Hot Tips
Prospecting With A Purpose
I’ve run into far too many consultants who say that their potential buyers are anyone who wants increased profitability and better performance, or that potential client organizations are those with over 100 employees engaged in any product or service. We have to be more precise than that if we’re going to effectively utilize our scarce time and money to efficiently market.
Consequently, I’d like to suggest a template to apply to your prospecting which may help create a sharp point on the marketing arrow, rather than turn it into a flying, non-aerodynamic barn. You can change or add to the factors I’ve noted, but why not start with simplicity?
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In this system, the prospect’s ideal traits represent your best chances of applying your strengths and passions against client environment and need. Rank these from 6 (high) to 1 (low) with any ties. Then list the current prospect’s actual traits against your ideal, e.g., you prefer a location within a car drive of your office, but the prospect is an hour’s plane ride away, or you prefer financial services industries and this prospect is in insurance. Score these from 10 (high, a perfect match) to 0 (low, no match at all). Then multiply the ranking of each trait by its score. The maximum potential is a score of 10 against the rankings from 6 to 1, or 210.
My advice is that a total potential of 170 or above is definitely worth pursuing; a total between 100 and 170 may be worth pursuing if you have some advantage (such as a contact in the company or your approaches are a perfect match for their need); and a total below 100 is not worth the pursuit time, period.
The system isn’t foolproof, but it can help you get organized and quickly hone-in on your highest potential prospects. Be sure to use the most relevant-and preferably minimum amount of-ideal traits for your practice.
