Selling activities fall into two categories. The first is opportunity creation, the second, opportunity capture. The first necessarily precedes the second. If your sales results are not what you want them to be, look first to opportunity creation…

You have prospects who are difficult to contact. They’re hard to reach by phone and impossible to reach by email. No matter what you try, you can’t seem to connect with them, and they never respond to your attempts.

You have prospects who are…

When I started back in the family staffing business, my sales manager gave me a list of companies I was forbidden from calling. She and her sales reps were worried about one of the owner’s sons being given preferential treatment, and they wanted…

Let’s say you have eight hours to prospect and it is absolutely essential that you generate the very best possible results. You need to create an opportunity, and that means you need to book an appointment. Failure is not an option.

What would…

Let’s imagine that your quota is $2,000,000 this year. Let’s also agree that your average deal size is $100,000 and that you win 50 percent of the deals for which you compete. This is easy math.

You need to win 20 deals to make your quota. Of…

Prospecting is important. It is imperative that you put the time into actively making your calls, and taking all the other actions necessary to create new opportunities. Not researching, which is important, but actually prospecting.

It’s…

1. Consistency Counts: Prospect Daily!

Salespeople acquire new clients, and to do so, they necessarily open relationships. Prospecting is the art of opening new relationships. The new business opportunities that later turn into sales are…