Let’s face it . . . you’re busy!

You have all kinds of sales tasks that you need to complete each and every day but unfortunately . . . some of them take you away from prospecting.

If you’re like many sales professionals, that can lead to inconsistent prospecting which can hurt you in (at least) 3 ways . . .

1)    You’re not working your “hunting muscle groups”.

2)    You’re not visible enough on a consistent basis for your prospect to know who you are. You’ve slipped off their radar screen and worse yet, when you do call, you lose precious time while they try and process an important question like sounds something like; “Who the hell is this dude?”

3)    Your competitor gains visibility. You could have the best widget in the world but if your prospect doesn’t know about you and meanwhile they hear from your competitor . . . guess what happens?

What’s an aspiring sales rock star to do?

1)    Schedule your prospecting activities. Yep, Duh; but do you do it?

2)    Stick to the schedule unless there’s an emergency.

In order to stick to the schedule you need to do a few things . . .

Don’t take inbound calls when you make outbound calls. Why? Because I’m guessing its more pleasant to take an inbound call than call someone who might reject you? Aside from that, you lose your outbound call focus.

But Paul, that’s rude. I have clients that need to get in touch with me.

Good point and that’s why you should check your voicemail hourly and return calls as needed then. I can’t think of anyone who gets pissed off for waiting a whole 60 minutes to get a call returned.

No emails. Pop ups etc. I would sign out of Outlook, your social networks, set your smartphone to “Do Not Disturb” and program in the numbers that you will accept. These things can and will take your focus away from prospecting. Check your emails on the hour if you feel like you’re dissin your clients.

Let your coworkers know that you are unavailable during certain hours because you are hunting. Consider putting a sign on your door. I encourage my clients to create a sign that reads “STOP! Is it a 911 or a 411” A “911” is an emergency and your coworkers are allowed to drag you by the ear for that one but . . .

If it’s a “411” meaning they just need information, they should be respectful and come back later.

One thing you can do to help this along, is post your schedule or put a little note on that handy dandy sign that tells them when to come back. Mine is permanently set to “Never” but then again I work alone.

You might also want to tell your coworkers who like to critique your calling efforts to kindly refrain. Did you ever notice how the lazy sales reps critique your calls instead of lifting the phone to their own ear?

And Speaking Of Coworkers . . .

When you’re the only one making calls it might make you feel a tad self conscious which might keep you from prospecting regularly.

If this is the case, perhaps you can set up shop in a vacant office or commandeer the conference room to make your calls?

These are just a few of the things you can do to stay focused on your prospecting activities but they are all meaningless . . .

Until you try them!

A Triple Dog Dare For Ya . . .

Right now (as in right now) schedule some time for new account acquisition activities. When I say “schedule it” I don’t mean some approximate day and time that you commit to memory (you might as well say “AMEN” after that, because it’s a prayer!). I’m talking about a big boy/girl commitment that requires putting it on your calendar and then . . .

Refusing to let just anything keep you from growing your business.

Are you in?

FYI . . .

Our 8 session, online sales course starts on March 4th and it might be a great way for you to bring your skills up a notch or three! Click here or the handy dandy banner below for more details!

Sales Managers: Email me for special pricing on two or more participants or if you’d like to learn how I can customize this program for your team! paul@yoursalesplaybook.com