Managing Prospects

From Art Sobczak:

This Week's Tip:
How to Be Sure That When They
DO Buy, It's From You

Greetings,

"Move them forward or move them out." That's what
I constantly preach about prospects in your follow-up file.

This means if a prospect isn't moving closer to buying
each time you speak, they're taking your valuable time.
Keep in mind that you can make more money, but you
can't make more time.

Don't get me wrong, though. Especially in today's economy,
that doesn't mean that you should completely write ALL of
them off. Who hasn't been pleasantly surprised by that
prospect we thought we'd never do business with, the one
who later calls and says, "I'm ready now." But hoping for
that can't be your main sales strategy.

You can, though, make this happen more often. You just
need to be proactive, and smart about it. Have a personal
marketing strategy for staying in contact with your higher
potential prospects.

Here's what I mean.

Some reps are lucky enough to have a virtually limitless
supply of prospects.. Most of us, however, have a finite
number to draw from, and with the sincere buyers, it pays
to stay in touch with them.

There are two groups I'm talking about.

1. Those who are not great prospects for you today (too
small, not qualified) but could very well be in the future.
And although you likely won't have them in your regular
rotation of calls, you want to be sure they think of you if
and when situations change at their company
.
2. In addition to the prospects you decide not to pursue
because they're not qualified, there are those who are
qualified, but choose not to do business with you for
whatever reason. Buy hey, things change, so it's in
your best interest to not write all of these off.

First, let's look at just a few reasons why prospects
won't buy from you today: no need, no interest, no
money, and, no hurry.

Those are the basic ones you see in every sales book.
As a subset of the "no hurry" reason, let's break it down
even further.

- they're lazy. Buying from you would involve some work.

- they procrastinate. Who doesn't?

- they are too busy with other, more pressing activities
(which also could fall in the "no need" category).

There's actually another reason that we might not like
to admit: maybe we did a poor job selling to them.
Hopefully that's not the case, but keeping them in
your funnel could result in something down the road.

So what should you do? Stay in contact with selected
high-potential prospects through methods that don't
require much of your time.

Use the mail, fax, and e-mail. Consider putting together
a brief newsletter that provides valuable information
they can use, not just puffery about your company
and products.

For example, include tips and tidbits that can help
them in their jobs. Of course the suggestions should
include the use of your product or service, but that's
not the main reason for the communication.

For instance, a supplier of packaging products could
send out a piece on "Ten Ways to Reduce Your
Shipping Expenses." (I have put together a short
piece on How to Your Personal Telesales Stay-In-
Touch Marketing Campaign. See it at
http://www.TelesalesBlog.com)

The return on this type of marketing communication
could be huge. And here's the simple reasoning:

- things change, and,

- out of sight, out of mind.

Situations in companies change every day. (Just
think about the changes at your company in just
the past three months!) If changes involved new
needs and requirements, they'll likely turn to what
is familiar.

And when you're in touch with them, you could be
at the forefront of their mind when a new need
develops. Plus, through repetitiveness, you build
credibility in their mind. The more they see your
name, the more familiar and credible it
becomes.

Now, as with most ideas that require work, I know
most people won't do this. I can tell you though,
that for those who do, they show the bigger sales
results.

Mix in a little smart marketing with your selling,
and you'll find that you're maximizing the return on
your time investment.



=====================================


QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Success in life is a matter not so much of talent or
opportunity as of concentration and perseverance."
C. W. Wendte

Go and have your best week ever!

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