Word of Mouth Prospecting

I’m becoming incrementally alarmed at the number of salespeople and/or solo entrepreneurs that really believe that word of mouth prospecting is the primary strategy that they will use in 2013 to achieve their goals.

I’m here to tell you that the vast majority of these people will be dramatically disappointed at the end of the year.

Word of mouth is passive

In essence, you are hoping that someone likes you well enough to introduce you, your product and/or your service to someone they know. This happens, but it happens rarely.

I believe that, in the event of consumer purchases (dry cleaners, barbershops, clothing stores, restaurants, movies, etc.), word of mouth works. But, in business-to-business selling, it does not work as a primary strategy.

Be Proactive

If you don’t have a proactive plan in place to obtain and then maintain top-of-mind awareness, then you will lose in 2103. It’s just that simple.

So, instead of word of mouth (which is hope), I want you to answer the following questions for yourself:

  • How many first meetings with new contacts do you need to make during 2013 to close the amount of new business that you desire?

  • What are your current conversion ratios of website visitors to leads and of leads to sales?

  • How long is your current sales cycle?

  • How many decision-makers are involved in making a purchasing decision for your product or service?

The sales professionals that have control over the answers to those questions is the sales professional that will win the day in 2013.

Don’t waste another year of your life hoping for something good to happen. Make it happen.

Pick up the phone and call 5 people a day and ask for an appointment; you’ll be amazed at what impact that has on your income, over the course of the whole year.

You have to do it everyday.

If you have any questions about prospecting strategies, feel free to call me at (310) 510-6053. Or, better yet, just click this link to send me an email.

As always, I wish you…Good Luck and Good Selling and Happy NEW Prosperous Year!!