[...]... up to successful prospecting The ultimate goal of all prospecting activities is to create and enable successful cold calls In Part One, we are going to discuss how you can prepare to succeed at cold calling That means we’ll talk about the larger process of prospecting such as how to define your purpose and your prospecting goals We’ll explain the fundamentals of Knock Your Socks Off Prospecting There... of your cold calls don’t result in sales, then wow, you must be doing something really wrong Conversely, by treating prospecting as an art, the pressure is off Mistakes are okay You can develop your own style, based on some sales principles and tools that are easily mastered Knock Your Socks Off Prospecting: How to Cold Call, Get Qualified Leads, and Make More Money is definitely an art We will offer... it, the more the focus of your message is on you Try for no “I’s,” and watch your success rate soar What About Your Support Material? Take a look at your marketing brochures, your PowerPoint presentations, and the marching orders you got from your boss Chances are, they’re all about your company, your products, you, you, you Time to change that, to whatever extent you can Lobby your marketing department... the championship trophy! Sounds like he would make a great sales manager With practice, you will learn to laugh at your cold-calling fears We’re going to show you how to prospect so that you will be knocking your own socks off TIP: Practice your sales prospecting speech by leaving it on your own voice mail Then listen to what you hear You’ll be able to hear the message you are leaving for others and... of preliminary work to do, but these preliminaries will have a huge impact on your success Remember your Mom saying, “If you are going to do something, you might as well do it right?” Mom wasn’t talking about prospecting, but she may as well have been The next thirteen chapters will help prepare you for Knock Your Socks Off Prospecting 0581 ch01(1-6).ps 3/30/05 1:18 PM Page 3 1 Gee, Ma, Do I Have To?... to use to hone your craft But remember, the Mona Lisa wasn’t created in a day, and you aren’t required to become the master of the prospecting universe overnight Instead, your aim simply should be to get better at prospecting Even a 10 percent improvement would make a big difference A 20 percent improvement would be huge And you will get better In fact, you’re going to knock their socks off We promise... fifteen years He was a fine author who offered much wisdom and wit to readers throughout the world, and a wonderful colleague whose mighty spirit and transcendent humor were gifts to us all xi 0581 chfm(i-xii).ps 3/30/05 2:26 PM Page xii This page intentionally left blank 0581 ch01(1-6).ps 3/30/05 1:18 PM Page 1 Part One The Fundamentals of Knock Your Socks Off Prospecting When approaching someone who... excel at it? We will venture to say that strong prospecting skills are rarer than 10-karat diamonds Therefore, they are extremely valuable If you have to do something anyway, and if learning to do it well increases your earning power and market value, then what the heck, let’s knock some socks off! While you don’t have to love cold calling, nothing in your job description actually requires you to hate... get the idea If you are a typical salesperson, this fear and loathing of prospecting is so engrained that you’ll never be persuaded to love it So we won’t try Don’t worry, we won’t ask you to chant, “I love prospecting, I love prospecting, ” instead of watching your favorite TV show What we will ask you to do is accept that part of your job is to prospect for leads and close those leads No, don’t say it... become a customer of your company, you are making a cold call The most difficult kind of cold call is when the person you approach: • Has never heard of your company • Doesn’t believe he or she has any use for your product or service • Seems to be annoyed that you are bothering him The best kind of cold call is when the person you approach: • Knows your company • Knows something about your product or service . talk about the larger process of prospecting such as how to define your purpose and your prospecting goals. We’ll explain the fundamentals of Knock Your Socks Off Prospecting. There isn’t a lot. writing of Knock Your Socks Off Prospect- ing: How to Cold Call, Get Qualified Leads, and Make More Money. Without help from a host of characters, this last book in the Knock Your Socks Off series. laugh at your cold-calling fears. We’re going to show you how to prospect so that you will be knocking your own socks off. TIP: Practice your sales prospecting speech by leaving it on your own