Prospecting? Nothing works.

I don't care if cold calling is claimed to be better than networking, or if networking is allegedly better than leaflet drops, or whether Facebook is better for generating business than LinkedIn or whether having a stand at a business expo is better than knocking on doors or whether referrals beats the lot hands down.

I don't have an agenda for promoting / not promoting any of them. Over the years I've done them ALL (and 1 or 2 others that I've not mentioned) and I can tell you this - they can ALL be made to work. Note I said "made to work" - none of them just 'work'.

Furthermore, I've built 2 sales businesses, (one in the UK and one in Asia) from scratch which involved training hundreds of people how to prospect. The truth is that the amount of success any method of prospecting brings, primarily depends on - guess what - that's right, the person doing the prospecting aka YOU. I've recruited, trained and worked with people who have been brilliant at (say) cold calling but really poor at getting referrals and others who have been brilliant at (say) networking but useless on a stand at an expo.

The fact is that right now, today, they all work to greater or lesser degrees depending on YOU (by that I mean your attitude) your skill, the industry / profession you're in and who your target market is. Hell, I know of businesses that find leaflets (yes leaflets!!!) through letterboxes to be their most effective way of generating new business - that's now, in 2018 - and they're successful, growing businesses

My advice? Do 'em all BUT (and this is the important part), do them enough times to be able to make a judgment. Discover which you are most effective at, which you enjoy the most - or dislike the least :-) - and do those.

Selling is a skill  #SIAS

www.sellingisaskill.co.uk