Brendon Lemon’s Post

📣 📣 📣 10 prospecting commandments --> 1. Attention spans are as short as they’ve ever been. Good copy? No one remembers. Bad copy? No one remembers. 2. If there were a silver bullet, we’d have found it by now. 3. I overestimated how much I could get people to care in the short term, but underestimated how much they remembered over the long term. 4. Anxious? Don’t be because it’s all one big experiment. Our job is to constantly experiment and eke out little learnings that turn into advantages over time. 5. No one can say no forever. 6. Gun to your head, what are you sharing with the prospect? 7. Make sure at the very least, your prospect remembers what problem you solve for. 8. Concrete problems with concrete solutions > abstract problems with abstract solutions. 9. 3% of the market is ready to buy. Optimize for everyone else. 10. If founding; few rules will apply to you. I.e. “SDRs job is to sell the meeting, not the product” → founders selling too many meetings is a calendar full of poor ICP conversations and false positives. I DARE you to dissent in the comments (but I'll be better for it).

Thought of the day: The Power of Questions in Prospecting! The art of prospecting must involve questions that make you sound curious. I read a post yesterday that reminded me that the first objection is often just a smokescreen. To uncover real insights, we need to go beyond surface-level responses. Ask the next question don't just take it at the surface. As Ted Lasso said "If they were curious and not judgmental they would have asked questions" Let's embrace the curiosity and let that be the fuel that drives your prospecting. Ask engaging questions that unravel challenges, goals, and aspirations. The more we dig, the clearer the path to a meaningful connection. Objections are gateways, not roadblocks. Make curiosity your greatest asset.

Prospecting for new business: A heart-racing journey. A thrilling hunt. A game of strategy and precision. As a former athlete, It's no wonder I love it! Prospecting is both art and science. And when potential becomes opportunity. But it isn't just about selling and pitching. It's about connecting, engaging, and understanding people's needs. It requires a balance between strategy and empathy, Persistence and patience, Speaking and listening. And it all starts with research. Understand your customer landscape. Identify pain points and gaps you can fill. Prepare your pitch but be ready to improvise. Each prospect is unique and will take you in a different direction. Then follow-up. Be persistent without being pushy. Nurturing relationships takes time, But the return is worth the wait. Now that I've given you my 'ode to prospecting' What are some of your favorite prospecting tips? Let me know in the comments 👇

Cold prospecting is not something I can get behind. I had an experience earlier, in which I stated twice I wasn't in a place currently to be looking into other possibilities, that my plate right now I just too full as it is. The response when I stated it for a third time, and pointed out that until then I had been rather gracious, was less than stellar. What would have been a better way to handle it than telling me that I am probably not qualified anyways? Personally, I would have asked if there was an interest in revisiting the topic in a month or so to see if it was something they may want to consider. If not, thank them for their time and move along. Many people are not looking to strictly do business anymore. They are looking for people and companies that they can have a relationship with. Build trust with. Feel that their interests are also being taken into account, not just how this is going to effect an employer or "uplines" bottom line. If you can't take the time to get to know a person, who they are, what they stand for, there is really no point. Start with basics - their family, what drew them to a company they work with, what it is they are most passionate about in life. They may not be the type of person that YOU want to be working with after finding out a bit about them. Qualifications can be earned, but integrity is either there or it is not.

#1 Rule When Prospecting: Never Meet Their Expectations. When we try to get a YES to a first meeting, the best rule of thumb is to avoid meeting their expectations. Think about it. What does a prospect expect to see, hear, and feel about everyone trying to get attention? They expect subject lines and/or first sentences to be something like: "We can save you time and money." "Let's connect." "I can help you with..." "Are you interested in" Of course, we can also roll this up into the constant bombardment of the MY-I- WEs format. As in, "Hi, my name is _____. I work for____ and we _____. Simply go through and look at how people solicit your attention. As you can see, it looks, sounds, and feels the same almost every time they do so. Even if there is genuineness within the intent, it still can't break through the white noise, and it still ends up in the 'DELETE' file because there is no differentiation. But with our new approach, we can confidently say that we're breaking the mold and standing out. The solution is to start in a way they don't expect. This unconventional approach can lead to a breakthrough. Next, make it all about them. Let's apply a higher degree of pre-engagement research, elevate our curiosity, and explore how to make it more personal. Doing so shows our prospects that we are centered on who they are. Do you want to collaborate more? Explore more at www.predictivewins.com.

