1. Don’t make it easy for them to lump you in with the idiots.
Your targets get lots of calls from people who waste their time. If you say the things the idiots do, your targets will assume you are a time-waster and you are toast. Don’t act and talk like most others. Be different.
2. Focus on the buyers. Throw the rest down the stairs.
You must keep your words aligned with what “buyers” will respond to. Non-buyers will reject you and be annoyed no matter what you say. Forget them. Say the words that give buyers “cause for pause.” Do not make the common mistake of changing your pitch to have more comfortable conversations with those who will never buy.
3. Code and segment as you prospect.
Prospecting is a sorting process. Separate those who will buy a lot from those who will buy little. Now vs. later. Widget A vs. service B. You sort to properly allocate your time and resources to maximize results. No sorting? You don’t prioritize. Way too much time spent in low probability land.
4. Know how to select higher probability prospects. Call them first.
Sad reality. Many times 60%, 70% or 80% of calls being made never should have been made at all. Sadder reality: that time and resources could have been spent in a much more likely-to-buy prospect pool. If you call the wrong targets – no matter what else you do right – you are doomed to failure and frustration.
5. Got ADD? (Avoid Dialing Disorder) Prospecting stinks.
It stinks more when you do it wrong. Call the wrong people with no process and speak drivel-the only thing you will get is frustrated. There is no cure for ADD, but if you start doing the right things you will get qualified prospects and accounts. That will make it less painful.
6. The #1 reason why people don’t agree to meet with you.
That’s easy. Think about it. Answer? You don’t give them enough reason to meet with you. You don’t communicate sufficient value that will be delivered at the meeting to make it worth their time. Communicate more value, credibility and benefits and you will meet more qualified buyers.
7. Smash them in the head with a 2 x 4. I did.
When I was smiling and dialing my way to setting 2,000+ C-Level sales appointments, I used to imagine the phone was 3-D and I could reach through and smash my decision-makers over the head with a 2 x 4. The 2 x 4 was the value I was communicating. Your words must have that level of impact to make a difference.
8. Never care about the results of any one call.
Even when you are doing everything right and getting great results there will be bad calls. So what? You cannot control the actions/responses of whom you speak to. You can control what you do. As long as what you do gets the most results among the group of targets you call, keep doing it. Think groups of calls. Not individual calls.
9. Communicate credibility or you are just a schmuck.
Are you #1? Been selected by hundreds? Thousands? Been chosen by great accounts with well known names? Credibility matters a lot. Very often individuals and companies have great credibility yet don’t communicate it. So how does your suspect conclude that you are vastly superior to the other less worthy schmucks who call them? If they don’t, you lose.
10. Know your weaknesses.
Your results will only be as strong as the weakest component of your prospecting system. You might make a lot of calls but stink at selecting whom to call. Maybe you are good at converting conversations to appointments – but speak to few. Maybe you have a lot of conversations but can’t convert. Know all the steps. Be good at every step.
11. Better appointments improve margins and profits.
Lousy prospects don’t make good accounts. When you meet with steady streams of qualified “A” prospects, there is no pressure to sell a lousy deal.
