Habits of a Successful Salesperson
Prospecting is a salesperson’s lifeblood. But it’s not easy to do well, and it’s not that easyto learn, either.
But don’t worry. The best prospectors each have their own special habits and routines. Work on these behaviors and you just might find yourself filling the top of your sales pipeline better and faster than you ever have.
1) They actually set aside time to prospect.
You know when you don’t do the dishes? It’s kind of an annoying chore despite it not being that hard. So you push it off just a little more each day, and before long you have a sink full of dirty china right before you have 10 guests coming over for a dinner party, when it’s too late.
Prospecting is an easy thing to neglect, and by the time you remember you haven’t done it — hello, empty pipeline! — it’ll take quite a while to get yourself back to where you should be.
That’s why the best reps make sure to set aside a block of time to prospect each day or week, and hold themselves accountable to doing it.
2) They don’t reinvent the wheel.
Sales is far from a volume game, but the reality is that you’re going to have to pick up the phone a certain number of times or send a certain number of emails to get the number of responses you need. Even in a perfect world, you’ll probably never have a 1:1 ratio of calls made to deals closed.
So you’ll have to do a good deal of prospecting to generate the pipeline you need. And that’s impossible if you try to develop some new system of prospecting each time you do it. The best prospectors develop an effective process that can be repeated at scale so they can prospect efficiently.
3) They use technology to their advantage.
We’re in the 21st century. More information is available to salespeople than ever before, and not using it to prospect is doing yourself a huge service. Great prospectors use every tool they have at their disposal to its fullest extent. Whether it’s knowing your CRM and marketing automation systems inside and out, using LinkedIn, Google Alerts, or other online tools, reps who excel at prospecting incorporate technology into every step of their routine.
4) They know how to balance quantity and quality.
Prospecting is partially a volume game and partially about the quality of leads you can source. It’s essential to be discerning enough that you’re not calling everybody — a waste of time — but fast enough that you don’t spend half your day trawling LinkedIn.
5) They don’t take meetings with just anybody.
While booking meetings is the ultimate goal of prospecting, you need to make sure they’re good meetings — otherwise it’s just a waste of your time. So be on the lookout for any red flags that signal that your buyer isn’t a good fit.
Happy Tuesday & Happy Selling!
Kevin
P.S. If you feel you have what it takes to be a successful salesperson and would like to join our winning sales team, please email your resume to HR@Banquest.com.