Stop Prospecting And Start Positioning For More Sales
Prospecting is the one task despised by most sales people. In fact it would be fair to say it would be the weakest link in the career.
Unfortunately prospecting is is the one skill most sales managers and business owners pump into their sales teams as a necessary task. No matter what great argument the boss outlines to his team, prospecting is generally hated by salespeople. They are genuinely fearful of cold calling, door knocking and they don’t much care for spending hours in the boiling sun dropping leaflets into non inviting letterboxes.
And you know what? I hate prospecting as well. If I had to rely on getting leads for my business by cold calling or door knocking, then I would give up and pack groceries at the local supermarket.
There must be a better way than prostituting ourselves in order to get people to buy our products or services. Most sales people dream of the perfect customer coming through their door or website, credit card in hand and ready to buy. This is utopia for a sales person.
Well what if you could make that come true? What if you could get a ton of pre-qualified leads coming to you begging you to do business. Well there is a way.
Instead of prospecting to all and sundry why not position yourself in your market place as an expert that people seek out to do business with. Rather than you chasing prospects, they come to you. You see when do all the chasing, the prospects sales radar goes up and they become wary of you. But if you are seen as the expert, qualified prospects will come to you and buy.
Here’s how you can position yourself to attract the right prospects:
Writing
Write articles and have them published in newspapers, websites and article directories to help people find you. Once in circulation these articles last a life time and will generate quality leads for you forever. Make sure your topic is well researched and provides value to the reader. You’ll have a prospect turn into a customer for life.
Public Speaking
Speak for free at your local associations in your city offering advice that can help them. If you go online or look up your local yellow pages you’ll find a list of clubs and associations who would love to have a guest speaker address their group from time to time.
Another way to lift your profile with speaking is to team up with an already established speaker and offer something that they are not covering or have expertise in. This way you’ll get great exposure to their existing clientele which could be in the thousands.
Be Better
Be better in all things that you do. Stand out. In the case of real estate agents, do you deliver a pre listing kit to your prospects seeking an appraisal? If you do make sure it is spectacular. Include some copies of your newsletter, throw in your testimonials (especially if you have them from famous people), add some media stories about you and finally, throw in a discount coupon on advertising, signage etc if they proceed with you in listing their property.