PROSPECTING SYSTEMS

Meeting with some colleagues today getting ready for a workshop we are doing, and I mentioned the concept of "Prospecting." One of my friends laughed. She had never heard anyone use that phrase before. But isn't it just totally apt? We are prospecting for gold all the time. We are looking for new customers, new business partners, and the 20% who do decide to join us in our business that will help us take it to the top.

Where are you prospecting for gold? Are you going where the geologists tell you is a vein of gold? Are you panning in a creek full of gold nuggets? Or are you dipping a net into a lake, and wondering why you are getting guppies instead of beautiful yellow stones you can take to the bank?

Gordon Hawkins described his best prospects in the category of his Natural Market: the people with whom he could relate, and with whom he liked to work. He said his market was not any particular occupation, profession, or specific needs group, but once a person mastered awareness of his natural market, he would be more successful. So how do YOU find your natural market? According to Hawkins, try these four steps:

1. List the names of the last 20 people you sold your product to, or brought into your business.

2. Out of those individuals, think to yourself, "What do I like about this person? Do I enjoy being around them?" Now place a check mark next to the names of the people you relate best with.

3. Review the characteristics of the people you like, and think about why these individuals bought from you, or joined you in your business.

4. Place a check mark by the names of the individuals you feel genuinely like you. Wherever you see a double check mark, that is your kind of person.

These people represent your Natural Market. So now take a look at people that might be included in your warm market list who share the characteristics of the people you like and that like you, and if they meet the four basic requirements (see Blog Post 12/20/2009), they should be next on your list to talk to. Next go to the referrals from people you know. Then how about the people you write checks to each month? They should at least be willing to give you a few minutes to hear about your products or business, and if they aren't interested, perhaps you need reconsider those relationships.

Happy Prospecting, and keep panning for GOLD!

Kaaren

PROSPECTING FOR SUCCESS

Systems for Success

Going through some old materials while cleaning out my library, I found Prospecting Systems for Success, a book published in 1981. Gordon Hawkins was an insurance agent who understood the necessity of continuing to talk to new prospects, no matter how successful you have become. My mentors who are truly successful tend to focus their training on just that principle. Keep talking to people.

In his little book, Hawkins proposed that success is more likely if you have a system to follow. As he says, "Prospecting has to be as automatic as breathing." Wow, there's a concept. Instead of looking at talking to people, or following up the way we anticipate going to the dentist to get a tooth pulled, how different would it be if we likened it to taking a deep breath? Breathing revitalizes our bodies, and clears our minds. Prospecting can serve the same purpose for our business.

Although many successful distributors will tell you they just apply the three foot rule to find prospects: if someone gets within three feet of you, they are fair game. Or how about the mirror test: if you can see they are breathing, go for it. That may work, but if you are going to spend the energy to tell someone about your business and products, wouldn't it make sense to see if they qualify? I have modified what Hawkins proposes as the absolute basics to know who is qualified:

1. Is the person willing and able to HEAR what you have to say?
2. Does the person have the MONEY to become your business partner, or buy your products?
3. Does the person NEED what you can provide with your business or products?
4. Is this someone you want to work with?

A few days ago, I followed up with someone I had met at a networking event. We met to share information in a congenial environment, but I knew in a matter of minutes this was not a good fit for my business. The prospect is a financial planner who immediately launched into how qualified they were, and in what investment instruments they liked to position clients. Fifteen minutes later, they came up for air. Although they qualified financially for my business and products, and they could certainly use our products, it turns out they they did not qualify as a good prospect. They were not willing to HEAR what I had to say. So I spoke politely about what I do, and thanked them for their time, and moved on. My follow up will simply be a thank-you note for meeting with me, but no need to go further.

The trick is to listen to our prospects: when someone says they can't afford it, believe them. Just because you know it would be good for them to join you in the business, doesn't mean they are willing to make the sacrifices necessary for it to happen. If you get a gut feeling this person can't hear you, or the objections they are raising speak to a lack of understanding about the value of your products, or this is someone you just don't want to work with, MOVE ON. If we don't waste time on folks who don't qualify, we can find the ones who will that much faster.

In my next post, we will talk about what Hawkins says is your Natural Market.

Kaaren