Gone Fishing | 5 Keys to Hooking Your Prospect

Posted August 21, 2024 in Sales Brew

No doubt I got some of you with that title. While I am not an avid fisherman, I have plenty of friends and clients who love saying (generally at a very early hour in the morning) they are “gone fishing” for the day.

And of course, since somebody decided many moons ago to sell somebody something, salespeople often refer to their new business efforts as either hunting or fishing. Today I want to share with you 5 keys to prospecting for new business:

Remember that the average number of outreaches to simply get a prospect to engage with you is roughly 16 outreaches. Keep in mind that is an average – it could be even more. So, you might be out on the lake in your fishing boat longer than you want.
Most recent surveys indicate that roughly 20% of the typical C-suite prospect is going to take your call or reply to your email when they don’t know you or someone has not vouched for you. You must ask for referrals. If you don’t you are effectively blocked from 80% of your available prospects.
Brian Tracy has used the analogy of kissing frogs when it comes to prospecting. If you must kiss a frog every day, do it first thing when you get to the office. Why spend all day thinking about kissing the frog when you could simply pucker up and smooch away. Do the hard things first and your day will get easier.
Remember that the average number of people on a prospect’s deal team has increased from 2 -3 to now where it runs around 4 to 6. In a weakened economy along with tight budgets more eyes are looking at discretionary spending than ever before…at least since the pandemic year of 2020.
Don’t forget that there are only two reasons that cause a salesperson to fail: a lack of effort and a lack of skill. Talent comes and goes in salespeople. So does charisma and confidence. But it always safe to bet on hustle over talent (particularly when talent does not hustle).

Finally, don’t try to sell me (see what I did there) on you not having the time to prospect. We all have the same amount of time. You have the time. You just need to use it. Remember that time is the only currency you spend where you don’t know your balance. Spend it wisely.

Good luck out on the lake. Here is hoping the fish are biting every day. And don’t be mad at the results you didn’t get because of the work you didn’t do.

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