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Fanatical Prospecting — Chapter-04: Adopt a Balanced Prospecting Methodology
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4 Adopt a Balanced Prospecting Methodology Poor people choose now. Rich people choose balance. —T. Harv Eker, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind “But Jeb,” Janice said emphatically, “I’m so much better in person!” It was a refrain I’d heard hundreds of times from salespeople who were quick to tell me that they were so much better at one type of prospecting than another. The “I’m so much better at . . .” excuse is just that: an excuse to avoid other prospecting techniques that salespeople find unpalatable. More often than not, it’s an excuse to avoid phone prospecting. The pipeline always reveals the truth. Salespeople who gravitate to a single prospecting methodology seriously sub-optimize their productivity. 20
I can guarantee that when the words, “But you don’t under- stand, I’m so much better at . . .” come out of a salesperson’s mouth in response to a prospecting technique I’ve just introduced, that salesperson is underperforming against their number and cheating themselves out of thousands of dollars in commissions. The Fallacy of Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket Imagine that a friend comes to you seeking advice on investing for retirement. They explain that they went to a financial seminar where an investment “guru” presented a “sure-thing stock.” The guru advised that they immediately move their entire nest egg into this stock. What would you tell them? If you were a good friend, you would be incredulous. “Putting your money into a single stock is stupid. You’ll lose your retirement money!” you’d exclaim. “But the guy says this investment is a sure thing,” your friend responds emphatically. “He says I can make a ton of money!” You grab him by the collar and shake him. “Are you kidding me? Are you a moron? There are no sure things in investing. That’s why sane people do something called diversification—they spread their money out across multiple investments to reduce their risk. This guy is feeding you a line of bull. If you follow this advice, you’re courting financial disaster.” In sales, consistently relying on a single prospecting methodol- ogy (usually the one you feel generates the least amount of resistance and rejection), at the expense of others, consistently generates mediocre results. However, balancing your prospecting regimen based on your industry, product, company, territory, and tenure in your territory gives you a statistical advantage that almost always leads to higher performance and income over the long term. Not unlike investing, there is an expert or so-called sales guru on every corner preaching to salespeople that their method is the Adopt a Balanced Prospecting Methodology 21
one way to prospecting salvation. They push phone prospecting, e-mail prospecting, social selling, trade shows, referrals, networking, or inbound marketing as the one true way while disparaging all other forms—usually by labeling the forms they don’t like “cold calling” to create the ultimate turnoff. “Do it my way,” they’ll tell you, “and you’ll get unlimited qualified leads. All for only $999!” These promises and your own justifications that “I’m just so much better at . . .” sound good in a seminar, book, webinar, article, and in your own head. But in the real world, where real salespeople actually have to engage prospects, make a number, feed families, pay mortgages, and buy food, it rarely works out over the long haul. Avoid the Lunacy of One Size Fits All Think of me as your friend grabbing you by the collar shaking you into reality. Putting all your prospecting eggs into a single basket is stupid. It’s career suicide. Using the “I’m better at . . .” excuse to run from prospecting techniques you don’t like is short-sighted. The foundation of a winning prospecting strategy is balance. The very best salespeople have mastered balanced prospecting in the same manner that wealthy people have mastered balance in their investmentportfolios.Balancesimply meansthattogetthe bestreturn from your prospecting time investment, there should be a mixture of telephone, in-person, e-mail, social selling, text messaging, referrals, networking,inboundleads,tradeshows,andcoldcalling.Therelative distribution of your time investment in each prospecting methodol- ogy should be based on your unique situation. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula for balanced prospecting. Every territory, industry, product, service, and prospect base is different. As are the demands of the sales plan, economic drivers, and the strategy and direction of the business—all of which are certain to change over time. It’s also important to have a clear understanding 22 Fanatical Prospecting
of where you are against your goals because that may also determine the appropriate mix of prospecting channels. For example, in some industries or with certain products or services, if you spend the majority of your time cold calling rather than professional networking, you will fail. In others, if you don’t prospect in person, you will die a quick and painful death. In some verticals, referrals are everything, and in others, trade shows deliver the highest-quality prospects. Social selling might be a primary driver in a consulting business, while inbound marketing might carry a heavier weight with certain software products. If you work for a large company, you may have a ready-made database of prospects, and the telephone and e-mail are the most efficient and effective channels for getting in doors. If you work for a small company or a start-up, you’ll need to balance your prospecting to both build your database with long-term opportu- nities and fill the pipe with deals you can close now. The key is designing your prospecting regimen based on what works best in your industry and with your product, service, deal complexity, customer base, and tenure. In some cases, this may even be market or geographic specific. For instance, in high-density zip codes like Manhattan or downtown Chicago, you may be more efficient and effective prospecting in person rather than via phone. Likewise, tenure in your territory matters. If you are new to sales, new to your company, or have just taken over a new territory, your balance of prospecting techniques will likely need to be different than that of a tenured rep who has been in the same territory for years. In fact, this is how many rookies get themselves into big trouble. They see Joe, the 20-year veteran, generating million-dollar months with what appears to be little effort. Then they emulate this behavior. On their way to failure, they miss the fact that Joe spent years qualifying his database and now he is tuned into his prospects’ buying windows and knows exactly when to engage them. The rookies fail to understand that Joe’s success was paid for in advance with years of fanatical prospecting. Adopt a Balanced Prospecting Methodology 23
If you are brand new in your territory, company, or industry, you must be prepared to pick up the phone and do lots of dialing or hit the streets and do lots of knocking. You may have to do a good bit of cold calling to qualify and build your database. On the other hand, if you have been in your territory or industry for years, it is likely that cold calling will become a smaller portion of your prospecting balance while referrals, social selling, lead nurturing, and timely calls to qualified prospects who are moving into the buying window will become your primary focus. Look around you. Find out what the top salespeople in your organization are doing to generate qualified prospects. Then do what they do. The sale pros who are bringing home the big commission checks know the formula. Beware, though. If you sell to small and mid-market accounts and adopt the same prospecting regimen as the regional account executives or enterprise account managers, you’ll likely fail. Striking a balanced approach with prospecting is the most effective means of filling your sales pipeline no matter your industry product or service. With few exceptions, the combination of multiple techniques and channels is the most effective path to building a winning pipeline. 24 Fanatical Prospecting