Prospecting Vs. Selling: Find a 'Thirsty Horse'!

Kim DeMotte's 'Catch & Release' Process is the Gold Standard for Prospecting.

He makes the important point that there is a distinct difference between Prospecting and Selling.

Prospecting is sorting and sifting.

Selling is influencing.

Ideally, the two should be separate functions, done by different people.

The Prospecting should be a quick filtering process that easily determines if the Suspect has a need for your product and service, and more importantly, realizes it.

Once these individuals are found, a salesperson can call to see if the product or service they offer is a fit for the prospect and if it will solve their problem.

Ralph Blakey gave this analogy:
"I never thought it made sense to go into a grassy field, find a horse, put an arm around their neck and drag them to a water trough next to a fence, and push the horse's face into the water.

Doesn't it make more sense to find a Thirsty Horse?"

Tele-Prospect Filtering finds those Thirsty Horses.

Mind Mapping is the
'Swiss Army Knife for the Brain!'

Target Your Prospects:Defining a Prospect List

Prospect Lists can be very effective in your marketing efforts.

Even if you don't purchase a list, the exercise for defining your target market will be invaluable!

Two important rules for defining such a list:
1. Define as specifically as possible what you want.
2. Define as specifically as possible what you don't want.

Here are the Steps:

1. Choose the SIC Codes (Standard Industrial Classifications) that best describe your Target Market.
   These codes are a way of classifying businesses to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America.
   Here is a great site from the US Department of Labor to use for this purpose.
   Important: Many of these codes go several layers deep. Going through the layers of each code is an important part of the filtering process needed to specifically target prospects who meet your criteria.
   There are Divisions, Major Groups, and Industrial Groups with explanations for all.
   
   
2. Filter by Data Elements; i.e. number of employees, annual sales, square footage, etc.
   Example: Janitorial Services might be interested in square footage.
   Too little space may not be worth their while, and too much space could be a competitive bidding war they might also want to pass on.
   
   
3. Define the geographic area of your prospects.
   This might be nationwide, regional, state, zip code or a mileage range from a particular zip code.
   
   
4. The List Broker will then come back to you with a 'Count' of how many records meet the criteria you have specifically filtered for.
   
   
5. Purchase the number of records you needed based upon budget, price breaks, and specific needs.

Good Selling!

SWOT Analysis Strengths • Weaknesses • Opportunities • Threats

Discover New Opportunities.
Manage and Eliminate Threats.

SWOT Analysis is a powerful technique for understanding your Strengths and Weaknesses, and for looking at the Opportunities and Threats you face.

I use a powerful tool, Mind Mapping, to achieve the maximum results.

What makes SWOT particularly powerful is that, with a little thought, it can help you uncover opportunities that you are well placed to exploit. And by understanding the weaknesses of your business, you can manage and eliminate threats that would otherwise catch you unawares.

More than this, by looking at yourself and your competitors using the SWOT framework, you can start to craft a strategy that helps you distinguish yourself from your competitors, so that you can compete successfully in your market.
(Explanation for SWOT credit: Mindtools: James Manktelow & Amy Carlson)