The college football season is just around the corner and I can’t wait! It is not a complicated game. There are six basic skills that must be mastered to be successful. Teams that block, catch, kick, run, throw and tackle consistently well tend to win games. Those who don’t, well…you know the story.
Accelerating your sales is no different, so why do we overthink it? All businesses face the same fundamental challenge that you do—acquiring new customers.
Most people would rather have their fingernails pulled out than to pick up the phone and call someone they don’t know. I get it. No one really likes prospecting, but it is the differentiator between those throwing touchdowns and those riding the bench.
When people complain that “sales is not easy,” they don’t usually mean the process of selling. What they really mean is “prospecting is not easy.”
Here are five tips to help you get started.
- Achieve clarity. Prospecting is not marketing. They are very different disciplines. Prospecting is a proactive process conducted with systematic precision. The most successful agents are good salespeople and the most successful salespeople in any profession are good—no, great! —prospectors.
- Learn to deal with rejection. There’s no way to sugar coat it. Rejection can be hard and even the best of salespeople will take some of it personally. But it’s how you let it affect you that makes the difference. Rather than let it get to you, hop back on the horse and move on to the next person on your list.
- Develop a referral process. Most agents tell me their business is primarily from referrals. Few, however, can quantify them. A systematic referral process will keep your sales funnel full. Anyone with any kind of network can get referrals—provided the process is practiced regularly.
- Prospect daily. The reason why most businesses fail is not due to a lack of customers, but a lack of prospects. Professional sales people, even the best, know if they do not prospect daily, they will not be eating well in the next 60 to 90 days.
- Find the time. No matter how busy you think you are, carve out some time for prospecting—now! You will thank me later when others are scrambling for last-minute sales, and you have a steady, predictable revenue stream.
Remember—the numbers don’t lie. Prospecting regularly will keep your sales funnel full and a steady stream of commission checks in your bank account.
Dan Chappelle is a professional business advisor and best-selling author. His training and consulting firm helps develop sales focused business leaders and entrepreneurs in the travel and tourism industry. His book, Get Your S.H.I.P. Together: The Wealthy Travel Agent Guide to Sales, is available on Amazon.com.
For information on the Wealthy Travel Agent Academy’s business building programs, visit: www.DanChappelle.com.
