The Number One Skill to have in Prospecting
I haven’t written on here in a while. But, I want to change that. I have been so focused on things other than writing lately but I miss it. I miss getting my thoughts out into the world and want to bring writing back into my life. So here goes. I am back.
Today I was doing my job (like I do my job everyday) and couldn’t help myself from starting to think about how I do my job.
I got to thinking about the art of prospecting as I was prospecting.
Today is the 1st day of a new month. Maybe that is why I am so introspective and curious. Maybe not, maybe I am just always like this.
In sales you start each month and think okay, we have a whole new month here to dominate.
A whole new month to do my job.
A whole new month to make a difference.
A whole new month to help my prospects and customers.
A whole new month to build pipeline.
A whole new month to crush it.
To crush it you have to have the chance to close deals.
That means you have to prospect.
I don’t care if you have SDR’s or BDR’s who prospect for you. I would argue that a good, high performing rep consistently prospects on their own. Sources into accounts in their territory and actively tries to figure out smart ways to reach them in a timely manner.
I am always thinking about new and different ways to get in front of target accounts of mine. We have so many options these days for prospecting into our accounts.
- we can email
- call
- vmail
- email some more
- nurturing emails from marketing
- linkedin inmails
- linkedin comments
- linkedin follows
- medium posts
- blog posts
- snail mail
- popping in?
- connections through other people
- chat on a website
The list could continue and continue and continue as to the ways you can get in front of your prospect. But the one thing that still gets me to this day is this:
I spend a lot of my time doing thoughtful research that takes time. It can take a lot of time. That time I believe is well spent because I know that the research will help me in reaching out to my prospects in a smarter way.
I am almost 8 years into selling at HubSpot. I have been out of college in sales roles now for 12 years now. Gez, long time to be thinking about the art of prospecting for.
The number 1 skill that I have noticed that pays off in prospecting is Consistency.
Yes, consistency in your prospecting.
Here is where we go wrong:
You source a great fit account, you find all these reasons that are timely as to why that company could be a fit for what you sell. You start to reach out. You do a lot of work to get ready for the reach out. Then you reach out to the right people probably doing some of those things above. Then you go on to the next one. On to the next account and you forget about the last account.
Being consistent is key to landing a good opportunity. If you aren’t consistent then the prospect will forget that you reached out.
My goal is this month in prospecting is to be more consistent in my outreach. I want to really source good accounts, do the research and then reach out consistently until I get what I am looking for:
