By Jeff Beals
The most successful sales professionals tend to work long and hard. A significant chunk of those hours is typically dedicated to prospecting: networking, making phone calls, responding to emails, hosting guests, visiting people who refer/recommend them to clients and developing raving fans who champion their cause.
No matter how busy you may be, you need to get out of the office and show up at networking events especially if you work in outside sales. We need to reach out and engage the world around us. As a rule of thumb, you need to have meaningful encounters with prospects in your network every day.
I admit that’s a demanding standard.
The good news is that these encounters don’t necessarily have to be at formal functions held in formal venues. Your sphere of interest is ubiquitous. Strike up conversations with people around you. Reach out to people and get to know those who might refer a desirable prospect to you some day.
The majority of prestigious, big-time clients can only be reached through relationships. They do not commonly walk into your office asking to be your customer. They are not amenable to cold calls that are made without the benefit of a trusted referral, and they rarely respond to cold emails no matter how artfully you write them. You have to go out and meet them face-to-face in the places where they live, work and play.
“Big elephant” clients know they are important, and they expect to be wined and dined, so to speak. They are big deals and expect to be treated like a big deal. That requires sales professionals to go out into the world and actively communicate. Getting access to the highly desirable clients requires you to be among your sphere of interest on a regular basis.
Get out there and meet everyone you can. Ask questions. Be like a detective turning over every stone, looking for any shred of evidence that can help you make the sale. Great salespersons are seemingly “everywhere.” They live their lives so actively that other people feel as if they see them everywhere.
How do you know if you are doing enough networking, also known as “face-to-face prospecting?”
If someone ever says to you, “I see you everywhere,” you know you’re doing something right.
Jeff Beals shows you how to find better prospects, close more deals and capture greater market share. Jeff is an international award-winning author, sought-after keynote speaker, and accomplished sales consultant. A frequent media guest, Jeff has been featured in Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, Men’s Health, Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.”
Here’s Why Should You Choose Jeff Beals as Your Next Speaker:
“Jeff Beals has presented four different topics at five of our internal events in 2016. At each event, the audience of commercial real estate principals and agents was completely engaged and motivated the entire time. Jeff facilitates his training sessions in such a way that each member of the audience was able to relate and understand how to apply it every day in the field. Jeff is brilliant, and we have hired him to continue speaking at our events in 2017!” – Lindsay Fierro, Senior Vice President, NAI Global, New York, NY
“Your workshop was a huge experience for our attendees by giving them the opportunity to improve their work in the critical environment in which we are living today. Your talent as a speaker and your qualities as a person made the difference during your time with us. I would certainly recommend you to anyone who asks.” – Ana Paula Costa, Educational Planner, Febracorp, Sao Paulo, Brazil
I’m in Phoenix and had breakfast earlier this morning with our semi-retired sales representative who is doing some continued work for us here. He attended your sales meeting last week and told me that in 43 years of selling, you were the best he had ever heard. Thanks for a great experience.” – Drew Vogel, President & CEO, Diamond Vogel Paints, Orange City, IA
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