The Street-Smart Salesman: How Growing Up Poor Helped Make Me Rich

Chapter 12

Charming Strangers: Prospecting

I do not seek. I find.

—Pablo Picasso

 

Who is a prospect? Broadly, a prospect is the decision maker at a company who buys the kinds of things you have to sell, hasn't met you, may or may not have heard of you or your company, and may or may not become your customer. Most important, a prospect presents an array of moneymaking possibilities that allow a high-performance salesperson to sleep well at night.

My concept of prospecting is the pursuit of someone I did not know yesterday who will help me earn money tomorrow. For the sake of health and well-being every bit as much as for dollars and cents, sales professionals need to cultivate a steady, career-long parade of potential clients. Remember: Regular customers, no matter how many, are not everything. Having a dance card crowded with new names is what removes doubt and anxiety from your voice and neediness from your behavior, leveling the playing field and putting your prospect at ease.

Only steady prospecting delivers the self-confidence that enables you to charge above-average prices pursuant to my interpretation of the Law of Supply and Demand: Plenty of customers (demand) plus limited supply (my time and attention) equal the right for me to charge premium prices. After all, if I'm not charging premium, how am I going to decide which of my many clients to dote upon? Clients who pay premium get extra attention. They know it and expect it. They're willing, even happy, to pay for it, ...