4 Prospecting

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PROSPECTING & QUALIFYING

POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS

By Peter M Wafula


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Who is a Prospect & What is

Prospecting?A prospect is a qualified person or

organization that has the potential to buy

your product or service Prospecting is the lifeblood of sales

because it identifies potential customers

Why prospect? To increase sales


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To replace customers that will be lost over time Who is a lead?

A person or organization that could be referredto as a suspect-the person or organization issuspected of being a prospect

Once the lead has been qualified, the leadbecomes a prospect


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Characteristics of a Qualified

Prospect Does the prospect have the money to

buy?

Does the prospect have the authority tobuy?

Does the prospect have the desire to buy?

A simple way to remember this qualifyingprocess is to think of the word MAD


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How & Where to obtain

Prospects The cold canvas methodthis is a method

that is based on the law of averages.For

example, if past experience reveals that oneperson out of ten will buy a product, then fiftysales calls could result in five sales

The salesperson contacts in person, by phone,

and/or by mail as many people aspossible,recognizing that a certain percentage ofpeople approached will buy


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There is normally no knowledge about theindividual or business called on

This form of prospecting relies solely onthe volume of calls made

The door-to-door and the telephone

salesperson both employ cold canvasprospectors


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Endless Chain-Customer Referral-this refersto satisfied customers who refer the salesperson

to someone else to do business with It is a very effective method of findingcustomers because it has the highest credibilitydegree

Customers and customer referrals are the twobest sources of future sales, with repeat salesfrom customers being better


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Orphaned customers-salespeople oftenleave their employers to take other

jobs;when they do, their customersbecome orphaned

A salesperson should quickly contact suchcustomers to begin developing

relationshipsYou can turn orphans into a lead-

generating goldmine


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If you have been selling for a while youvebuild up a backlog of inactive accounts

Weed out the names who for whateverreasons will never buy

The rest are solid prospects

Call them and find out why they are notbuying from you anymore


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Get Lists of Prospects-make a list ofwhat your ideal prospect looks like.Ask

yourself the following questions: Who are my ideal prospects? Which economic bracket do they usually

fall into?

What kinds of organizations do theybelong to?


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What characteristics do most of my existingcustomers share?

Are they married,single,widowed, or divorced? Do they have children? Do they have particular political leanings?

Do they have similaroccupations,hobbies,illnesses,transportationneeds or family concerns?


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Public Exhibitions and Demonstrations-arerich sources of sales leads and prospects

As interested people gather around your stand,itis critical that you take down their names andaddresses for follow-ups

Although salesperson-buyer contact is usuallybrief,this type of gathering gives a salespersonextensive contact with a large number ofpotential buyers over a brief time


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Using Direct Mail for Prospecting

What is direct mail? Direct mail is a form of communication

that entails: Mailing information to the customers Writing letters to the sales force

Mailing data or information to thedistributors


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Writing letters to the managers In other words, every time you write a

letter, you are indulging in direct mail Questions you should ask yourself

before sending out the letters:

What do I expect to achieve by sendingout this letter


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What could I expect to achieve? What are the benefits of direct mail?

Versatility Selectivity Direct action through generating leads for

the sales force on a continuous costeffective basis


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Direct mail supports the sales team by: Giving advance notice of calls

Assisting in the making of appointments Keeping product information in the forefront ofthe key targets more often than the salesmencan call

Reminding the target of the product rangewithin the salespersons cycle In making announcements or promotion news


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Direct mail will work for you if you have agood plan that follows clearly-defined

objectives The first thing that needs to be done is toensure that the company has the rightmailing lists

The correct target lists must be build andbe kept up to date


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The mailing lists should be categorized asfollows:

Top prospects list Medium prospects list General prospects list

In this way the budget that is allocated tothe mailings can be related to thebusiness expected


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Prospecting By Telephone

Telephone selling enables the company to exertmuch greater control over its sales operations asfollows:

It increases sales to existing customers It liberates by reducing routine calling activity Increases the rate of dissemination of

information to prospects regarding price, uses,packaging changes,brand activity, etc

It opens new accounts


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Revives moribund accounts which havenot ordered for six months

Introduces new lines to prospects Increases average order size Increases total numbers of orders

obtained per week


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As well as the direct effect of the telesalesactivity, it can free salespersons time so

that more time can be spent on, forexample:

Opening new accounts

Reviving moribund accounts Selling the full product range


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Introducing new products Negotiating more promotions

More effective planning


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Ground Rules for Running a

Successful Telephone Sales Unit Define the objectives-objectives shouldbe stated in clear measurable terms so

that the results achieved can be assessedand be congruence with companysmarketing objectives ensured

Precise targets need to be set for ordersizes,conversion rates for telephone calls

Number of calls to be made in a set period


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Planning and controls-the volume of sales byproduct to be sold and the types of customers tobe sold to should be planned

The frequency of customer or prospect calls,and the role of the telephone selling system inrelation to the sales force should be defined

Existing paperwork and order-processingsystems will need to be made compatible withthe telephone selling systems


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Recruitment and selection-Telephone salesunits should have qualified teams that are wellmotivated and trained to give quality service to

the customers Sell the idea to the sales force- the sales

team must be convinced that the telesales teamwill compliment and indeed add value to the

process of selling.Telesales must be seen tosupport the efforts of the field sales team so asto win their confidence


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Sell the idea to the customers- for thetelesales unit to be successful, the

customers must be convinced that thetelesales personnel will not replace thesales force but instead the customers

need to be educated to believe that theunit will add value to their businesses byspeeding up ordering processes


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Implement and validate-telesalesshould be tested on a pilot basis before a

company goes national or commits all itsresources to it


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The end

4 Prospecting

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