2. Prospecting—The Lifeblood of Selling
Chapter 6
Prospecting—The Lifeblood of Selling
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. Chapter 6

4. Main Topics Chapter 6 The Sales Process Has 10 Steps
Steps Before the Sales Presentation
Prospecting—The Lifeblood of Selling
Where to Find Prospects
Planning a Prospecting Strategy
Prospecting Methods
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

5. Main Topics Chapter 6 Prospecting Guidelines The Prospect Pool
The Referral Cycle
Call Reluctance Costs You Money!
Obtaining the Sales Interview
Wireless
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

6. 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. T T
Ethical
Service T T T T T T T T
Builds
T r u e
Relationships T C I

7. The Sales Process Has 10 Steps
. Prospecting
. Determine the objectives
. Preapproach
. Meet objections
. Approach
. Trial close
. Presentation
. Close
. Trial close
0 . Follow-up

8. Exhibit 6-1: The Selling Process Has 10 Important Steps
1. Prospecting
The sales process is a sequential series of actions
2. Preapproach - planning
3. Approach
4. Presentation
5. Trial close
6. Determine objections
7. Meet objections
8. Trial close
9. Close
10. Follow-up

9. 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

10. Compensation for the Salesperson that Prospects is Often
Based upon 100% commission
If you do not sell, you do not earn

11. Some Prospect, Some Do Not
Many organizations do not prospect. Examples are large consumer goods firms as General Mills and Colgate

12. Compensation for the Salesperson that Does Not Prospect is Often
Based upon mostly salary with a small bonus and expenses such as car, office supplies paid
If you do not sell you still get paid, but not for very long

13. The Prospector Has the Most Challenging Sales Career
This is the “order getter” who
Finds a lead
Converts into a prospect
Sells one day,
And in the future
WOW! That is a challenge

14. Prospecting - The Lifeblood of Selling
Qualified prospect is MAD
Money to buy?
Authority to buy?
Desire to buy?

15. Exhibit 6-2: Before the Sales Presentation

16. Steps Before the Sales Presentation
Prospecting appointment planning
Rule of thumb
20% presentation
40% preparation
40% follow-up

17. Prospecting—The Lifeblood of Selling
Prospect - qualified person
Prospecting - identifies potential customer
Lead - only know name

18. Where to Find Prospects
Sources may be varied or few
Persons selling different services and goods might not use the same sources

19. Planning a Prospecting Strategy
Requires a strategy
A skill that can be constantly improved

20. Exhibit 6-4: Prospecting Methods that Work!

21. Prospecting Methods E-prospecting on the Web Cold canvassing
Individuals
Organizations
Cold canvassing
Endless chain—customer referral
Orphaned customers
Sales lead clubs

22. Prospecting Methods cont…
Prospect lists
Become an expert—get published
Public exhibitions and demonstrations
Center of influence
Direct mail
Telephone and telemarketing
Observation
Networking

23. Exhibit 6-5: The Processing System Within a Telemarketing Center

24. Exhibit 6-6: Reports From a Telemarketing Center to Other Marketing Groups Within the Firm

25. Prospecting Guidelines
Three criteria are:
. Customize to each prospect
. Concentrate on high potential customers fruit
. Call back on no-buys
Always keep knocking on prospect’s and customer’s door to help them.

26. Referrals Are Used in Most
Prospecting Methods

27. The Prospect Pool
Leads
Referrals
Orphans
Your customers

28. Exhibit 6-7: Components of the Prospect Pool

29. The Referral Cycle
Obtaining referrals is a continuous process without beginning or end
Referral cycle -- when and hoew to ask for referrals
The parallel referral sale
Sell the product to person
Obtain prospect name(s) from person

30. The Referral Cycle cont…
The secret is to ask correctly during referral cycle
The preapproach contact phase
The presentation
Product delivery contact phase
Service and follow-up contact phase
Customer service

31. Exhibit 6-8: The Referral Cycle: When to Ask for Referrals
Preapproach
Service
and
follow-up
Prospect
Pool
Product
delivery
Presentation

32. 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

33. Treat the Referral Like a Customer
Once you sell the referral, and gotten referrals, have the new customer contact the “referring customer” on 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

34. The Golden Rule: Don’t Mistreat the Referral
Service shows you have a servant heart and care about the customer.

35. 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

36. Exhibit 6-9: The 12 Faces of Call Reluctance
Think you might suffer from call reluctance?
See if you fit 1 of the 12 classic types identified by researchers George Dudley and Shannon Goodson. They’re listed in order from most common to least common.

37. Exhibit 6-9: The 12 Faces of Call Reluctance
1. Yielder - Fears intruding on others or being pushy
2. Overpreparer - Overanalyzes, underacts
3. Emotionally unemancipated - Fears loss of family approval, resists mixing business and family
4. Separationist - Fears loss of friends, resists prospecting among personal friends
5. Hyper-pro - Obsessed with image, fears being humiliated
6. Role rejecter - Ashamed to be in sales

38. Exhibit 6-9: The 12 Faces of Call Reluctance
7. Socially self-conscious - Fears intruding on others or being pushy. Intimidated by upmarket customers.
8. Doomsayer - Worries, won’t take risks
9. Telephobic - Fears using the telephone for prospecting or selling
10. Stage fright - Fears group presentations
11. Referral aversions - Fears disturbing business or client relationships
12. Oppositional reflex - Rebuffs attempts to be coached

39. Exhibit 6-9: The 12 Faces of Call Reluctance: How to Conquer the Fear

40. Exhibit 6-9: The 12 Faces of Call Reluctance: How to Conquer the Fear

41. 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 yourself
Develop friends in the prospect’s firm
Call at the right time on the right person
Do not waste time waiting

42. 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

43. Summary of Major Selling Issues cont…
Popular prospecting methods
Cold canvas
Endless chain methods
Public exhibitions and demonstrations
Locating centers of influence
Direct mailouts
Telephone and observation
Salesperson must develop ways of getting to see the prospect