Sales Notebook
What's New for Today?
While most of us like some stability in our work day, too much of doing same thing will fail to allow us to build our business successfully. If you look at your calls for last month or last week and the list is full of familiar names and places, then you could be headed toward a problem.
Nothing in this business stays the same. Neither should your call list. Referral sources change jobs, take on new responsibilities or just decide that the small problem your home care company had with a delivery last week is enough to take their business somewhere else.
With this in mind, your day needs to include some excitement and challenges. I recommend that each day include some special effort to reach out to a new lead. Possibly it could include a meeting with one of those potential contacts you received at a recent meeting or from a colleague.
The most productive and successful salespeople are continually building their list of potential contacts. You may have names on a list in your computer or a box of business cards in your desk, but it is important to make sure you work the leads.
Set some guidelines for how you are going to reach out to new business contacts by considering the following 10 strategies.
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Keep updating your lead list. Make sure you continue to add new names to the list. Ask others in the office, your present referral sources and customers to help guide you to new potential customers.
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Commit yourself to making a call each day to someone new. That could be calling them on the phone, trying to reach their secretary or reaching them directly by a visit to their office. The law of averages will be with you if you try to reach someone new each day. If you attempt to make enough contacts, your efforts will prove successful.
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If you make one new call or work one new lead each day — five days a week for four weeks — by the end of the month you should have made 20 new contacts. Some of these will generate new revenues.
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Plan to attend one association meeting each month, such as a professional association or community service meeting. Ask several of your referral sources about the meetings they attend. Make a list of the associations and meetings that have been recommended to you.
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Once you have the list compiled, you may want to share the locations with other staff members or other sales colleagues in your company. You and your organization want to become a part of several groups.
