Who Is Your Ideal Prospect?

I have a saying that people don’t wake up one day and say to their significant other, “honey let’s go buy a grave space.”

Most pre-need sellers come on-board thinking the Prospect will chase them, trip the pre-need seller, pin him/her down, arm behind back, and beg the pre-need seller to sell them a grave.

For the outside sales force it’s really important to identify who your ideal prospect is and develop a plan to go after that market.

In a recent coaching session with a newbie pre-need seller we determined the primary market he wanted to go after wasn’t doable.

By the time we were done with the session his target was reversed.  The bottom line is the market he really wanted was more about convenience of geography.

The market he didn’t want was isolated 12 miles west.  That market really was his ideal Prospect.

We are always more comfortable with what we know.  The newbie wanted to go after what he didn’t know and had no idea how to attack that market.

The lesson for you is to:

Number 1:  Clearly identify your market

Number 2:  Develop a plan of action to secure business from that market

Number 3:  Don’t go chasing ghosts.  By that I mean don’t go after a market if you can’t clearly identify the commonality of those folks you’re seeking.

Number 4:  Consider your average size sale when thinking through the market you’re after.  Do you really want to chase bottom-feeders?  (see my February snail-mail print monthly paid subscription newsletter for more on bottom-feeding)

It is very difficult to become the Walmart of your market and why would you?  Nobody ever advertises “SECOND TO LOWEST PRICES”.

If you’re in a very low-end, cheap, basic service, no nothing, get out of that market.

It’s a bad strategy to go after a market based on price.  You’ll never succeed and be disappointed and have to deal with a lot of unhappy customers.

Number 5:  Niche your market.  Go after individuals who want full-service, larger transaction sizes.  Think Mercedes verse a subcompact car.

Number 6:  Look for commonality in your market.  There’s a flavor to the market you want to secure.  Find the flavor.

If you cannot clearly identify who your likely Prospect is you’ll never succeed.

“EVERYONE” is not a good strategy when describing the ideal person to present too.

Happy Selling!

D…

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