Looking for new business requires little risk, possible high reward

By Jacqui Sakowski

Securing new business is the primary task of sales professionals. In an economy as tough as this one, not only is it the primary task it can also be a daunting task.

Most sales professionals know that their existing customers and clients are their best prospects. Their existing clients already have a working relationship with them that can be leveraged for mutual benefit, as most human beings would rather do business with someone that they know than someone they don’t know. When existing clients reduce the amount of business that they give to their vendors due to the impact of a failing economy, a significant revenue stream declines to a mere trickle. Hitting goal seems like the impossible dream.

Every vendor is working hard to hang on to existing customers and clients, and sales professionals, and their support teams, will have to work harder than ever to find and secure new clients.

Prospecting for new business is one of the least popular activities of most sales professionals, and yet it has enormous potential to bring great reward and carries very little risk. Think about that. Prospecting is probably the least risky task a sales professional has to perform.

Where we have nothing invested, we have no risk. We can only gain from prospecting activities.

Prospecting is time consuming, outcomes are often long term and there is no guarantee of successfully closing business. Prospecting efficiently will allow you to meet more new prospects that will have high potential to buy from you.

Some prospecting tasks you can do from behind your desk instead of from behind your windshield:

1. Research your territory so that you know what prospects are located in your territory.

2. Research the prospects to find out if they have the potential to be the kind of client you seek. (Not every business is a good prospect.)

3. Research the prospects to learn who the best contact is for you.

4. Prepare your introduction and initial questions so you’re able to make a great first impression!

5. Call to make an appointment to visit when you’re next in the area.

6. If you get ahead of schedule or a scheduled meeting gets canceled, stop into one of these ready-researched prospects.

If you’re in the neighborhood anyway, it’s a no-brainer to take some time to drive around and see what new businesses have opened. See what businesses have closed. Scope out new industrial or commercial developments; and which have new "For Lease" signs on them. Have the yellow pages for the area in your vehicle or available on your laptop, PDA or smart phone, so that you can drive to a business rather than drive aimlessly. If you have them, work with colleagues in your sales group to make prospecting more fun.

Develop a plan together, set times to check in with each other on the challenges and opportunities that you encounter as you work the plan, and set early deadlines to get together to review and refine the plan.

With a solid plan to reach out to ideal potential clients you are more likely to get a return on the investment of time, creativity and skill that you invest in your efforts. When you pursue business with clients that you truly wish to work with it’s easier to hang in there long enough to secure the business.

And remember when your competitors are working extra hard to keep their customers and clients you are going to have to work more creatively, and with increased flexibility to get your chance!

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