The economy has changed dramatically. Cutbacks, downsizing and a need to do more with fewer resources dominate many companies. If you’re a liquid waste hauler looking to land more steady work in competitive areas like restaurant grease traps, portable sanitation and bigger commercial pumping accounts, this means a tougher time prospecting.
These days, you’re going to get “no” as an answer more frequently from prospects, or get no answer at all. And the more times someone hears “no,” the more he or she develops a fear of rejection and dreads prospecting in general. That’s when prospecting procrastination sets in, and people spend more time reviewing their notes, answering e-mail and tweaking sales flyers than spending face time with potential clients.
To counter this problem, many sales books and training programs tout a “secret formula” or “key closing statement” that will make prospecting easier. Salespeople are taught how to lead prospects, how to counter an objection and how to close the sale. The problem is that all those suggestions are focused on the salesperson and not on the one person who matters the most in the interaction: the prospect.
To be great at prospecting when economic times are tough, you need to go beyond yourself and your fears and focus on the prospect. Only then will your fear of rejection and prospecting procrastination disappear. Use the following suggestions to revitalize your prospecting efforts and put your fear of rejection in its place.
SHIFT YOUR INTERNAL DIALOGUE
Picking up the phone or walking into a potential customer’s office is not difficult. What might stop you is an internal dialogue … “Why should I bother? He’s just going to tell me ‘no’.” “The last ten people told me ‘no,’ so why should this call be any different?” Such internal messages are called negative projection. Whenever you approach a prospecting call and believe the other person is going to blow you off or tell you “no,” that’s exactly the result you’ll get.
What’s the solution? Positive expectations. When you have a genuine positive thought about someone and believe your interaction will work out well, you can’t fail. Even if the prospect doesn’t want to take your help, that’s OK; his or her reply has nothing to do with you. As long as you believe the call will go well and you think well of the other person, you’ll no longer fear the actual act of prospecting.
MAKE IT ABOUT THE PROSPECTS
The more you focus on your prospects and make the interaction about them, the higher the chances for success. Unfortunately, many people get confused with exactly how to focus on their prospect and open conversations by saying something like, “Hey, how’s it going? I’d like to tell you about a service we’re offering that will help you.”
While on the surface such an approach seems like it’s focused on the prospect, in reality it is a sales pitch, which is what they don’t want.
Potential customers want you to respect them and not begin the call or visit with your agenda. A better way to open the prospecting call or visit is to simply ask, “Do you have just a few moments to talk with me?” or “Is this a good time for us to meet?” Respecting your prospect’s time sets the stage for success.
LISTEN TO VALIDATE
During the initial conversation, you should listen more than talk. Great salespeople employ “listening validation.” Listening validation is empathic listening. Active listening is simply listening to prospects and then feeding them back what they just said so they feel understood. Listening validation goes a step further and listens for the feelings behind the prospects’ words — the intent and the motivation — and then replays the emotions back to the speaker.
Here’s an example of how active listening and listening validation differ. Suppose you’re talking to a prospect face-to-face in his office. You’ve just discussed your service and the prospect has given an overview of his current situation and needs. The prospect says, “So we’re really looking for three things: price — to cut our costs by at least 20 percent; reliability — I want to work with a contractor I know and trust; and a strong guarantee — we can’t afford risk right now.”
If you were employing active listening, you would then say to the prospect, “So what you’re looking for is to cut your costs by 20 percent, a service provider you can call five days a week and a 12-month guarantee. Did I hear you right?”
If you were employing listening validation, your response would go a step further and you’d say, “I heard you say that price, reliability and warranty are important. But what I’m sensing from you is that cutting costs right now and having that guarantee would be the most important to you. Based on what you’ve said, it seems that your company is going through your worst year ever right now. So having a low cost backed with a solid guarantee would really help you feel like you’re being taken care of and that you have someone on your side. Am I catching that right?”
See the difference? Active listening just restates words; listening validation gets at the feelings and emotions behind the words.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Successful prospecting in today’s economy happens when you release the fear of rejection and focus on your prospects. Only then will you be at ease when prospecting. And being at ease when prospecting is powerful — and profitable.
