Written by: Justin Stephens, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I was working 12 hours a day. I was exhausted, but over the moon because I was helping get results, and I was almost done with the client project. That night, I had a few minutes to just sit in bed with my wife and catch up on my own business and goals. Looking through the sales pipeline, I realized something horrible. Our project was almost finished, and we had NOTHING in the pipeline.
I had a team of 4 people who all relied on me to provide for their families, and they had trusted me to make sure that we had projects and clients to continue growing and thriving. And I had let them down. Has that ever happened to you?
You get so focused on taking care of your clients, that your own business begins to get neglected? I couldn't sleep at all that night. I stayed up, planning and strategizing how to get something in the door quickly. That was the first time that I truly learned about the peaks and valleys in business. Many of us focus so intently on the task at hand that we fail to keep other tasks moving forward.
In this case, I was so focused on delivering the clients services and products, that I let prospecting and sales take a back seat. When you don't focus on prospecting and sales, you don't get any prospects or
sales!
You need to constantly focus on bringing in more prospects to build and grow any business.
But who has that kind of time? When it comes to prospecting, you need to create a process that will work whether you have 10 hours a day or 10 minutes a day to accomplish it. It should have the ability to expand and contract based on the business and what you are going through.
Here are 5 tips that have helped us create this system that have generated amazing results for my company:
1. Communicate in their language: People all have preferred methods of communication. Think about it, do you prefer to text, email, phone calls, social media messages? The chances are that if they prefer that method, they will receive communication from you. Each of us gravitates towards one method, so you need to figure out what that is for your prospect, and communicate using that same method.
2. Personalize it: Have you ever been on the receiving end of a copy and paste LinkedIn campaign? What about from a cold email? It is easy to spot and easy to ignore. If you want to get results, you need to let them know that this is a person, and that you are reaching out TO THEM!
3. Stick out: Can you remember the last cold email you got? Who did it come from? What did it look like? One of the most important parts of getting results when prospecting is to stick out from the crowd. Do something different. A couple of ways that we have stuck out before:
Custom images with our prospects logo on the image.
Personalized videos
GIF’s in our emails
Sending snail mail
Sending packages in the mail
Voice messages through LinkedIn
4. Follow up: With prospecting, it can be common not to get a response to your emails, or to the voicemails, or to the packages. The simple truth is that sales typically happen after 15 to 20 touches or interactions with a prospect. Don’t expect for some significant breakthrough or huge deal after one voicemail or email. Create a system and follow up consistently with your prospects.
5. Provide Value: People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. The best way to show that you care is through helping people solve their problems. Make the entire relationship based on the problems that your prospects are trying to solve. Give them tips and ideas. Help them find their answer. People buy from people they trust, and by showing how much you care about them and solving their problems, they will build more trust in you.
If you take these 5 tips and incorporate them into your business, you will be shocked at the results!
Want more help with prospecting for your business? We are hosting a Free 5-Day Prospecting Challenge designed to help you replicate the systems that we are currently using with our clients to generate leads and sales calls.
For more information about the event, visit our website!
Justin Stephens, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
After 10 years of running a sales training franchise, Justin left to follow his dream of building a business from nothing. As the entrepreneurial journey tends to be, his first attempt was a failure that laid the foundation for the success he has found at Prospecting Done For You. Justin helps organizations find and close more sales through prospecting, and also trains organizations on how to implement the system that he does for others. If you want to learn more about the journey or get help with your sales and prospecting efforts
