Samurai Sales Training – Prospecting: Do You Have a Plan?

Let’s be honest. No one really enjoys prospecting. But to build a successful business or practice, you need clients. You need a continuous flow of clients. And to have this flow, you need to build the prospect pipeline and a disciplined tracking system.

Out of college you were a trained an attorney, creative, engineer, accountant, etc. Trained to create, engineer, account or do law stuff. Not trained to sell. You joined a firm, agency or company. They had business development team (sales people). All you had to do was show up and do that thing you were trained to do.

Then, without warning, the economy went south. Sales people were laid off. You were laid off. And now you need clients. You start networking. You’re meeting new people, collecting cards. In fact you’re hitting a lot of networking events; meeting a lot of people, collecting a lot of cards. You follow up; meet for coffee, exchange emails. They really like you. So what?

You contact friends, colleagues, golf buddies, etc asking for quality introductions in your quest for new clients You even contact former clients (assuming you didn’t sign a non-compete and have a good attorney, “Where is that attorney’s card I picked up at some networking event three weeks ago?”).

So what is working for you? What efforts are building your business? What is your tracking system?

In the last session of the Samurai Business Group “Brown Belt Program,” Sensei Bob Lambert  led us on a journey of organizing and tracking our prospects and prospecting efforts. It requires discipline (there’s that word again from the last blog post).

We were given a system. In fact, it is a very good system for tracking and monitoring a new business pipeline. If you are honest and disciplined, it will show you what business development efforts are working, and not working. It evaluates your list of prospects, who’s hot, who’s not, who’s really interested in hiring you and who just wants free, professional advice

First, look at where you found your current clients and prospects. Track all of the variety of efforts you are making and see if they are important to building your business – or just leading you into a false sense of accomplishment. If the latter, it’s time to adjust.

So what is the Samurai method of building a pipeline tracking system? Easy if you have discipline (no, not that word again!). Forms were provided to execute the system.

1. The Top Five Prospects – You’ve met face-to-face. The prospect has shared information. She has completed her “homework.” You talk or send an email once a week and get a positive reaction or response.
2. The Farm Club – Fifteen, prioritized prospects. There is synergy between his business and what you offer. You contact him once a month, share pertinent information and get a positive response. If a top five prospect falters, you promote someone from the Farm Team to the Top Five.
3. Suspects – Twenty who have shown promise. They have said they don’t see an immediate need for your service. You touch base once a month and respond to their emails and phone calls, as long as they are not seeking pro bono work, with the promise of “one day, when business picks up…

So when you review your prospecting efforts are you saying “SO!” or “So what?”

For further details on “Discipline,” contact either Dan Kreutzer or Robert Lambert or visit the Samurai Business Group website.

Spencer Maus, of SpencerConnect, is a senior-level, public relations executive. Samurai Business Group is a client and providing compensation to SpencerConnect