7 Secrets to Prospecting
February 25, 2009 by David Dassow
The first part of the series:
7 Secrets to Prospecting.
The real secret to Prospecting is to position yourself for the sale. I know this may seem counter-intuitive because how can you position yourself for the sale if you haven’t prospected or even met your prospect yet?
Well, it all starts with a different positioning strategy. I had a sales associate who worked for me several years ago. He did well but could do better. The reason he topped out and could not take his sales to the next level was because of his positioning. He did some very good things including following up with his Prospects. He was pretty relentless about follow-up and that is good.
But, he was desperate. You could hear it in his voice. He sounded like if he did not get the sale he would be starving. He sounded like if he didn’t get the sale it would be the end of the world. He sounded like a lot of pre-need sellers who have positioned themselves as a beggar.
Let’s suppose you are driving down the road and come to a stop light. At the stop light is a beggar with a cup and a hand stretched out and a sign. His sign says he’s a veteran and down to his last dime and says, “God bless” for helping.
He’s in a horrible position because only the people who happen to be driving down the road and happen to see him and happen to be stopped at the light might react to his appeal.
Here’s a better position. You’ve sent an appeal through the mail with a story of this guy you know who is down on his luck, served his country honorably, was decorated war veteran, with some lingering mental condition that keeps him from making a living. YOU, not the beggar, send your letter to everyone you know.
Now, what happened to the beggar to change his position. First off, he got a testimonial from you that was sent to people you know. I call this a Champion Endorser. Everyone receiving the letter will open it because they recognize who the letter is from. Everyone will be moved to act because of the testimonial in the letter and the call to action (request to help with money).
The beggar now is in a much better position. He’s gone from a large group of people (mostly uninterested) to a small tight group of people who become interested through the leverage of the champion endorser. The beggar has utilized a champion endorser and the influence the champion endorser has on his own contacts. The beggar has gone from no testimonials to one very good testimonial. Nothing beats an advocate for your cause.
What’s the point? You need to be in a good position to make the sale. It is for this reason I talk about warm-fuzzy-prospecting. It is for this reason I encourage you, push you, prod you, to go out and mine your natural market. It is for this reason I go through great pains to get you to change your belief system and begin to get a mind-set of not only testimonials, not only warm prospecting, but better positioning so you are in the driver seat.
I’ve often told this story about a party I attended. In the corner a friend of mine had a conversation with someone who wanted to pre-plan but didn’t know where to go. Instead of my friend mentioning me as a pre-need seller I interrupted the conversation to mention I help people pre-plan final arrangements.
I put myself into a bad POSITION. I was the interrupter, the beggar. NOW, a much better way of doing this would be my friend mentioning a guy he knew at the same party who pre-planned for a living. Of course, his endorsement of me and telling this guy how great I am is infinitely better than me telling everyone how great I am. That’s a testimonial by an endorser (testimonial driven because what someone says about you is infinitely better than what you say about yourself). The Prospect immediately knows I’m an expert based on the leverage of the person referring me. It is the leverage of another that puts you into a better selling position.
Position yourself for the sale. Get rid of interruption type prospecting (cold-calling/door-knocking) and utilize testimonials/champion endorsers to do the work for you. All of this will put you in the toll-position.
Happy Selling!
Next time we’ll cover this story and how it ties into the 7 secrets to Prospecting.
This article was very popular as well:
A Top Secret Approach to Prospecting
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