Prospecting Effective prospecting is a critical component of sustainable selling success. Often sales people don’t think about what needs to take place before they ever pick up the phone, arriving at the desk with or without a defined list of prospects and then forcing themselves to pick up the phone and trying to get a diary into shape. I’ve been there, but I soon realised there’s a better way. I began to see that when I was successful with the few appointments that I made, there seemed to be a pattern: I had a list of potential companies to work through (suspects) I knew something about what the company did I managed to get through to a senior decision maker We seemed to connect on the phone as I explained how I could help them, especially if I had a good reason for the call As I began to test this theory, my success in making appointments grew, which inevitably led to more sales. So I created my own suspect lists by asking for referrals from customers, scouring existing company records, newspapers and magazines on business news, attending networking events, visiting industrial developments and meeting with various social contacts. I began to research the suspects on the internet - It’s fast and free. I needed a certain number of suspects, in order to identify a certain number of good prospects, in order to make enough phone calls, in order to speak with enough decision makers, in order to make an appointment. I called this my ‘sales metrics’. They are different for everyone depending on your market, products and services - and of course your effectiveness - and you will need to work out your own, but they look something like this: 50 suspect leads - allow for; 30 phone calls – which enable; 10 conversations with decision makers – which produce; 3 appointments – which lead to; 1 new order - at a value of £x,xxx per annum. I started to carry out basic research before each call so that I understood the business I was calling, who the senior decision makers might be and how best to ‘position’ myself in the call to maximise my effectiveness. The development of the internet has made basic research much easier and you should fully utilise it as a means for quick and effective research. Additionally use email as a fast and effective way to introduce, confirm and network. And of course you must keep excellent dated records/notes of your calls, to build up a database of prospects for you to market to. Simon Rowland 2005.