It simplifies the selling process when we recognize that, when it comes to what we are selling, we are dealing with either the product or the price. The next step is to take what we do while engaged in the activity of selling and simplify it also. We do this by taking all the activities the sales person engages in and dividing them into two halves. The first half we can refer to as: finding people to sell and the second half is: selling the people you find. What could be simpler? You find people to sell then you sell the people you find.
Let's simplify it even further by subdividing the finding people to sell half into two activities: prospecting and making the initial contact. The second half of selling, i.e. selling the people you find, also consists of two activities, the in person presentation and the close. Thinking of selling this way shows that it consists of four simple, logically consecutive activities. The first activity we engage in is prospecting, the second is making the initial contact, the third is the in person presentation and finally the close.
Your Best Prospects.
Prospecting is simply finding people to sell. Identifying those who need what you are selling. Those who need your product or service are your potential customers. There are many ways to identify potential customers, but, one thing you must not forget is: the most likely people to do business with you are those who have already done business with you. So, when in the prospecting stage, i.e., when you are looking for people to sell, don't overlook those folks who have already blessed you with their business. We go back to the water from a refreshing well repeatedly because it quenches our thirst.
I remember selling a condominium to Bob and Eileen. At that time, Bob was the president of a Fortune Five Hundred Company. They bought it so their son and daughter would have a place to stay while schooling and working in Boston. Since I was the seller, naturally the closing was held at my law firm, Ropes & Gray. The ink on the documents had not dried when Joann, my real estate broker, said: Bob, now that you're a proud owner of one of the finest units at Sunset Ridge, why not make an offer on the one next door, you could easily rent it out and you know it would make a great investment for your wife Eileen?
I don't even know how Bob responded, because, at the time, I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl under the table. I glanced over toward my attorney, Arthur Hughes the third, and I was totally captivated by a most fascinating shade of red that rose from his neck up to his forehead.
Well don't you know, not a week had passed when Bob called. He said he had been thinking about what Joann said and was ready to buy that other unit as an investment for his wife. The point I’m making is: once you have sold someone, don't cross them off your list of prospects. If you have treated them fairly and with integrity, it is quite possible they will buy from you again.
Prospecting.
What I want to focus on right now, though, is prospecting to find new people to sell, new customers. Now the oldest form of prospecting is commonly referred to as "cold calling". Cold calling is a method of finding people to sell simply by walking into a business or up to a person and asking your introductory question. This technique has a track record that is hard to argue with, a track record as old as selling.
If you have the right kind of outgoing personality, are quick thinking on your feet, and like to get right to the heart of the matter, then this may be the ideal way for you to complete the first half of the selling process.
Those who love this approach like to point out that, regardless of how you find people to sell, you will probably have to get yourself in front of them to make the sale so why not just walk in and start selling. This appeals to sales people who just like to "go do it". Whereas, those who are more methodical in their approach tend to prospect in a way I describe up ahead.
In either case you are trying to find potential customers, people who need what you are selling. So, prospecting includes focusing, not only on your needs, but, especially on the other guy's needs. When you identify those who really need your product or service you have found people to sell. And, since you need new customers and if they really do need your product or service, viola! We have an example of that wonderful win win situation all conscientious sales professionals are looking for.
May I insert a note of caution: the quickest way to sabotage your sales career is to sell to someone who will not benefit from what you are selling. I'm sure you are aware there are those in the world who do not hold selling in the high esteem it deserves.
For this reason, it can be tough enough to feel good about what you are doing for a living, without giving yourself a valid reason not to feel good. Don't be unethical. Walk away from those who don't need what you are selling. Don't be lazy - find people who really need what you are offering. If you are convinced no one really needs what you are trying to sell, go find something to sell that people need or get out of the business. Those of us who love what we do, don't need more people giving our profession a bad name.
Advertisers Advertise.
O. K. I'll get down from the soapbox and get back to prospecting. The universal principle in prospecting, irrespective of what we sell, is we look for people who want or need our product or service. One of the things I love most about selling advertising is the prospecting, i.e. finding people to sell, is so simple. To identify who wants to buy an ad all I need do is look at who is advertising.
Rule number one in advertising sales: advertisers advertise. I know that sounds basic, but I never said this stuff was rocket science. When a business advertises it tells us two things. They are looking for customers and they believe advertising will help find them. Since every business needs customers, if a business is not utilizing advertising to find customers that business is telling us they don't believe advertising will help them find new customers or they can't afford to advertise.
With approximately two hundred billion dollars expended in advertising each year [at the time of this writing], I think it is safe to say that the business owner who doesn't think advertising works is sadly mistaken. These are the businesses that eventually advertise their "going out of business sale".
While the prospector who uses cold calling finds advertisers by going door to door, the more methodical advertising sales professional will find people to sell by using a prospecting technique designed to identify businesses that like to advertise. This is accomplished by collecting everything he or she can find that contains advertising before making the initial contact to the advertiser.
Why advertise?
Whenever a business advertises, that business is trying to make an impact on potential customers. The Oxford English dictionary defines advertising as follows: “to make note of, to give notice of, to turn one's attention to, to call the attention of another, to make generally known.” Do you remember I said earlier that advertising is simply a formal way of proclaiming the great value of the product of service you offer to the world?
If I were to say to you: go make a Monroe for me would you know what I wanted you to do? What if I said, go make a Xerox? I guess you would know I wanted something copied. Now Monroe made copying machines and so did a lot of other companies. Why do we call it a Xerox? The answer in a word: exposure!
I have told a lot of people in my advertising sales career that advertising does not get results. That usually creates a bit of a stir because I make a living and support my family through selling advertising. So I explain by saying: advertising brings exposure and exposure gets results, but over a period of time. It took years of exposure to the name Xerox to make it synonymous with photocopy.
If I said to you: the real thing: what cola would you think of? If I said the heartbeat of America what automobile would you think of? If I said you deserve a break today what fast food chain would come to mind. We all know the answers because we have been exposed to these ads over and over and over. Advertising is all about exposure.
And a critical aspect in sales is “exposing” sufficient prospects to the features, advantages and benefits of the product or service you offer. As much as we might think our success in sales and persuasion is a result of our stupendous talents, the truth be known, more than any other single factor it comes down to numbers.
The greater the number of prospects you present to the greater the number of closed sales, that’s an undenialble fact. To paraphrase Edison it’s 20% inspiration and 80% “prespiration”.
That’s not to say, persuasive powers and sales skills are unimportant. On the contrary they often are the diference that makes a diference between closing the sale (or winning the debate) and losing.