Sales Prospecting – My 2 Cents

As I mentioned the other day, I want to add on to the list that Brian Carroll has on his website for cold calling tips.  You can find that article here.  Today, I bring you what I would call tip #9 – Respect your prospect’s time!

#9 – Respect your prospect’s time!

When you reach someone live it is important to be conscious of their time.  Why?  Well your initial goal by targeting the organization is to locate the appropriate person to speak with and after that it is to gain some of their “time” to qualify first and, if appropriate, move the sales process forward. 

What I mean is that the role of the teleprospector is to penetrate an organization and qualify them as an opportunity for the sales team (uncover pain/need, etc).  A critical step in this qualification process is to set the appropriate next step expectation with the prospect and advance the sales process.  So the “close”, if you will, of a teleprospector is to book some time on the prospect’s calendar for the next step in the sales process.

As a result of this we all must remember to be respectful of the prospect’s time, as this will break down some of the traditional barriers that exist in moving the sales process forward.

“My 2 Cents”