If you don’t have a prospect, you are out of business. – Zig Ziglar
Life Follows A Sequence
Life follows a defined order. The sequence of life usually follows the mathematical order of counting one before two. Nature also follows a defined arrangement. When you sow, you reap. When you work, you eat. The farmer who plants mango will reap mango and not orange. What you plant is what you harvest; what you sow is what you reap. This is a natural sequence. It is also imperative to note that the result you get in any venture is proportionate to the effort you make. If you want to get more result, you have to get ready to put in more efforts. Life follows this simple order. Successful folks follow this order too. Once you invest your effort in the right place at the right time, the result is usually positive. This is an indisputable fact in personal or professional life.
It is also imperative to note that the result you get in any venture is proportionate to the effort you make. If you want to get more result, you have to get ready to put in more efforts. Just as life follows this simple order, successful folks follow this order too. Once you invest effort in the right place at the right time, the result is usually positive. This is an indisputable fact in personal or professional life.
Look Out For Viable Prospects
Now, let’s bring this logic to the Sales World. A lot of authorities agree that the first duty of a business is to discover customers. Management expert, Peter Drucker propounded this over forty years ago. You can’t think of success in any business without this first function. No customers; No Business. But put in proper perspective: No Prospect, No Customer … No Business! This is the appropriate sequence because customers come from viable prospects. Customers don’t just emerge – unless in an open market situation where buyers come in to buy and go their way after doing their businesses. In this situation, they buy out of their volition in preferred places
Otherwise, winning customers is as a result of the effort, sales and marketing people make on their prospects. It is common knowledge in personal selling that prospects are discovered before customers. This means that it takes a prospect to find a customer. It takes customers to build and sustain a business. Successful sales professionals keep their prospects’ accounts in ‘green’ always. They expand the number of prospective customers on a daily basis. This is the way to go, the way to the top. Maintaining positive prospects’ reservoir makes a successful salesman. There are practical formulas for achieving this. This is what we teach in our Selling Champion Masterclass. Your prospects’ accounts must be on the increase if you want to maintain a healthy customer base. You will rely on viable prospective customers when the going gets tough. Successful salespeople employ this strategy in the field because viable prospects serve as lifelines when the marketplace is stiffer than imagined.
A salesman who adopts this approach will likely have a lot of people to sell to. I have used the word Viable on several occasions here. Let me explain this. Not all prospects will end up as customers. Sales activities require a sequence of deliberate actions to convert a prospect to a customer. Viable or Positive prospects result to customers. Salesmen should ensure that they develop this aspect of selling. The salesman should follow up on prospects that will give the desired result. Ensure you follow the right prospect. Ensure also that you are selling your product in the right market, at the right time and for the right prospect. This is what makes a prospect viable.
Prospect Efficiently
Smart selling encourages spending more resources of Time, Energy and Money in places that will give the best outcome. Resources are limited; therefore it is advisable to be efficient in the field. Try to use the available resources to get the best result. This is the way of champions.
Spending resources where results won’t be felt is not the way to go in today’s tough business environment. Some places will not yield desired results. Some places will end up frustrating the salesman!
A viable prospect is the life of the business. No business will survive without viable prospects. Salesmen should continue to discover new prospects on daily basis and never get tired of doing so. This is real selling. The salesman should constantly be on the move. He is likened to a Minister of the Gospel who goes about spreading the good news. The good news must be heard by all! Selling is an active profession. There is nothing like an ‘armchair salesman.’ You just have to ensure that you get things done. Your products should be on every shelf within your sales territory. Your products and services should be popular in the marketplace. This is your calling as a salesman. Let your worth be felt.
