You Need to Prospect

Look, people claim how well they can speak but what does it matter if there’s no one to listen? Most people that want to speak to audiences are not willing to do what it takes to get the audience. It doesn’t matter how good your product or service is if you want to sell and make money—you must first find people to sell to. Everything you want is reachable only if you start prospecting like your life depended on it.

You could be the greatest salesperson in the world that even knows the greatest sales secret of all-time, you could know how to SUPERFREAK a demonstration, handle all objections like a closing ninja, have hundreds and hundreds of closes in your arsenal ready to use on the spot, but what good is any of that if you have no one to use them on?

You need to prospect.

I wasn’t always as well-known as I am today. I had to knock on thousands of cold doors just to get people to even know me when I started my first business. That is the main purpose of prospecting—to get people to know about you. Your problem is obscurity. People need to think of your name and your company first when they have a need for what you offer. By prospecting, you can create your own economy. If you are dependent on others, or walk-in traffic, then you will be at the mercy of factors that you have no control over.

Here are some prospecting tips I know you will find useful today:

1. Start thinking about how you can SERVE everyone around you.
You are meeting someone for the first time and they ask you what you do. When you respond that you’re in sales, they immediately hesitate and become a bit guarded. The truth is the greatest salespeople hardly even consider themselves to be salespeople. They think of themselves as people who are there to serve the customer. A customer is coming to you because they have a problem. There is something that isn’t working right that they need it fixed and they have come to you because they hope your product or service will solve their problem. Often times though, a customer hasn’t diagnosed or even knows about the proper solution to their own problem. That’s why you as the sales person are there. You are there to serve. Look around you. Everyone has problems. Start serving!

2. Find a way to get in front of people.
Are your prospective clients involved in charities, community organizations, or the boards of other companies? While the general rule is to avoid politics in business, it can be a great way to get in front of the hard-to-reach decision maker. For years, I had been trying to get in front of a potential client I knew would be perfect for my products. Instead of directly presenting my product as I had been trying to do all that time, I focused on helping him get his favorite local candidate re-elected. When I called this client, I told his assistant I was calling for her boss because I was passionate about getting the candidate he supported re-elected. She immediately put the prospect on the phone and soon we were having lunch together. Without ever having to bring up my product, he asked me how I could help his company. While I was not successful at getting his candidate re-elected, I did get his business and helped his company reach new targets. Today he is not just my client, but a great friend.

3. Always get referrals.
Once when I was in Louisiana with a client, I showed him a list of about ten people I was having trouble getting in front of. I asked him: “Do you know any of them and can you help me with them?” My customer quickly scanned the list and offered to call two of the names on it. He immediately achieved two appointments for me that I couldn’t pull off for two weeks. Every time you make a sale, get referrals. Even when you don’t make a sale, ask for them.

The bottom line is that if you are dependent on others, you will be at the mercy of factors that you have no control over. Don’t wait for walk-in traffic. I challenge all of you to spend the next couple of days thinking of creative methods to make yourself positively known to at least 50 new people next week. Tweet me back what you came up with and what your results were.

If you’re not yet on Cardone University, an entire course is on Prospecting—get on it now. You will get detailed information on the ONE technique to master sales prospecting on the phone, ready-made scripts on making outbound sales calls, the HOTTEST 9 sales leads you overlook, and the secret for making the easiest sales call you will ever make.

Selling is more than just prospecting of course—but without prospecting you won’t make many sales! Go and get your heart’s desire.

Be great,

GC

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