In this issue, our focus and continuing theme is on prospecting for new business. Each article contains an e-mail link that will allow you to contact the author with any specific questions or responses that you may have. You can reach us on the web at www.thesdn.com or by phone at (330) 505-1551.Your feedback is strongly encouraged.

On behalf of all of the contributing authors and participants, welcome to the Brainstormer. Here’s to your success!

I recently ran into John Mathews an old friend from way back when who is now a very successful sales person with Aflac. I shook his hand and asked him how he was. His answer caught me completely off guard. “I am super, great, fantastic, phenomenal, incredible, tremendous, you can probably feel the en-thus-iasm, the excitement, the mo-tiv-ation, just radiating off of my body. But enough about me how are you?” What an incredible attitude! In response, all I could do was smile. John had completely taken away any stress that I had been feeling prior to seeing him and left me smiling for the remainder of the day. He had told AND shown me how well he was doing and then turned the focus to me by asking, “Enough about me how are you?” Your prospecting efforts should be the exact same way. Start with a positive, uplifting can do attitude and then focus on how your prospect is doing and if you can help them to do better.

With your can do attitude leading the charge, you should now develop a process for building your target list if you have not done so already. Some organizations employ mass media campaigns to develop new business. If your product or service appeals to a large target market such as retail, a mass media campaign can translate into great sales results. If your target market happens to be a specific vertical market however or if your budget does not allow for a mass media campaign, then a targeted prospecting plan with a multi step qualifying process is the way to go.

As a professional sales person focused on specific vertical markets, I like to spend the majority of my selling time working with qualified prospects, not suspects. I recommend utilizing a targeted step by step qualifying process. If you are in a similar situation, your prospecting process should look something like this;

First, identify the right contact at your prospect company. Take the time to call and find out who the right contact is. Sending something to a non-target is a waste of time and counter productive. Second, send a creative, interest peaking, NON-SELLING direct mail piece. Yes, that’s right, I said non-selling. This is the time to get their attention, not the time to sell. Next, send a follow up letter of introduction. With this letter, introduce yourself and set an expectation such as, “I will call you next week to formally introduce myself and to talk about how you (insert your product or service here)” By the time your prospect receives a phone call from you, they will have heard your name and the name of your company at least twice. This should make your first phone call to them much easier.

At last, the time has come for the first phone call to your new prospect. Your mission on this call is two fold; to introduce yourself and to find out if they have a need for your product or service. After your introduction, ask if they have problems or issues that your product or service solves. This should immediately be followed up with a few open ended questions to gain valuable details. If they are willing to open up to you, let them do so. If you identify an interest or a need, set an appointment to further investigate. The information that you gather from your first prospect phone call will help you prepare for your first face to face meeting.

Remember, you only have so much “Selling time” on any given work day. Spend it wisely developing qualified prospects. It’s a great way to make hay while the sun shines.

Alex Milne is the President of the Sales Development Network, LLC. Click HERE for more information or to contact Alex.