Key Messages
The Hard Truth About Sales Success: Why You Should Stop Buying Into The “Gurus’” Kool-Aid And Embrace The Realities Of Prospecting
Jeb Blount‘s Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Pro’s Guide to Opening Sales and Scaling Your Business is the perfect book for those looking to be sales superstars.
It goes over the hard truth of what it means to be a serious salesperson – that you must dedicate yourself, have a can-do attitude, and develop thick skin.
And importantly, you have to put in the time – without hours of dedicated work, you won’t go far in this field at all.
With this book, Blount provides tangible examples on how one can become a better prospector, from learning why it’s essential not to rely solely on one particular sales methodology to putting themselves into their client’s shoes when making a pitch.
He gives helpful advice on overcoming fear of rejection and getting real with oneself and prospects.
The bottom line? If you want to succeed in the highly competitive world of sales, then reading Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount should be at the top of your priority list – because it’s all about teaching you how to level up your game and become a top prospector!
The Brutal Truth Of Sales: Hard Work Beats Easy Solutions Every Time
Salespeople try all kinds of techniques to close deals, but experts have long agreed that one of the keys to success is a relentless focus on prospecting.
While many salespeople may fantasize about finding the easy path to success, the truth is that there really isn’t a shortcut – and the best sales superstars know it.
They understand that in order to reach their goals and make it big, they can’t just rely on talent and smarts alone.
Instead, they need to dedicate themselves to hunting down prospects and tracking them until they generate leads worth converting into customers.
This means making time for calls, emails, door-knocking and networking – even if this means sacrificing things like meals or weekends!
In fact, this ‘fanatical prospecting’ is what sets sales superstars apart from everyone else: when done correctly, it can lead to higher earnings, big bonuses and prizes.
The secret is simple: the effort you put in will determine what comes out at the other end of your pipeline.
So if you want great results at the end of your sales journey, putting in extra hours cultivating relationships with prospects is a must!
Overcoming Rejection Anxiety: The Key To Success In Prospecting
Fanatical prospectors realize that in sales, it’s all about getting out of your comfort zone.
They understand that if they want to make a sale, they’re going to have to take initiative and go out of their way to interrupt their prospects – even when there may be resistance.
Rather than sitting back and hoping for a call from the most lucrative prospects, fanatical prospectors will get up and actively seek them out.
They won’t shirk away from rejection because they know that’s part of the process – the only way to make money is by pushing beyond phone phobia or any fear of being shot down.
The author of Fanatical Prospecting has seen this in action firsthand; often times he’ll observe teams underperforming because of their hesitancy when it comes to calling customers.
They’ll sit around making excuses instead rather than hitting the dial button and doing what needs to be done!
If you want results, then you need to become a fanatical prospector – don’t let any fear stand in your way!
Don’t Fear The Phone: Make Dialing Prospects Part Of Your Daily Routine With The Eating The Frog Method
Everyone knows that telephone prospecting is no one’s favorite business task.
It can be tedious, time-consuming and difficult to break through the walls of gatekeepers and voicemails to get in touch with leads.
But despite the fact that nobody appreciates phone prospecting, it is still an irreplaceable tool for making sales.
When compared against other prospecting techniques such as email or social media selling, calling remains the most efficient means of connection with prospective customers.
Companies have seen a steady 5 percent increase in contact rates with phone calls since the 1990s.
This is in part due to the fact that cell phones are often assigned to people rather than desks, allowing them to be contacted more easily.
Not only that, but fewer people pick up their telephone these days, making each call stand out and leave a lasting personal impression – something that email and other digital forms of communication cannot do.
Bottom line? If you want to reach your sales targets, call your prospects!
Sure, everyone passionately dislikes picking up the phone – but sometimes all you can do is go down this route first thing in the morning (as we like to say: eat that frog!).
Once you’re done with it and have crossed this off your list, you’ll find yourself more motivated and energized for all other facets of sales prospecting throughout the day.
Why Traditional Prospecting Still Outperforms Social Selling As A Sales Tool
We all know that social media has changed the world we live in.
And many people think that it could be revolutionizing sales, too.
That’s why you may have heard a lot of buzz about “social selling” lately.
But before you get too excited about social media as a prospecting tool, it’s important to clear up one misconception: it’s not really great for selling.
Don’t believe me? Just look at what happened when an expert in social media tried to pitch his program to the author’s company- he was asked, “If your program is so good, why are you calling me?” Even the prophets of social selling understand that nothing beats old-fashioned phone prospecting!
That doesn’t mean that social media isn’t useful for prospectors though.
In fact, its potential is unprecedented!
Salespeople now have an unprecedented level of access to useful information about their prospects and potential customers.
They can use this data to gain better insight into buyers’ behaviors, preferences and desires – which can create relationships between them and their potential clients down the line!
So yes, while social selling isn’t great for actually making sales right off the bat, it still provides prospectors with powerful ways to connect with more members in their audience – and build relationships over time.
It all boils down to figuring out where your target market is at and endulging yourself there accordingly!
Overcoming The Three Deadly Sales Sins: Procrastination, Perfectionism, And Paralysis Through Analysis
Procrastination, perfectionism, and paralysis are the three most common enemies of any prospector.
Procrastination involves putting off tasks until tomorrow (or the day after that), and this can be more damaging than one might think – it can set you back significantly and prevent you from completing your goal of hitting your monthly sales target.
Perfectionism is another enemy; those afflicted with it are so determined to get everything “just right” that they tend to get nothing done at all!
Finally, paralysis through analysis is an issue that many would-be star prospectors face: they spend too much time overthinking things or worrying about “what ifs” instead of just jumping into action and making calls.