Success in sales often begins with how well you know how to get “in the door.” 🚪 Here are key strategies to effectively open new opportunities: 🧠 Research: Use websites, Google & LinkedIn for quick insights into companies and key players. 🫂 Connection: Establish credibility quickly with relevant name-dropping. 💪 Perseverance: Don’t rely on them to call you back – keep reaching out and trying various methods (phone, email, LinkedIn, etc). 🤔 Qualify: Always quickly assess whether the Prospect is a “fit.” Don’t waste their time or yours! Each of these steps is vital to not just getting in the door but also setting the stage for a successful sales journey. ✨ Ready to enhance your prospecting skills? Elevate your skills in all customer-facing roles with tailored sales coaching. 🚀 🔗 Contact me today to get started: https://lnkd.in/gNuC-A5q #Prospecting #EffectiveSelling #SalesTips #Sales #DarrenRabie #SalesCoaching

Days into the new quarter everyone should be prospecting. Work now like it's the end of the quarter. The effort you put in at the start will determine how you finish. And a fat pipeline cures most sales problems. And the best way to build a fat pipeline is cold calling. Here are 10 things all great cold callers do. 1. They diligently schedule time for cold calling in their calendars, never making excuses and always prioritising it. No excuses. 2. They think of their prospect and only focus on what they will care about. It's not about them. 3. They detach from outcomes. Go for no. 4. When they get anxious or nervous, they face their fear. They pick up the phone. What's the worst that can happen? 5. They carry the conviction they offer value to every person they contact. 6. They embrace rejection. Not everyone is a fit 7. They know rejection isn't personal. They get straight back on the horse. 8. They share what works for them and learn from their colleagues. They never stop trying to improve. 9. They practice, practice, practice. They listen back to their calls to identify ways to improve. 10. They seek out coaching and feedback. What else?

Your prospecting fails when it doesn't lead a client to these 5 internal conclusions. Getting a potential client to respond to you is about leading them through a series of internal conclusions. Contrary to popular belief, they are not about your company or its products or services. They are actually about you. Here are the 5 most essential conclusions they must reach: 1️⃣ I've asked myself the same question. This could be in exact or general terms. Have you defined what you can solve for people? 2️⃣ This person understands me and/or my situation. Discuss what it feels like to be in this position, how someone gets there, and the frustrations around dealing with and trying to correct it. 3️⃣ That's what I need help with. Demonstrate that you have worked with many problems like theirs and have provided successful solutions and outcomes. 4️⃣ I believe I could trust this person. It's important here to have an apparent yet low-pressure call to action. This allows your prospect to feel in control of the decision to reach out to you rather than feel pressured to have a meeting. 5️⃣ This is someone I want to see about working with. Everything you've done to this point has brought them to the conclusion that you could be the person they have been looking for to help them solve their issue. Many companies sell solutions similar to yours, and many sales representatives reach out to your prospects. Top salespeople ensure that their messages lead prospects to these 5 conclusions that get more responses and close more deals. Make prospecting suck less. ✅ Subscribe to my newsletter 🔔 Ring the bell on my profile to follow me. ➡ Connect with me or DM me. #sales #makeprospectingsuckless

Prospecting isn't just a task. It's a mindset. 🧠 Imagine treating each prospect not as a potential sale, but as a puzzle. A puzzle where the pieces are their needs, challenges, and aspirations. Your job? To find a match, not force a fit. Why? Because sales is evolving. Gone are the days of cold calls being purely a numbers game. Today, it's about meaningful connections, understanding pain points, and offering genuine solutions. But here's the catch - this approach requires a shift. A shift from seeing prospects as targets to viewing them as partners in a journey towards a solution. This mindset not only transforms your approach but also the outcomes. When you focus on building relationships and providing value, sales become a byproduct, not the goal. So, how do you cultivate this mindset? 1. Practice active listening. 2. Do your homework - understand their industry, company, and role. 3. Approach each interaction with curiosity and the aim to help. Remember, the goal is to be seen as a trusted advisor, not just another salesperson. Shift your mindset, change your approach, and watch your results transform. I'd love for you to read my new book "SELL UNAFRAID: Unleashing Sales Success Through Personal Discipline." In releases April 16th, 2024. Click the link to get announcements and share this with another sales person👇 https://lnkd.in/g-drTUZz

“You must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” - Zig Ziglar Even when you've established a prospecting process, it's crucial to acknowledge there will still be variations. You will encounter outcomes that are not what they could or should be. Although it requires additional time to tailor your approach based on the specific customer type, doing so will lead to more success. You must slow down to speed up. Every salesperson should have an overall prospecting plan (on paper). It's also advisable you have a plan for each prospect. Have you ever heard the saying, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail"? Your customers are not all nails. You cannot use the same tool to fix everything. Prospecting is no different. For example, you're not going to reach the C-suite using the same process you would to reach an individual lower in the organization. You must segment your prospects by the type of message and strategy that will most likely engage them. An individual lower in the organization is more likely to take a phone call than someone in the C-suite who is not going to talk to anyone they don't know and trust. Your efforts must also have different timelines associated with them. Your prospecting timelines and the frequency of your efforts are going to vary based on who you are trying to reach. For example, if you are selling into academia, trying to reach a professor at the start of the academic year is simply not going to work. Conversely, if you are trying to reach a graduate student, the start of the academic year might be perfect. In the corporate world dominated by meetings, calling someone 5 or 10 minutes after the hour is almost guaranteed to result in voicemail. But 5 to 10 minutes before the hour, you have a chance. This is about when works best for your customer; not for you. You also need to keep in mind the higher up in the organization a person is, the more likely you'll run into gatekeepers. You need to have a plan for when a gatekeeper answers your call rather than your target. And the more likely you'll be able to reach your target and avoid the gatekeeper by using contacts with whom they are already comfortable with. Think referrals (more to come on this in a later #InfinitePositivity post).