Thoughts on prospecting

A good friend of mine, let's call him Sam, called me recently after a prospecting call. Frustrated, he said "I blew it". As Sam is one of the most talented B2B complex sales people I know, I was curious. "What happened?" I asked.

He said that he had called a high level prospect that was referred to him. The prospect immediately tried to take control of the call and demanded of Sam "tell me about our business and what our challenges are". Sam explained that he would really like to get an understanding of what the client felt his pressing business issues were first and then determine if Sam could bring expertise to the discussion.

"If you can't tell me what my business challenges are, then we have no need to talk about anything!", retorted the prospect. Flustered, Sam gave up on the opportunity, and attributed the lack of success to the unprofessionalism of a hard-nosed, old-line executive.

What Happened?
If you have spent more than a month in sales, you've had an experience like this. But what really happened? I think there were three issues, and I'll discuss each. First, there was a battle for control of the call, and Sam lost. Second, the call wasn't managed properly to a clear, pre-determined (by Sam) outcome. Finally, Sam wasn't fully prepared for the call with insightful knowledge about the client. In the end, everyone lost.

Tough Nuts
First, Sam is right... this was a tough nut to crack. And you will encounter a lot of those. But prospects don't come with a personality guarantee. It's our job as sales professionals to be able to make layups as well as buzzer beating three-pointers. This was simply a three-pointer, and Sam didn't even get the shot off.

From a personality perspective, this prospect wanted to be in control. Unfortunately, my friend Sam likes to be in control as well, so a clash was set-up before the call was even made. The solution? Give the prospect what he needs. Great sales pros know how to orchestrate the sales process. They don't need to be in control of every piece, nor do they need to be the center of attention. They think about the steps in the process, the milestones and the end game. In this situation, Sam, who is a great sales pro, might have been more successful by ceding control to the prospect until such time in the sales process when the prospect left his comfort zone (usually when trying to determine the solution). The point is to be prepared to lead when necessary and have the courage to let others lead when necessary. We all have emotional needs, and the prospect demonstrated his clearly. That's the cue for Sam, or you, to pick up on.

Know Where You Want to Go
What was the goal of this call? I think that Sam's goal was, using a CustomerCentric Selling® approach, to get an admission of a problem or even the sharing of a goal. And that's the right objective for this first call. Get the prospect to admit a need or share a goal. But how? Get a dialog established using a tool such as a Solution Development Prompter® (SDP). The SDP is a tool that the seller uses in advance to prepare for the call and to orchestrate the conversation. And Sam knows how to use it better than anyone. So why wasn't this call successful? Let's look at the final part of the equation.

Call Preparation
From the prospect's point of view, Sam's call was an intrusion, even if it was a scheduled call. Therefore, Sam had the responsibility to establish credibility and make the call valuable to the prospect. The best way to do that is to engage the prospect in a discussion about what's important to him. Sam was viewing the call as a "call of equals", as one of the things we discuss in CustomerCentric Selling® is to make yourself equal with the prospect. But in the mind of the prospect, you are not equal until you earn that right, even if you want to be.

When the prospect demanded that Sam tell him about his business, the prospect was asserting his power. And, at this stage, he does have the power. If the conversation would have proceeded, the power equation would have shifted over time as Sam brought the power of the solution, but not at this stage. Sam's best response at this stage would have been to state confidently (not arrogantly) and clearly what he believed the prospect's challenges were. After all, this was a referral, and Sam had access to others in the company. Moreover, Sam knew this industry well, and while each company has their own challenges, the pressures executives feel are highly common from one company to the next within an industry. So why didn't he? My guess is that he approached this call as more of a layup and, when cornered, wasn't really prepared to discuss what the prospect's challenges really were.

In the end, Sam lost the opportunity for two reasons; he wasn't prepared to have the discussion that the prospect wanted to have, and he wasn't willing to give up (perceived) control of the call. He had the tools and he definitely has the talent. But even the best slip off the horse from time to time. Fortunately, Sam is already back in the saddle wiser and more motivated. And that's the other attribute of winner's. You can't keep them down!

Good selling!

5 Responses to "Thoughts on prospecting"

1. Dan Ahrens Says:
   February 2nd, 2008 at 3:40 pm

   Over the years I have experienced buyers like this as well. More often than not, they are testing the seller to see how they will respond, and are actually more interested in how you align with them from a human/personal standpoint, and less interested in the actual answer to the question they posed.

   Aligning with a buyer personally is a more subtle part of the CustomerCentric Selling® methodology that deserves more discussion. It comes down to the seller's ability to quickly figure out what the agenda (at that moment) of that buyer is, and allow the buyer to feel as though the seller \

2. Larry Cox Says:
   February 2nd, 2008 at 10:36 pm

   The prospect was being very open to Sam and was giving him the opportunity to establish himself. This is a frequent test to see if Sam has experience in the prospect's industry. Sam should have been prepared to answer these questions before he ever picked up the phone. Sam's inability to answer, showed the prospect that Sam probably couldn't help him. Remember every executive gets these sales calls every day and has to screen them to identify the callers who truly deserve the executive's time.

3. John E Flannery Says:
   February 3rd, 2008 at 9:29 am

   Asking for and Handling Referrals in relation to Tim's "Thoughts on Prospecting"

   While instructing CCS Workshops, and during the coaching sessions with Sales managers and representatives, I always ask how they are developing new business opportunities. The answers range from the quick reply of "asking for referrals" to a slow, thought provoking look of uncertainty around how they actually get this done. We all know the best way to get new prospects is to ask your happy customers "who do you know that could benefit from my services?" If you don't ask, you may not receive referrals.

   In the story Tim described about his friend Sam's call following a referral, there was an opportunity that Sam missed when it came time to contact the party he was referred to. Instead of simply calling the person directly, Sam's probability of having a successful conversation with the high level prospect may have improved if he asked the person who referred him to facilitate the introduction. Also, Sam may have fared better if the referring party would have listed a few areas that he was able to address (goals) in relation to the title that Sam was calling on.

   If the person that referred Sam was Steve (or Mike, Dick, etc), Sam should have asked Steve to make a phone call or send an e mail to the high level prospect, introducing Sam and outlining the work they had done together. Not only would this have "warmed" the call up, but may have lead to a more meaningful dialogue in that critical first conversation.

   This is one of the many ideas that we share in CCS Workshops to assist sellers in filling their pipeline with qualified opportunities.

4. George L Says:
   February 4th, 2008 at 9:12 am

   Sounds like Sam is lazy and expected a referral to roll over for him just based on it being a referral.

   All buyers are measuring your credibility - most in a more subtle fashion. This one told him what he needed to hear in order to move forward.

   A few minutes of research on the account before calling would have built credibility and prepared him to provide an answer based on what he knew about the business. Also, just having a case study (or how about a Solution Development Prompter) on his desk?

5. Sharon Parker Says:
   February 8th, 2008 at 1:52 pm

   This is another good use for the Menu of Goals tool taught in CustomerCentric Selling classes. With that tool we prompt the prospect to give us a goal by referring to three goals common to other executives at his/her peer level. When the prospect asked Sam to tell him about his business challenges, this would have been a good response to try. "Other (industry) executives I work with tell me their primary challenges are 1, 2, 3-fill in the three examples based on your preparation and your knowledge of this prospect's industry. No matter how experienced we are, we all have calls that leave us wishing we could hit a rewind button and start over. It sounds like this was one of them!