The Joy of Prospecting

As a kid there was a period in my childhood, when I started avoiding Math. It was a fear instilled in me from being unable to understand a certain topic and thus avoiding it. As a grown up and being in the business for two decades, I see a stark similarity between prospecting and studying Math.

‘Call Reluctance’, like my reluctance to tackle an uncomfortable sum in childhood, is one of the most common reasons that even seasoned sales professionals fail to reach out and explore new prospects. Not reaching out, of course results in?not?getting new customers.?

I believe it is essential that a mindset change is brought about and, Sellers are energized with the idea of prospecting. This is especially exigent where Buyers Seller relationships have been in existence for a while like in Industrial Sales, where cost pressures and eroding margins put additional onus on Sellers, as we are poised to discuss in the RAIN Group’s Upcoming Round Table -?Skyrocketing Industrial Selling: Learn to Sell at Premium

Statistics show that 40% of Seasoned Sales Professionals face Call Reluctance. Also, your business will make 5 times less money as an outcome*.??What’s more, research shows that?82% of buyers would accept meetings from sales callers.??And, couple it with the fact that even the most satisfied of your old customers, have a 50% probability of leaving.?

Imagine the impact on business. A problem worth exploring and addressing, I would say.?

So, what are the underlying reasons for Call Reluctance??

Shannon Goodson and George Dudley, the co-founders of Behavioral Sciences Research Press, shared astonishing statistics in their book,?The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance. They highlight 6 reasons, and the?Fear of Rejection?being a prominent one.?

Fear of Rejection may have several causes, and I believe, a possible precursor is?Self-View.?Self-View is made up of your personal experiences and depends upon what you think of your own knowledge about the prospect’s domain or about your??skills to hold prospecting conversations. Also, Fear of Rejection may stem from your need for validation - the higher the need, the more difficult it would be to go through the prospecting process.?

Other than the Fear of Rejection, some sales persons also limit themselves due to the ‘Pride of Retaining Clients.’ While justifiable a matter of pride, an overly focus on Client Retention can act as a double-edged sword, preventing you from hunting for new logos.?

Overcoming Call Reluctance?is essentially good for the bottomline as Sales Managers & Leaders tend to place a very high premium on outcomes. But, the benefits do not end just there. There appear to be psychological benefits, too, of sealing a new deal. I have experienced how a Great Prospecting Conversation kicked me back on track, post a bout of illness. Anecdotal evidence supports this further, as many sellers I have interacted with have reported a similar sense of wellbeing and joy after prospecting conversations.?

The RAIN Group Center for Sales Research published a report, ‘Top Performance on Prospecting’, where 96% of Top performers agreed that culture supports motivation resulting in making prospecting enjoyable.?

Sales Leaders and Sales Managers can make Prospecting enjoyable and?FESTIV, by following these Tips:?

FUN:??Add a dash of Fun Element, refer?Fish Philosophy?to borrow ideas on?fun.

ENERGY:??Use Group Energy for eliminating negativity around the process

SHORT TERM WINS:????Have Short Term Input Measures as?a?lead metric in your Reward

&?recognition programs for?sustaining?prospecting focus.

TIME SPRINTS:???Allocate Time Sprints for driving Hunting across the board.

INSPIRE CREATIVITY:???Allow for out of box thinking?

VISUAL:??Make it Visual, don't let technology not limit your creativity?

When instilled with Joy, as opposed to Fear of Calling,??prospecting becomes sweeter and enjoyable.

Bon Prospecting

#sales training #b2b sales #selling #success motivation #RAINGroup