The key to success as a prospector is overcoming these three enemies, as laid out in Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount.
Blount recommends starting with small steps each day – don’t try to do too much in one go, but start the journey slow and steady – while also not getting bogged down in perfectionism, remembering that messy success beats perfectionism every time.
Ultimately, confident action trumps endless analysis every time – pick up the phone and start dialing!
Don’T Put All Your Eggs In One Basket: The Benefits Of A Mixed Prospecting Methodology For Salespeople
The most successful salespeople know that putting all your eggs in one basket is a surefire way to underperform.
That’s why they employ a mixed prospecting methodology, which means dividing your time between different channels like telephone, email, personal contact, text messaging, social media, trade shows and even cold calling.
This tailored approach will vary depending on the industry, company type and geographical location.
For example, if you sell consulting services in downtown Chicago then it might be worth knocking on people’s doors to spread your message – this likely wouldn’t be as effective in rural Vermont.
Those selling large products or services through established contacts may depend more heavily on phone and email while those new to an area should focus down on building their database through telephones calls.
Make sure you look at what the top performers in your area are doing and follow suit if you want to be competitive.
Not only can mixing up the channels and approaches boost results but it also gives you with more creative solutions to getting the job done!
The Three Laws Of Prospecting To Keep Your Pipeline Full
Obeying the three laws of prospecting is essential to keeping your pipeline full and your business alive.
Firstly, you have the Universal Law of Need, which states that the more you need something, the less likely you are to get it.
Struggling salespeople need to resist their desperation as it clouds judgment and makes them look desperate – not a good look!
The second law, called the 30-Day Rule, tells us that all deals closed in any 90-day window must be derived from your prospecting activity in the thirty days prior.
This means if you delay prospecting for even one month, your pipeline will soon be empty!
And this leads us to the third law; The Law of Replacement.
This is built on from the second law and helps us understand how many prospects we need in our pipeline – for every deal Becky closes she needs ten more to replace them at her 10% closing rate.
So bear these three laws in mind: obey them diligently and you’ll keep your pipeline brimming with sales opportunities!
The Importance Of Tracking Numbers For Salespeople To Monitor Efficiency And Effectiveness
Like elite athletes, top salespeople are all about tracking their performance like a hawk in order to reach maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
Many of them will carefully record and analyze things such as contacts, appointments, response rates, closing rates and emails sent and received.
Doing so helps them to see where they currently stand when it comes to sales prospects and identify which small tweaks can be made to take their performance up a notch.
It’s key for prospectors to have a realistic overview on the numbers because without it, it’s near impossible for them to accurately gauge the ratio between activity and outcome – i.e.
whether their efforts are actually yielding results or not.
This is something that the author has personally witnessed; when he asked one of his reps how they were doing and was told that “no one’s pulling the trigger” today.
On closer inspection though, it turned out this rep had only dialed twelve prospects in seven hours!
There were probably countless other lost opportunities due to lack of knowledge on how effective (or ineffective) their efforts had been that day – proving just how essential it is for prospectors to follow the numbers in order to improve their performance.
The Pyramid Principle: Prioritizing Leads To Efficient And Effective Selling
The Fanatical Prospecting book provides essential guidance to salespeople who want to maximize their efficiency and effectiveness.
In the book, author Jeb Blount explains his concept of the prospecting pyramid.
This is a way of visualizing the best way to prioritize prospects in your customer database.
A pyramid is used rather than a grid because it emphasizes that not all targets are equal: some represent more valuable opportunities than others.
At the base of the pyramid are those prospects with whom you have very little contact – such as just knowing the company name – while at the next level, you start having more detailed information, such as contact details or budget sizes.
The next level encourages identifying buying windows – when these prospects are likely to be ready to make a decision – and moving them up the pyramid accordingly.
As you move further up, these tiers become less populated by fewer leads who represent higher conversion potentials.
At this point its important to maintain close relationships with these prospects and be attentive for signs of readiness for purchase.
Finally, at the top of this pyramid lies your qualified leads who may need special attention; since they require immediate response from you in order to secure their business.
Crafting A Persuasive Pitch: Learn To Address Your Prospect’S Primary Concern – “What’S In It For Me?”
It’s no secret that crafting a persuasive pitch can be one of the most challenging tasks for any salesperson.
But never fear – there is a simple but effective way to craft a successful pitch: by asking yourself what’s in it for your prospect.
WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) should always be top of mind when reaching out to potential customers.
When you understand your prospects’ needs, you can craft a pitch that has three essential components: first, focus on delivering measurable business objectives and how your product will help meet them; second, explain why your product is an improvement over the current situation or status quo; third, provide evidence of past success stories so they will know exactly what results they can expect from using your product or service.
By taking the time to answer the question ‘what’s in it for me?’ when crafting persuasive pitches, and tailoring the three key components to each prospect’s unique situation, salespeople can make sure their offer stands out with concrete proof of tangible results.
Now that’s something prospects can’t ignore!
Wrap Up
The Fanatical Prospecting book provides a comprehensive guide to proactive prospecting.
It’s key message is that, no matter how advanced the digital selling tools of today might be, nothing beats the personal touch of good, old-fashioned telephone prospecting.
To make phone sales as accessible as possible, it suggests breaking up your daily goals into smaller blocks and taking short breaks with rewards every time you complete a step.
Thanks to this strategy, you’ll find that two hours on the phone are much easier to tackle than one long stretch!
With Fanatical Prospecting’s tips and techniques, you’ll soon be enjoying the success of proactively pursuing leads by leveraging the power of the human connection.
