Prospect Factory

Prospect Factory, Ted Stevenot, Palmetto Publishing, 2004

As a salesperson or self-employed person, generating new sales leads is an important, but challenging (to put it mildly) necessity. It's worse when there is no natural market, you can't call people you know, and there are no referrals. This book shows how to get around such obstacles.

First of all, decide on a market for your product; not "everybody." Perhaps you should focus on companies in a 50-mile radius with sales of over a million dollars per year. Get a mailing list from the state business association or from a mailing list company, and decide who, on the list, should be called. Set aside a certain amount of time, whether daily, weekly or monthly, to call people on that list, and stick with it. Have a script in front of you identifying yourself, and asking to speak with the person who purchases widgets (or whatever you are selling). Come up with your own system, on the list, to distinguish between No Answer, Out of Service, Person Not Available, etc. If the person asks to be put on your Do Not Call list, always honor such requests, but don't cross them off your list. Cross reference your Do Not Call list with any future, or updated, lists you may purchase. That way, you have that many fewer people to call.

For those who say some version of Maybe, be sure to make follow-up calls, if appropriate. Ask if you can send them a one-page sheet about your product, which you will already have written and printed, and have ready to fax or mail, that day. If you are still "in the running," this is when you offer to put together a pricing proposal, or meet with the potential client, to see about turning Maybe into Yes. If they ultimately say No this time, they may say Yes next time, so your efforts are not totally in vain.

This is a specialized book, but a good and easy-to-read book. Anything that makes cold calling less unpleasant is worth investigating. This is well worth the time.