Gary Tilkin, CEO and Founder of Gary Tilkin Consultants, Inc.
Prospecting That WORKS!!
“It isn’t rocket science. If it was, I couldn’t do it!”
By Gary Tilkin, CEO and Founder of Gary Tilkin Consultants, Inc.
The challenge with prospecting is the visions the word brings up in our mind’s eye. For me, it’s a sales manager named “Bubba” who told me, “If you can’t develop a prospect to sell a car today, then you’re fired!” My success ratio, 0.00%. Now, that’s incentive for any of us. But, it’s not necessarily practical or possible, so not exactly a positive motivator. Finding someone to “buy today” is the old definition of prospecting. The new definition is; “Developing a relationship with someone who will buy from you at some point in the future”. Now, everyone can be successful prospecting! Success ration, 100%.
Three Concepts Human’s Need to Embrace before They Will Try Anything
1.
Before we can develop business (Real Results), we have to believe our efforts will create fruit (Profit Results).
2. Before we can develop business, we need to believe that the efforts we attempt, we can pull off (Be Successful At It).
3. Before we can develop business, we need to foresee, not just one sale, but rather a brighter future, ensured because of our ongoing customer-base building.
No one ever said that being an entrepreneur was easy. OH YES, you ARE an entrepreneur. Take the entrepreneur test: If you or your organization does not sell a product this week, how much money do you make this week. Answer: $0.00. YOU ARE DEFINITELY AN ENTREPRENEUR. To all my friends and associates at the Distribution and Manufactures level, you, too, are Entrepreneurs. What happens when your company’s sales and profits go down? Answer: a) Massive budget cuts putting more on your already overflowing plate of responsibilities; b) Massive layoffs regardless of your tenure; c) Outside contractor companies come in that are cheaper (not better) whether they are located in the United States or out; d) Massive attitude shifts happen because of all the massive change going on. Regardless of your place in the business, we each have a vested interest in the success of the organization.
Examples of Situations Recently Observed
To start this article out, let me give you some examples of some situations I have seen recently that really take away from our results of our prospecting efforts:
Situation #1: I have a friend who developed a new product. He’s having a hard time selling it even though it is GREAT. He built a better mouse trap, but no one really knows about it.
Situation #2: I have another friend who started a service business. He had a good first two weeks and then business became sluggish. People just don’t know he is in the business as of yet.
Situation #3: I worked with a great automotive group in the past. They are honest, hard working and professional. Their sales consultants complain constantly that not enough people are coming through the doors. When asked what they are doing to change that, they say it is the dealer’s job to get the people through the door. Basically, this dealership and their associates have not found a way to just let people know they are still in the business.
I can go on forever. Surprisingly, very few organizations and associates are being proactive in today’s environment. Even fewer are taking any action at all. It seems the mood in marketing is: “I’ll just wait out the economic slump, and by the miracle of divine intervention, all will be OK.” Huh? Enough already, let’s start getting our attitudes right and take Massive Action towards success. Stop doing nothing, and do anything but nothing.
Here is what I want each and everyone out there to do RIGHT NOW. No excuses; just do it. I don’t care if you think it will work or not, just do it. If you ask who the hell am I to demand this action from you? I am someone who cares enough to challenge you and your organization. But, do it for YOU, not for me. Don’t do it simply for your organization or any other reason. Do it for your own well being and mental state.
Five Step Process Towards MASSIVE ACTION in PROSPECTING
Step One: Go to www.vox.com <http://www.vox.com> and create a blog. This is free and looks like a website.
Step Two: Develop and write your first Blog posting. Make it positive and or informative but don’t ask for anything.
Step Three: Send out a short e-mail to EVERYONE in your “Pure Data” base with a short overview of the blog written and a link.
Step Four: Commit to put two fresh prospects in your “Pure Data” base every day, Monday through Friday. The key is “Electronic Mail”.
Step Five: Repeat steps one through four every month for the rest of your life.
When these efforts pay off, all I ask is one thing. Let me know some of your success stories. It gives me hope, energy and great joy to know that in some way I was a positive part of your personal and business lives. Until we talk again, always be a “Professional For Life”.
Gary Tilkin, CEO and Founder of Gary Tilkin Consultants, Inc.
Author of the Professional For Life Sales and Management Series
International Training Center
77 Bayshore Drive
Miramar Beach, Florida 32550
Cell: 205-540-7371 E-mail: Gary.Tilkin@GaryTilkin.com
Website: www.garytilkin.com <http://www.garytilkin.com>