Scott, a veteran commercial banker, shared with me his philosophy of setting himself up for success. From October 1st through the end of the year he doubles his prospecting activity. Many salespeople literally “waste” the last six weeks of their year and go on a mental holiday. They buy into the excuse that their prospects are not going to meet with them because they are preoccupied with the holiday activities. While the salespeople who dominate their industry are working hard to ensure they have a prosperous first quarter.
There are three ways to build your business: 1) Retain current clients/customers 2) Sell more to your current clients/customers and 3) Brand new fresh prospects. Dropping off unique gifts, lunches, dinners, etc. are good ways to accomplish #1 and #2 above. However, prospecting for brand new fresh customers still requires strategy, structure and execution.
Sales Call Reluctance is the emotional hesitation to prospect! Do you allow the holidays to justify your Sales Call Reluctance? Call Reluctance is nothing to be embarrassed about, living with it needlessly is. The first step in overcoming Sales Call Reluctance is to be aware of it. Second to “assess” your current sales pipeline. Is it full of “hope?” Hope that something is going to close? Third to admit your Call Reluctance. Fourth, apply proven techniques to Overcome Call Reluctance. The first step in overcoming Call Reluctance is to identify the negative intruder — or thought — that you are projecting on to your prospecting activity.
What would happen if you developed a plan and doubled your prospecting activity until December 31, 2010?
