The unbreakable laws of successful sales prospecting

The law of possibility – This law states that, if you’re relentless to win, life will make a way for you. For your prospecting to be effective, it is imperative that you have a goal and you’re absolutely relentless to meeting that goal. What’s the sales goal for your product, in terms of units to be sold and income to be generated? Decide what the goal is then go for it. You must believe in yourself and in your abilities to perform. You must believe you have the ability to get any goal you set (because you can!!). You must make a commitment to do all it takes to win, giving no room for excuses. Excuses are simply good reasons for poor results. Unless this audacity to win is settled within you then your prospecting journey won’t be sweet.

The law of purpose – This law states that, understanding that your product can change the world is the key to unlimited sales. We all want to be a part of something that’s bigger than us, something that makes us feel we are impacting the lives of others; making the world better than we met it. Your product has the capacity to achieve this great feat. This is because products don’t have a life of their own, we are the ones who give our products substance, value, relevance and of course the opportunity for impact. Let me give you an example of what I mean by impact. You sell real estate and you sold a property to a man.

In a few years the value of the property appreciated by 100%, this gave the man an opportunity to sell it and reinvest the money. Hence, wealth came into his family. The man handed it over to his son and the cycle of wealth continued, creating a generation of wealth all through their lineage; with this money they were able to do a lot of good things for themselves and for a lot of other people e.g. opened an orphanage to help homeless children. This all started by selling to one man and because of that you made the world a better place. In what ways can your product change the world by helping people solve real life problems?

The law of the product – This law states that, no product, no sale. No product, no sale. So, the first thing you must have is a good knowledge of your product. If you’re new to selling you may not need a deep knowledge but a basic knowledge will be fine. The deeper your product knowledge, the more persuasive you can become. The minimum you should know are the primary features of your product which refer to the minimum characteristics it should have. For example if it’s a phone it can be features like ability to call, SMS and take pictures. However the secondary features are the extra features that may not be present in other phones. In the same way, identify the benefits too because clients buy benefits not features. Features create interest, benefits arouse desire then showing them how the benefits apply to solving their problem causes them to take action. The benefits can also be grouped into immediate benefits and future benefits.

The law of the niche – This law states that, you were not sent to everyone, so don’t try to get everyone’s attention. When prospecting, you need to identify who you’ve been sent to. I use the word ‘sent’ because there must be an element of purpose in what you do. I explained this previously in the law of purpose. Identify your niche by developing an avatar of who your ideal client is.

The law of rejection – This law states that, being comfortable with rejection is the beginning of success in selling. The selling business is a business of rejection. Rejection is part of the package. If you sell long enough you will develop a thick skin overtime to withstand the fear of rejection. However, from now you can handle rejection by realizing that it is your advantage. Everyday expect sales rejections because your opportunities are there if you look for them (if you seek you shall find); opportunities to grow, opportunities to identify your conversion rate- which refers to the percentage of people that buy from you compared to those you speak to.

The law of research – This law states that, you must understand your prospect so you can understand where your product can be of value to the prospect. Research about your prospect especially if you’re not selling mass market products or if you are selling a large quantity to a single client. This applies especially when you have very few people in your niche market. For example if you sell to only banks and there are maybe 20 banks in the county where you live, you will need to study each bank carefully so you can maximize every opportunity you have with them. Study the vocabulary of the industry you may be prospecting to penetrate. This will create a feeling of rapport as you use sophisticated vocabulary when prospecting to get an appointment.
Iyore Ogbuigwe is a sales coach