The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

What do the best managers do to get their salespeople to pick the right prospects? They become the gatekeeper. No prospect should ever get on a salesperson’s Target list until it has been fully qualified against a set of objective criteria, a target business profile.

When helping a salesperson determine a high priority prospect, ask them the following questions using the following criteria: Dollar Potential, Access, and Fit.

"Silence is golden"—usually this is said right after your children leave the room and you finally have a moment of peace.

Before choosing which prospects to target, it’s best to generate a long list of leads so you can narrow to the best leads. Using the categories you’ve identified as a good fit your business, decide which sources on this list are right for you to generate your own list of leads.

Here are three questions for sales managers and sellers:

1. Who has time to waste with prospects that don’t have the cash to purchase the kind of solutions you sell?
2. Who has time to waste trying to get an appointment with a prospect that is impossible to gain access to?
3. Who has time to waste with prospects that have a consumer base beyond the scope of your products?

Most sellers are time-starved with no time to waste… especially when it comes to developing new customers. Investing time selecting quality, new business, target prospects makes all the sense in the world because some prospects are better than others, and qualifying them will help save time in the long run.

Have you ever stopped and wondered how many other salespeople are trying to get a meeting with the same prospect as you? It’s a pretty overwhelming number when you think about it. Day-in and day-out, decision makers are being bombarded with voicemails, emails, drop-ins, and various other methods your competition is using to gain access.

In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s tough to cut through the clutter. Leading with a compelling insight that you can turn it into a valid business reason (VBR) is essential for your prospect to want to connect with you.

I've always found it fascinating that the greatest athletes of all time  -- whether it be Michael Jordan or Tom Brady -- always practiced. Every single day, they would go to the gym or go to the field, and they would practice the basics.

I find that interesting, because in sales, rarely do we ever practice. Pretty much every needs analysis or presentation is game day. We walk in, ready to play, and hope it works out. We don't spend much time rehearsing, practicing, or game planning, and I think that's a mistake. 

As a sales manager, it's your job to help your salespeople get better at what they do. So, how do you do that? 

Early on in my sales career, there was a prospect that I was determined to close. Everyone on my sales team had tried to gain access to this decision maker, and some had gotten as far a conversation, but it never evolved from there. When my manager suggested I try to approach this target prospect, I eagerly accepted the challenge. In my head, I confidently thought, “I can make this happen.” Ha!

I spent months calling, dropping by, leaving voicemails, and sending emails. I never managed to get through to anyone, but I remained persistent and didn’t give up until one day I was told not so politely to go away.

Often during my career, I have reflected on that cringe-worthy experience. I had been persistent (outright annoying), and at the time, I had truly thought that persistence alone should get me in the door. As I began to develop and grow as a salesperson, I began to see the power of not just being persistent, but being persistent with a purpose. I learned the importance of earning trust and offering value to the prospect. Unfortunately, I had to experience some tough lessons before I got to this point.

Talking about price with a new business prospect can be tricky. If you do it too soon, you might scare away a prospect. If you wait too long, the sticker shock might blow your proposal out of the water because it exceeds reality. 

Here’s a list of recommendations and things to consider about the topic of price along with three effective ways to prompt the conversation (including some easy to use ROI formulas).