You started a business, you have an awesome website, shiny new products and lovely business cards.

Now what?

It’s time to start prospecting, and you have to start NOW!

Prospecting is your ability to find new clients to buy your services or products. Prospects need your product. They find value in it and they have the financial ability to purchase it. How do you know if they need or have the ability to buy? You ask them, you get to know them.

Prospecting is like your heartbeat, your business doesn’t exist without it. If you stop prospecting, your business will flatline. In my opinion, prospecting is more important than the sales process. If you don’t have anyone to sell to, then the sales process doesn’t matter.

What prevents most people from successfully prospecting? They don’t have a plan for seeking new business.

I love a quote I read in the 15 Laws of Invaluable Growth by John Maxwell. It is a quote by E.N. Gray “the successful person has the habit of doing the things that failures don’t like to do. The successful person doesn’t like doing them either, but his dislike is subordinated to the strength of his purpose. The more tuned in you are to your purpose, and the more dedicated you are to growing toward it, the better your chances are of reaching your potential and doing something significant. Percolate on that idea for a few seconds!

Here are some tips to help get you started!

8 Tips for Successful Prospecting
 
1. Fire in your Belly!
Prospecting should be done all the time. It should always be on your mind. As you interact with people daily, you must always be determining if your product will help them and provide value. If people are in your vicinity, you must be prospecting. You must be passionate about your offering, so much that no prospect should miss out on it. Get some Fire in that Belly!

2. Know your Prospect! 
Some people believe everyone is a prospect. I believe that is true for some products like shampoo, toothpaste, etc. That may not be the case for your product. You should have a very clear image of your niche or target demographic and know what that care about. Determine who would find tremendous value in your offering. Focus on them. Have a very strong understanding of how your products benefit others. Once you have that vision in your head, make a list of the people that you know and believe will be interested in your product based on the value it offers and write it down next to their name. Why would they be interested in your product? Create a system for tracking these names. I use Excel and Evernote. It just works for me. Then you know what’s next! Start reaching out and talking to people.

3. Be Consistent!
It must be habitual like drinking coffee first thing in the morning. Start small and work your way up. Small daily disciplines repeated with consistency lead to great achievements. Make a decision today on how many prospects you will reach out to each day this week. SMART goals are my jam. Make sure your goal is specific, measurable, action oriented, realistic, and timely. i.e. I am going to reach out to 5 prospects each day this week from 1-2pm.

4. Find an Accountability Coach!
Someone who cares about your success in an unbiased way and has a genuine desire to empower you to create your own success. This can be difficult if you report to a Sales Manager or Team Leader because their income/commission depends on your success. They may not always have your best interest at hand. I hope this isn’t the case for you, but I have been there. I can only name a few sales managers that I worked with that I truly felt had a genuine interest in my personal growth and development.  You need someone to share your goals/plans and schedule a time to follow up each week and celebrate your successes. There is something about someone holding you accountable.

5. Find a Mentor!
Find someone who is prospecting with success in your business arena and ask for help. Mentors benefit from helping others as well. It keeps them on their game. Don’t be a janitor seeking help from the CEO, always think someone a few levels above you.

6. Start with Friends and Family!
Why do so many people hate selling to their friends and family? If you can’t sell to your friends and family, people who want you to succeed, then how are you going to comfortably sell to others. If you think the product is good enough for strangers, why wouldn’t you think it was good enough for the people you love the most. Use you EQ when it comes to friends and family. They know you sell it, offer it once and if they are interested they will buy. The people who ruin relationships are the ones that keep harboring the topic. You offer because they are your friends and family, however don’t expect them to buy because they are friends and family. That will kill relationships.  More importantly, if they aren’t interested, ask them for referrals. They may know someone who is! They like you, and they want you to be successful.

7. Networking with a Plan!
One of the biggest mistakes people make is going to lots of events without a strategy. Revert back to Tip #2. You must know your niche. Most networking events are on FB now so you can research the attendees before you go.  Set a goal to meet and connect with the people that would be interested in your product. And PLEASE have your elevator pitch together. Practice it until it rolls of your tongue flawlessly. I’ll blog about elevator pitches soon! I’ve made the mistake of not having mine together and I sounded like a rambling amateur.

8. Get Involved in your Community!
Find activities in your community that you are passionate about. This will help you meet people. Here is where EQ comes into play again. Don’t join the group with a “What do I get out of it” attitude. Do it because you love the cause. People will see your genuine attitude/spirit for serving others and want to be friends with you. As that friendship develops, a natural conversation always leads to what do you do. If they find value in your business. they will want to support you.

My hope is that this message empowered you today. I wish you continued growth on your journey towards success, confidence, and joy! Want to start seeing positive results in your life? Are you ready to take steps to see your business thrive? Contact me for a complimentary coaching session at: https://thebloomrevolution.com/coaching-consultation/

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Keep Blooming!

Val