Prospecting and cold calling; two of the most hated terms in the sales industry. Let’s be honest, most of us will make ourselves “busy being busy” just to avoid making cold calls. Myself included. But guess what? Its a necessary evil. Really. Truly. No matter how successful you are, if you don’t spend time prospecting your pipeline will soon dwindle. Its just a part of the business.

So here’s a few tips that may help you buckle down and make prospecting a regular part of your business plan:

• Time blocking. Write it down. Pencil PEN it in. Make it a part of your daily schedule
  • Call for 2 hours, handle work, call for 2 hours, handle work
  • Ask a mentor what their schedule for prospecting is
    • You don’t have to reinvent the wheel
  • Eliminate all other distractions. Close your email. Close Facebook.
• Give yourself a quota. How many calls are you going to make before you can leave your office. And then HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE
• Stand up when you make your calls
  • This automatically raises your adrenaline and gives you energy
  • Don’t forget to smile
• How many “no’s” can you get?
  • Make a game out of it. You know you are going to receive some no’s, so don’t stop until you’ve received X# of no’s
• Have a partner make calls at the same time
  • Check in with one another after every 10 calls and compare conversations, responses and results. You’ll learn a lot
• Have your call list printed and in front of you
  • There’s something thrilling about physically crossing off an item on a list
  • Cross off each call after you make it
  • Use colored highlighters and make a game; each color means a different response. See how many yellow you can get, how many pink etc…
• Call your warm leads first
  • This will (hopefully) give you a confidence boost and get the ball rolling.
• Shut your door
  • Distractions are the #1 reason you’ll quit
  • Isolate yourself for an hour
  • Put a sign on your door asking for no disruptions
  • I’ve also seen people go sit in their car and make calls
  • Whatever it takes, create the atmosphere you need to be successful
• JUST DO IT
  • Tell yourself whatever you need to tell yourself to just get it done.

Hope this helps your business today.

Happy Networking!
For more tips visit http://www.networkingwizblog.com

Do me a favor, stop, think back about how you got to where you are today. Who connected you to your current situation? How did you meet that person? Was it a connection you made years ago because of a random introduction? Who has played roles in your life that may have seemed insignificant yet now seem so crucial?

Example: I am in my role today because of an introduction to a fabulous loan officer I met at a referral group that I was literally drug to by a business affiliate I barely knew 6 years ago!

Don’t forget where you came from. Whether that person is still in your life or not, or maybe has changed roles, they still helped you get to where you came from. Don’t forget to stop and be grateful for people who have come into your life, for whatever reasons.

This goes too for your clients. How did you get that last deal? Was it a referral? Was it a connection from a connection? Make sure to reach out and thank people for making that connection for you…even years later. It will mean a lot and could mean even more with them sending you more connections.

Think about it… wouldn’t you LOVE knowing that something you did made a difference in someones’ life? (even years later)

Happy Networking!

For more tips visit http://www.networkingwizblog.com

 

So this week’s post is a little bias, its coming from a gal once known as ‘The Networking Queen’. From someone who built her reputation and business as  the girl who was ‘everywhere’. And someone who LOVES networking. But really people, networking is a necessary evil in today’s business.

The words that make me cringe the most are “I’m too busy to network”. You know why you’re too busy…because you were networking 6 months ago to get that business! If you don’t network today you won’t stay busy 6 months from now. Networking is not about getting a referral today, its about building relationships with those that bring you referrals tomorrow, and next month and next year.

Networking should be a large part of your business plan. No matter how ‘busy’ you get. Keep it up. Its okay to limit it, and focus on your best ROI networking events, but don’t stop or your paychecks will too.

So stay busy to keep staying busy my friends!

Happy Networking

For more networking tips visit http://www.networkingwizblog.com