6 Keys to Successful Prospecting Calls

by Jim Klein

Are you planning properly before making your prospecting calls?

Imagine you make an announcement to a friend you're going to take a vacation in a couple of weeks. Your friend gets excited and asks, "when are you planning on leaving?" Your reply, "I don't know". She asks, "where are you going"? Again you reply, "I don't know". Now I know you would never decide to go on vacation without first making a plan.

However, that's the way many salespeople begin to make prospecting calls. With no clear plan of what they are doing. I've found there are six key ingredients which must be carefully prepared for your prospecting calls to be successful. By the time you finish reading this article you will have an understanding of what they are.

Target Your Market

You must first begin by determining who's your target market. Many salespeople try to be every thing to all people instead of targeting a particular market. Every product or service is desirable to a definable group of people. One way to determine the characteristics of that group would be to look back at the people who have already purchased from you or your company.

By looking at past and current clients you can determine the characteristics they have in common. Then you can develop a clear picture of your ideal prospect and you won't waste time on people who won't have an interest in buying.

Know Your Objective

The second key to making prospecting calls is to know your objective when making the calls. Do you want permission to drop off literature, make an appointment to talk about the benefits or maybe send them a sample.

Understanding the objective of the call will help you to stay focused. Another way to stay focused is to...

Have a Memorized Script

Many salespeople wing-it when they make prospecting calls. This practice can lead to lost time and a whole lot of unnecessary rejection. Having a well designed script will help you to focus on your objective and keep you on track. Your script should be well thought out, written and memorized so it seems very conversational.

You should keep the script in front of you when prospecting on the phone so you can refer to it when needed.

Smile

Whether your making prospecting calls on the phone or in person, it's important to smile. People would much rather deal with a friendly smiling face than someone who looks like they just sucked on a lemon. Even over the phone people can tell if your smiling or not by listening to your voice.

Be Prepared for Rejection

Fear of rejection holds many salespeople back from performing the activities that will rocket them to sales success. Most salespeople take the prospects rejection too personally. If you analyze the reason for a prospect not wanting what you're selling you'll find it's clearly they have no need.

That should not be considered rejection by any salesperson. Take it for what it is, and move on to the next call.

Have Fun

Finally, have fun while your selling. No one wants to work at something they don't enjoy. It makes it difficult to get out of bed in the morning if your not enthusiastic about what your doing. So make it fun. You can have fun and close sales at the same time.

By taking the time to plan your prospecting calls in advance, you'll save time, make more appointments and close more sales.