Sales Prospecting

Ask any salesperson what part of selling they most dislike and they will almost universally answer with one word: prospecting. No matter how capably trained as consultative, customer-focused sellers, no matter how expertly they have mastered their products and services, no matter how experienced they may be, nearly every salesperson finds prospecting to be miserable and unproductive.

This distaste reflects—or perhaps causes—one of the most troubling and seemingly intractable problems in business. Despite spending great effort cajoling, encouraging and demanding that salespeople devote time to prospecting, most sales organisations find these efforts produce insufficient returns and frequently lead to morale issues.

Effective prospecting is not that different from effective selling—it requires the use of research-based customer-centric, consultative skills. This approach is highly credentialing to the selling organisation and dramatically improves the returns on prospecting efforts. Equally important, this approach reinvigorates sellers, taking much of the monotony and frustration out of prospecting.

Successful prospecting is centred on effective messaging. Ask yourself the following two questions:

Do your sellers rely on describing your company and its products to evoke customer interest?

How are your prospecting messages any different from those of the competition?

The key to generating interest is focusing not on what you have to offer, but on what customers value. Prospect messaging that sounds or reads like a brochure will rarely win an appointment. Huthwaite helps sellers differentiate their messages by teaching them to:

• Build short, compelling and specific opening statements, voice mails and emails
• Credential themselves immediately by exhibiting knowledge of customer business issues
• Link business issues to problems the seller’s company can solve
• Leverage their expertise rather than talk about their products
• Begin to create customer value before a sales cycle begins