Prospecting Drives Man to Quit His Job

No this is not a headline from the National Enquirer... it's a true story!

The other day I did an incentive at the end of one of our weekly sales meetings. Two of our sales people were offered one hundred dollars for the most leads generated by the end of the day. At 5pm one of our most respected team members returned to the office with 20 business cards and notes on the back of each card with key details on the prospect and their business. The number to beat - 20.

The other guy... didn't show up. At 6pm I tried to track him down... he didn't answer his phone. Later that night he sent an email... quitting his job. No joke.

The thought of prospecting scared this kid so bad he quit his job. He was a hard worker, in fact, I would say he was our hardest working sales person. Unfortunately he'd rather lug boxes than find new business and make more money. Sad.

In his book "Advanced Selling Strategies," Brian Tracy writes "You can be excellent at every part of the professional sales process, but unless you can find someone to talk to, your skills won't help you." That's powerful stuff. You see if you suck at prospecting you have to depend on someone else to find qualified contacts for you to persuade. The problem with that approach is what if they don't find enough to keep you busy?

Answer - you go hungry. What could be worse? You now begin to blame someone else for your own lack of effort. The old saying about giving a man a fish and teaching a man how to fish is true with prospecting.

Check this out... "Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish and you will not have to listen to his incessant whining about how hungry he is.”

Now insert the concept of prospecting...

“Give a man a lead and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to prospect and you will not have to listen to his incessant whining about how broke he is.”

Sales managers, teach your people how to prospect and do anything to help them see how important it is. Sales people, remember the words of Brian Tracy...

"You can be excellent at every part of the professional sales process, but unless you can find someone to talk to, your skills won't help you."

TK