Prospecting is selling - Never stop looking for gold, even if your bag is full...
Too often when things are going good, business in flourishing and revenues are up, prospecting becomes secondary, and the team's momentum and propensity to look for new business is lost. Eventually, the pipeline is dry and you find yourself wondering what has happened, and rush in too low margin programs to recover lost revenues using "sell quick" strategies. You see prospecting is selling, and every day there must be concerted effort towards this most important function of the sales process or your direction and strategies become clouded.
Some say 25% of the day should be devoted to prospecting, some say 50, 60 or 70%, who can really say what the right percentage is? For sake of discussion, I would suggest every minute of every day that you're not writing an order, you should be looking for new customers. Entering a prospect in to your sales pipeline is the number one most important thing a sales or service person can do, and the only way to find new customers is to look for them. Just like the original gold miners, prospecting is the fun part, and the excitement of when and where the next piece of gold will be found is what kept them motivated, and should keep your team motivated as well.
Many things prevent sales or service people from prospecting for new customers. Most times it is a lack of measureable accountabilities from the leadership, and a deep rooted complacency that results from years of relative success. However, when things get tough these companies and sales teams struggle to find the truth in their slow but certain demise. You see prospecting is selling, and instilling a clear understanding of this important element of the sales process is critical to yours and their survival. Don't let your team become a victim of their own success by limiting their accountability to prospecting.
The other reason your pipeline is running dry, is the competition is right now inventing new ways to prospect YOUR customers away from you, and taking what could have been your future customers before you even knew it. Remember, no company has an unlimited amount of suspects and you're in a continual battle to acquire, retain and maintain new and existing customers. No matter how good you and your product or service might be, there are competitors out there that will try everything they can to rob you of your best opportunities. Your desire to stay ahead of your competition and keep your pipeline full has everything to do with your level of prospecting. You can only survive on your existing customer base so long, and it's imperative that new customers are added to assure growth. Growth comes through acquisition of new customers, and if you're not growing your database, it's shrinking. And, your competitors are licking their chops because you have become complacent.
As the title says, "Prospecting is Selling", and if you're not doing it, you're probably going to lose the long term battle; you just don't know it yet. Train your teams to devote every moment they are not writing an order to be looking for new potential customers. Prospecting is the difference between success and failure in the business of sales and service, and should always be the number one most aggressive approach to increase revenues.
Be adamant about your efforts to be the best at what you do, and win the battle for customer acquisition by employing a sales process that includes a strong a detailed commitment to prospecting.
