I would like to make some distinctions between “sales selling” and marketing or prospecting. Let’s first define some terms:
Sales – this is the biggest umbrella of the four, encompassing all elements of the delivery of goods and services to customers in return for compensation.
- Selling – this refers to the “task” of sales. For my purposes this focuses on the direct interaction between the company representative and the prospect. It can be in person, over the phone or even through live internet chat, etc.
- Marketing – another big umbrella, is often interchangeable with sales. In college they taught us about Price, Product , Place and Promotion relating to marketing.
- Prospecting – this is the process of identifying and / or cultivating new, currently interested buyers for a company’s products or services.
Sales Prospecting
On an operative basis, the area that intrigues me the most in “sales selling”, is prospecting. There is a direct correlation between proficiency in finding better quality prospects and all of the other elements of sales.
For example:
- The better the prospect, the easier it is to close the sale.
- The better the prospecting the greater the efficiency (higher closing ratios).
- The better the prospecting the greater the opportunities (opens wider and wider markets).
- The better the prospecting the more sustainable the business (or sales career).
- The better the prospecting is the easier it is to replace current business lost to attrition.
Where to Focus Your Effort
Sales selling study often leads people to spend too much time worrying about polish and persuasion. The best place to put the most energy is in outreach that will find you new, currently interested buyers. If you have a copious supply of motivated buyers within reach at all times, everything else tends to take care of itself.
- In most businesses this will require making a commitment to a mix of outreach that invites interested buyers to respond.
- Another key factor is committing to a certain volume of activity in each form of outreach (i.e. # of calls per week, #of letters, # meetings, # of postings or press releases, etc).
- This kind of commitment tends to become a “mother of invention.” Sales selling activity will demand the preparation and ongoing maintenance elements in order to achieve the goals for levels of outreach.
At the end of the day, the ability to develop and maintain a stream of interested new buyers is a major factor in sales success. Study the subject of prospecting and become a master of it. In doing so, you will be better able to move your sales goals forward.
