It’s a amazing sometimes how you find new prospects. The other evening I was in the pub with some friends and introduced a new acquaintance, Bert, to an old friend of mine, Fred. After a minute chatting it turned out that the organisation Fred worked for was a prime prospect for the service that Bert was selling. Furthermore Fred was really interested. Contact details where exchanged and the follow up arranged. Bish, bash, bosh. It doesn’t get any sweeter than that.
But… then Bert (obviously feeling very pleased) continued to rattle on for 10 minutes about the virtues of his company and products. I could see Fred’s eyes glazing over as he tried to get back to his beer. I’m certain he was by now thinking “what on Earth have I let myself in for?”
The idea with any type of prospecting (even when one lands in your lap) is to qualify the prospect and get the appointment. You do not want to get into selling at this point. It’s the wrong time and place. Your efforts may very well work against you.
Ask yourself…
- Is my product/service a good fit for the prospect?
- Does it solve a problem for her?
- Are they a good fit for my company? Do I want to do business with them?
- If so… ask for a meeting with the prospect
- Got it? Job done, now save your selling for the big day.