Fishing for Prospects
How often have you heard "I don't have enough good prospects to call." Actually, this often indicates more of a lack of creativity on the part of the salesperson, than a true limitation on the marketplace.
Example: There was a salesperson with a very limited product. He sold locomotives. His only customer was Union Pacific Railroad. If anyone could have used this excuse, he could. But he didn't! He first found his way to small logging companies and eventually to Santa Fe Railroad.
While a lack of good prospects can be true, as the above example illustrates, it is generally not true.
The point is this, the business world today is a dynamic, teeming world community of opportunities. The success or failure of a salesperson will normally rest on realizing that there are changes occurring constantly in the following:
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Personnel; a recent study involving hundreds of Personnel departments showed that positions are changing at a rate of 50% every 6 months. Note, this is positions, not necessarily people. The person you spoke to last year might have been promoted and replaced by someone more receptive to your views and/or product information.
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Situations; changing policies or procedures may have made your product or service more viable to the prospect's new outlook. (Such as significant fraud losses during the Christmas Season, building a need for Check Guarantee, or a change in Bank Card or Debit Services.)
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Product & Services; over time, the products and services that you or your company offer will change (such as CrossCheck's new 4 Check Multiple Check Courtesy, or the availability of Cellular Point of Sale Terminals). Whatever the change may be, the wise salesperson will take advantage of these new opportunities in reviving "stale" prospects.
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You; Don't forget! You change with time and experience. Surely you are better at what you do than you were 6 months ago... Your product knowledge has increased as well.
Don't let pride stand in your way, try those accounts that slipped through your fingers when you were new. You'll probably be amazed at how much better and stronger your "net" has become. Fishing for Prospects is just like fishing for "fish", it requires you to put a line in the water.
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