unless you focus on helping, not selling
People who trust you give referrals
Referrals take the burden of prospecting off the salesperson
Referrals are earned through integrity, trust, and character
IT C
Ethi
cal Service
Builds
T r
u e
Relationships
TT T
T T T TT T T T
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Exhibit 6-1: The Selling Process Has 10 Important Steps
10. Follow up
9. Close
8. Trial close
7. Meet objections
6. Determine objections
5. Trial close
4. Presentation
3. Approach
2. Preapproach
1. ProspectingThe sales process is a sequential series of actions
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Some Prospect, Some Do Not
Many salespeople prospect, both those selling business-to-business and those selling to consumers
Examples are: Financial services as life insurance Real estate
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Some Prospect, Some Do Not, cont…
Many organizations do not prospect Examples are large consumer goods firms, such
as General Mills* and Colgate*
* products and associated images used for illustrative purposes only
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Compensation for the Salesperson that Prospects is Sometimes:
Based upon 100% commission – if you do not sell, you do not earn
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Compensation for the Salesperson that Does Not Prospect is Often:
Based upon mostly salary with a small bonus and expenses such as car and office supplies paid
If you do not sell you still get paid, but not for very long
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The Prospector Has the Most Challenging Sales Career
This is the “order getter” who: Finds a lead Converts the lead into a prospect Sells one day, and Sells in the future too
WOW! That is a challenge
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Steps Before the Sales Presentation
Prospecting > Appointment > Planning Rule of thumb
40% preparation 20% presentation 40% follow-up
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Prospecting–The Lifeblood of Selling
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Prospecting – identifies potential customer
Lead – name of a person or organization (also referred to as a suspect)
Prospect – qualified person or organization
Prospecting — The Lifeblood of Selling
Prospecting – identifies potential customers Lead – might be a prospect Prospect – qualified person
Is prospect MAD? Does he or she have:
Q1. Money to buy?
Q2. Authority to buy? Q3. Desire to buy?
…Then, prospect is Qualified
Prospecting–The Lifeblood of Selling
Sales Prospecting Funnel All leads and prospects must be considered and filtered
through the MAD process before they become qualified prospects
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The Leaking Bucket Customer Concept
All salespeople lose X amount of sales and customers per year. This is illustrated in the Leaking Bucket Customer Concept: Customers come into the top and leave through a hole
in the bottom
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Where to Find Prospects
Sources may be varied or few Persons selling different services and goods might
not use the same sources
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Planning a Prospecting Strategy
Prospecting requires a strategy A skill that can be constantly improved
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Prospecting Methods
E-prospecting on the Web Individuals Organizations
(1)Cold Canvassing – law of averages (2)Endless Chain – customer referral
Customers and customer referrals best sources of future sales
(3)Orphaned Customers (4)Sales Lead Clubs
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Prospecting Methods, cont…
Prospect Lists – trade pubs, list-selling firms Become an Expert – get published (5)Public Exhibitions and Demonstrations (6)Center of Influence Direct Mail (7)Telephone and Telemarketing Observation (8)Networking (center-of-influence people)
Prospecting Guidelines
Three criteria are:1.Customize to each prospect
2.Concentrate on high potential customers fruit
3.Call back on no-buys Always keep knocking on prospect’s and
customer’s door to help them
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Referrals Are Used in Most Prospecting Methods
Eight of the twelve popular prospecting methods directly ask for referrals.
Referrals can be directly used in: Cold canvassing Endless chain customer referrals Orphaned customers Sales lead clubs Public exhibitions and demonstrations Center of influence Telephone Networking
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The Prospect Pool
Leads – know very little or nothing about Referrals – learned from referrer Orphans – company records Your customers – most important prospects
The Referral Cycle
Obtaining referrals is a continuous process without beginning or end
Referral cycle – when and how to ask for referrals The parallel referral sale
Sell the product to person Obtain prospect name(s) from person
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The Referral Cycle cont…
The secret is to ask correctly during referral cycle
The preapproach contact phase Mention personal contact
The presentation Build rapport (high-context cultures), explain agenda
Product delivery contact phase Service and follow-up contact phase – customer
service Ongoing opportunities to maintain contact with customer
Don’t mistreat the referral Be professional Follow through on what you have told referral
Don’t Mistreat the Referral
Mistreatment can have a ripple effect The mistreated referral tells your customer – you
may lose both! Remember to follow the Golden Rule
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Treat the Referral Like a Customer
Once you have sold the referral, and gotten more referrals, ask the new customer to contact the referring customer on her experience with the salesperson
Now you have two customers giving referrals This can create an endless chain of referrals
quickly filling your prospect pool with only customers and referrals
Now, no more cold calling
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Call Reluctance Costs You Money!
Call reluctance refers to not wanting to contact a prospect or customer
For many salespeople, owning up to call reluctance is the most difficult part of combating it
Call reluctance keeps you from: Helping others Earning what you’re worth
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Obtaining the Sales Interview
Key factor in selling process is obtaining a sales interview
The benefits of appointment making Telephone appointment Personally making the appointment
Believe in yourselfDevelop friends in the prospect’s firmCall at the right time on the right personDo not waste time waiting
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The Telephone Appointment
Plan and write down what you want to say Clearly identify yourself and your company State the purpose of your call and outline how
prospect may benefit from the interview Prepare brief sales message – stressing benefits over
features and only enough info to stimulate interest Do not take no for and answer – be persistent Ask for an interview so you can further explain
benefits Phrase your appointment request as a question
Wireless E-Mail Helps you Keep in Contact and Prospect
Wireless E-mail helps keep the sales representative mobile.
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Summary of Major Selling Issues
The sales process involves a series of actions beginning with prospecting for customers
Find prospects to contact Obtain appointments Plan the entire sales presentation
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