In this article, we take an in-depth look at the importance of prospecting, its relationship to closing deals, and how to overcome cognitive obstacles to improve results. A seasoned approach for professionals seeking excellence.
At h2m_ we hold weekly meetings of the SDR and Account Executive teams and in these meetings the salespeople on the team propose a topic to discuss on a rotating basis. A couple of weeks ago, a person on the team opened the can of worms about sales prospecting. How inefficient it is for a company to have a “closer” doing prospecting.
He framed the problem this way
«I'm bad at prospecting, but good at closing deals»
There are a couple of things to start with…
Table of Contents
Closing deals from the start
Avoid rationalizing with commercial prospecting
Conclusion
Closing deals from the start
First, prospecting is about closing deals, and we have to internalize it and believe in it. When we do commercial prospecting, we are asking for a first commitment from the potential client, it is the commitment of time and the commitment to explore the value that you can create for your client. Prospecting is a way to close because it involves obtaining commitments.
There are a lot of people who don’t think this way. They think that when they send an email they are prospecting, that when they are on social media posting, tweeting, sharing and chatting with people singapore b2b leads they are prospecting. There are people who when they send a white paper, or a case study, or anything that can create great value for the potential client think “I am prospecting when I do those things” . But in reality they are not prospecting, what they are doing is nurturing relationships, they are gaining mindshare and that will make the subsequent prospecting and asking for that commitment much easier. But it is not prospecting until you pick up the phone or meet face to face with the client and ask for that commitment to explore how to work together.
That's what commercial prospecting is all about.
So it's impossible to be bad at prospecting and good at closing deals, because if you're bad at prospecting, you're also bad at closing deals, and that's how it works.
Avoid rationalizing with commercial prospecting
The fact that a person believes they are bad at prospecting and says “I am bad at prospecting” is the reason they are not getting the results they want when they prospect. We humans are great at one thing, and that is rationalizing . And when we say “I am bad at cold calling, I hate it, I am not good at it…” what we are doing is rationalizing. We are wonderful creatures at rationalizing and we easily absolve ourselves of the responsibility to improve.
We open doors…
you close deals.
We are just a click away
By making a statement like “I’d rather delegate cold prospecting to someone else” you’re admitting that someone else is better than you at getting that first commitment, is a better closer than you, so there’s no reason to delegate anything. That person should be selling instead of you.
Conclusion
So this is the conclusion of this:
One, prospecting is closing deals, you have to internalize it, and
Two and even more important: your beliefs are what drive your actions, your actions are what drive your results, so you have to choose your beliefs very carefully. You can't rationalize, you can't absolve yourself from the responsibility of improving yourself in whatever it takes to get the results you want to produce.
It's the weekend, I know, and this is a deep topic. But I encourage you to start Monday with the idea that you are going to choose your beliefs. Because those beliefs are going to drive your actions, and those actions are going to drive your results.
