In Part 1, I discussed the need for prospecting as well as the importance of a winning attitude and goal setting. In Part 2, we’ll look at how targeting, preparation and execution will help you become an effective prospector.

Not all clients are equal. Some have more potential, some are growing rapidly and need help, some are better credit risks and some are just easier to deal with. Many organizations look at their customer list and classify their customers as As, Bs and Cs. If your goal is to generate more A type customers, targeting is crucial.

Targeting ensures that your prospecting is directed to clients that are both attractive for your business and that you can provide value to. This process will ensure that you receive the best return on time invested as well as help you increase your closing ratio.

To better target clients, first identify the industries and sub-industries that are best suited to the products and/or services your company provides. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) makes this an easy exercise. NAICS was developed jointly by the U.S., Canada and Mexico for classifying business establishments.

Once you have selected the industries, it will be easy to identify prospects in those industries. Many publicly available databases, as well as purchased databases utilize the NAICS classification to help sort and find companies. With a list of companies in hand, you now have some questions to answer:

• Do they have a current need for your products and services?
• Is the company in a growth stage, static or in decline?
• How large is the potential?
• Can we be profitable with this account?
• How important are our products/services to their business?
• Do we have any history with this account?
• Do we know any of the decision-makers?
• Will our products and/or services be of value to this company?

While this step requires some research and an investment of time to answer the aforementioned questions, the net result is a list of qualified, attractive prospects that need what you have to sell.

4. Planning and Preparation
Your next step is to put together a plan of attack. Further research may be required to better understand the prospect’s business and identify the point of entry into the company. It is also important at this stage to develop an impact statement for your company. An impact statement should be a brief description of your organization that includes:

• 3 to 4 sentences that create an image of the company you are representing
• a highlight of the key points your company has to offer
• how your products and/or services will benefit the individual or organization

Another key piece of preparation involves developing the scripts that can help guide you during your initial conversations with the prospect company. These scripts will vary depending upon whether you are talking to a gatekeeper or a decision maker, however they will help keep you on track and ensure that you are asking the right questions to receive the information you require.

As part of your planning it is necessary to determine how much time you will set aside each day or week to focus on prospecting. One way to answer this question is to start with the end in mind. As an example, if you know that meeting or exceeding your sales quota depends upon generating $500,000 in revenue from brand new customers, and your average sale is $25,000, then you need to secure 20 new accounts. If your conversion rate is 40%, that means you will need to make 50 proposals to new customers over the course of the next year to make or exceed your quota. The final step is to determine how much time and how many contacts you will need to make to generate 50 potential business opportunities.

Finally, pull your prospecting plan together and commit it to paper. Identify your goals and the actions you will undertake to create success in your prospecting efforts. Make sure that the goals follow the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound) criteria we discussed previously. Also identify when the actions will take place and leave room for a status update column so your plan becomes a tool that will help keep you on track and on time.

5. Execution
It is now time to go live. This is the opportunity to initiate the actions that will help you secure the initial meeting and advance your chances of making a sale. Depending upon your strategy, the first step may include a preliminary direct marketing initiative to introduce you and your organization. At some point however, you will need to get on the phone and attempt to book an appointment. When you make that call, it is important to utilize your previous planning and scripting, as well as effective communication strategies to further your position with the prospect company.

It is also important to make use of all contacts within the prospect company to acquire the information that will increase your chances of a sale. Gatekeepers, whether they are receptionists or administrative assistants, can be important to your success. They are there to help the decision-makers be more productive, and make decisions about granting some form of access to the decision-maker. If they are engaged with the professionalism their position deserves, they can often provide information that will be helpful to advancing the sale, as well as helping you set up the appointment that you desire.

Successful prospecting requires time, energy and discipline. You need to build it into your daily or weekly activities in order to reap the rewards that come with developing brand new customers. Get in touch with your internal hunter, and as Nike said, Just Do It.