Randy Jackson, the American Idol judge, is fond of saying, “Just keeping it real.” What he means when he says those words is that he is being honest with the contestant, even though his words aren’t always welcomed.

I’m Going To “Keep It Real” Right Now
Let me address 4 realities of new business development (i.e. prospecting) for 2009 and beyond. After each reality, I’m going to provide sales tips to address them head on.

Reality 1
Screeners and gatekeepers at target companies are getting better. Just picking up the phone and “smiling and dialing” as a way to reach decision makers is no longer a realistic tactic.

Sales Tips 1: Use your network of acquaintances (you have been developing them, right?) and social media (e.g. LinkedIn) to enter a company through the side door. You’ll make fewer contacts than calling on the phone, but your close ratio will skyrocket.

Reality 2
Calling hundreds of leads on a lead list is nothing but a sheer hope-and-a-prayer exercise. “Maybe if I do enough calls it will work.”  The current thinking is that only 1 out of 100 prospecting calls yields a sale. Personally, I would find that rather discouraging.

Sales Tips 2: There is no substitute for the leads that you generate. Period. Please read “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson for some illumination on this subject. It’s a short read and a real eye opener.

Reality 3
You don’t need a Ph.D. in new business development (I’m sure some college somewhere offers that) to know that adding new business is critical during a recession. You’re losing customers faster than you realize and they must be replaced. Many of your current customers will never return, even after the recession is over.

Sales Tips 3: I’m always surprised how most companies don’t have the slightest idea what their customer turnover rate is. It’s always higher than they think. Figure out what your personal customer turnover rate is and put a plan in place to ensure that you at least replace those lost customers. I’ve provided some further reading below to help you with this.

Reality 4
You can thank Google and thousands of web-based industry buying tools for creating a new perception that sales professionals aren’t all that critical anymore. You’re just not as relevant as you used to be in a lot of buyers’ minds.

Sales Tips 4: Now, more than ever, you must know your product or service better than anyone else does. Better than your prospects, better than your customers and better than your competitors. Most critically, you must know more than what is easily googled. This is how you demonstrate your value. And, of course, you do know who is responsible for your training don’t you? You.

There’s a second part to Sales Tips 4 – relationships. Most people prefer buying from people, especially ones they like. When it comes to business development, I’ve never met a web site that could identify a good prospect, locate the decision makers and calculate a way to meet them.  The web cannot replace you.

Sales Blog Epilogue
We’ve all heard the quote about doing the same thing and expecting different results as being an insane notion. Personally, if I hear one more person say that, and act as if I’ve never heard it before, I’m going to kill them. Talk about cliché.

In reality, many of us are using worn out business development techniques and ideas that don’t work. We aren’t able to let go of the past, even though our results are abysmal. It’s past time for many of us to make a radical shift in our thinking on this subject.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Related posts:

1. Homeopathic Customer Prospecting
2. 6 Thoughts On The Fickle Nature Of Prospecting
3. Why “Needy Ears” Will Kill Your Prospecting Mojo

Tags: Prospecting, prospects, recession, sales advice

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