Quick Lesson In Effective Phone Prospecting

Effective sales prospecting by phone can empower your sales process in ways that make you a valuable addition to any sales organization.

But are you approaching your prospecting with realistic goals?

Granted, you want to book appointments or schedule demos or get referrals.

Or at least find prospects worth talking to.

Yet all you get are individuals with no interest learning what you can do for them.

You get discouraged.

You look at prospecting by phone as something you are just not cut out for.

Sound familiar?  What I want to share with you are pointers to get you prospecting in a more efficient manner.

Effective Sales Prospecting Is Not One Call Telemarketing 

First off, forget one call telemarketing.

Or put another way, approach your calls by dividing them into two distinct categories.

The first category belongs to prospects you want to weed out of your call list.

These are the duds --- the ones with no interest in speaking with you or learning more about your services.  One call qualifies them as prospects not worth pursuing.

The second category belongs to prospects worth pursuing.

These are prospects I call “the raisins in your raisin bread”.

But to find them requires working through your prospect list…making those calls and sorting out the good from the not so good. The stronger candidates are the ones you flag for routine follow-up calls.

BOTTOM LINE: For effective sales prospecting by phone divide your prospecting calls into two distinct  phases.

First Phase:  Introductory calls to find prospects worth pursuing. Weak prospects noted. Stronger candidates flagged for follow-up.

Second Phase:  Follow-up calls to uncover active selling opportunities with your best qualified prospects.

These are prospects you consider as potential customers.

It is during this second phase you build relationships with these prospects and get to know them better by engaging in interactive one-to-one dialog.