You could be the world’s greatest salesperson selling the world’s best product, but if you can’t connect with your prospects, will your sales results reflect your expertise?
If you can’t open a dialogue with prospective buyers, it becomes very difficult to sell a product or service!
This is a common problem for many sales professionals – the inability to secure a conversation with potential customers. A certain feeling of frustration creeps in and it can become difficult to maintain the focus or motivation to keep trying. When you’re passionate about your product and its ability to help your prospect, the frustration tends to grow even more.
Can you relate to these feelings? Chances are you have felt this frustration at one point or another.
Want some good news? I have a few points worth discussing that will hopefully drive you to keep trying to initiate contact with your prospects:
1) Good things don’t come easy
Some of Engage’s best clients agree that it takes an average of 10 attempts to secure a conversation with a prospect. Underperforming salespeople tend to give up within 5 attempts and some give up after the first call. Stay persistent and the results will come!
2) The power of a diverse approach
Don’t simply try to access your prospect via a telephone conversation. They may automatically ignore unknown numbers or the number you’re calling may be out-of-date. Try faxing, emailing, sending messages via social media, or you can even attempt to send snail mail or a courier package.
[bctt tweet=” The more you diversify your approach, the greater the likelihood of connecting with your prospects. ” username=”EngageColleen”]
3) Your prospects are people
Your potential buyers may not be ignoring you. Keep in mind that your prospects are not working 24/7, nor are their lives defined by their position at work
They may be on vacation, on sick leave, or simply too busy to answer your phone calls at any given moment. Don’t automatically assume the worst when you cannot connect with a prospect.
It can be a frustrating process, but the successful salespeople of the world are not quitters! Continue to prospect aggressively and don’t get discouraged when you’re unable to connect. Persistence is key!
On average, how many attempts do you make before connecting with a potential customer?
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Colleen, your advice is spot on Salespeople need resiliency and flexibility and not just product knowledge and your three suggestions are great motivation to be more flexible and resilient.