Pick Up The Phone and Sell

CHAPTER 36HOW TO FIND PROSPECTS YOU DON'T KNOW YET

Now that we've covered why there are no cold calls, especially in our post-pandemic world, let's look at how to identify new prospects to call. This chapter covers where to find and uncover new prospects.

ASK YOUR CURRENT CUSTOMERS WHO ELSE BUYS WHAT YOU SELL

Most salespeople assume that their customer is the only one in the company who buys what they sell.

In many cases, there are other people who also buy it.

These alternate, additional buyers can be in other offices or different regions, or they might be sitting right next to your buyer.

Sometimes your buyer goes to you, but her colleague goes to his own supplier. The only way to find out is to ask, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Here is your language:

“Who else at your company can I help the way that I help you?”

or …

“Who else at your firm buys what you buy? I'd love to help them, too.”

This is called an internal referral: you are asking to be connected to somebody else inside the company who would also benefit from buying from you.

ASK YOUR CURRENT CUSTOMERS FOR REFERRALS OUTSIDE THEIR COMPANY

This is a request for a connection to a buyer at another firm. Many times, salespeople don't ask for referrals because we are afraid to ask the customer to connect us with their competition. If you are seeking to avoid this, simply disarm it on the front end:

“Who do you know, like yourself but at another company that doesn't compete with you, who I could help the ...