How to identify the ideal prospect.
By: Matthew Hibbert
Most salespeople today are responsible for obtaining their own leads. As it can often take dozens of rejections before a meeting is finally booked, prospecting is one of the main sources of anxiety for most salespeople. Learning how to be efficient and effective with this process is often the key to a salesperson's success.
Knowing where to look and who to contact is essential to being successful. A few places that we have found to be effective are:
- Your local Chamber of Commerce
- Industry Directories
Once you have identified where your time is best spent, it's time to identify the top characteristics that they must possess. By way of example:
- Can they afford your service or product?
- Are you the right fit for their organization?
- Are they currently looking for a replacement solution?
At FOCUS Selling Systems, we recommend that sales professionals develop a scale to which they can quickly rate a given prospect. This scale determines whether the prospect is worth their valuable time. Five key criteria should be identified, and each given a weight of five. If the prospect scores above 20, they are worth pursuing.
Throughout your prospecting, you must remember that there is no secret to selling. The more people you see, the more you will sell. By focusing on obtaining leads in the correct areas and looking for companies that match your criteria, you will be able to optimize the scarcest resource you have.... your time.
FOCU$ on it.