Changing the Odds In Your Prospecting

Everyone is searching for answers on how to sell in a down economy. Many feel that the sales game has changed, but in reality the economic challenge has forced sales people to improve their skills and refine their approach.

Said the Cold Call To The Socialite Recent headlines about AC/DC’s drummer’s brush with the law got me thinking – why would someone want to kill someone? Such a passionate act must be a result of some big or egregious cause, or at the very least a means of avoiding harm. Then I remembered that in sales we see this all the time, over and over, people are trying to kill cold calling.

Everywhere you look these days, experts are proclaiming that people are 60%—or more—of the way through their decision process before they contact you or your company.

Most people don’t believe it when I tell them it’s super easy to increase their sales IQ. But first, let me tell you about some interesting data.

A question I regularly ask when working with a group of reps on prospecting, is “who do you call on?” or “who do you want to call on?” The answer I get is “the decision maker”. Now I have used a lot of different directories and databases, and they all give a title, not role in decision. But let’s say they did, the real question is what happens when you speak to that decision maker. Unfortunately often this opportunity does not go as well as hoped, for the sales person, and the decision maker.

Everywhere you look these days, experts are proclaiming that people are 60%—or more—of the way through their decision process before they contact you or your company.

In short, they’ve been online, studying their problem or looking for better ways to achieve their objectives. And, they’ve checked out some options.

I never wanted to be in sales. I only went into this field because I had an idea to start a company. The SCORE consultant I met with told me my plan wouldn’t succeed unless I learned how to sell.