Some prospects are better than others. In fact, some prospects are wonderful to deal with while others are a complete waste of your time. Your starting point in spending more time with better prospects is for you to define clearly for yourself the attributes of an excellent prospect. Then your job is to find as many of them as possible. There is one special quality possessed by an excellent prospect. One of the most valuable things you can do in your initial conversations with the prospect is to ask the kind of questions that enable you to determine your prospect’s quality ranking on a scale from one to ten, with one being low and ten being high.
The Golden Sales Prospect
A good prospect has a pressing need for exactly the product or service that you are selling. He has a problem for which your product or service is an excellent solution. Or he has an opportunity that your product or service enables him to take advantage of immediately. The more urgent the need or more pressing the demand, the lower will be the customers price sensitivity or concern about the smaller details of the purchase. The more prospects you can find that have an obvious need for what you are selling, the more and faster sales you will make.
For example, a company in the middle of its busiest season at which a critical machine breaks down and cannot be repaired is a prime prospect for the person and company who can sell and deliver this type of machine rapidly.
Not long ago, a young salesman selling construction materials lost a major order to a more aggressive supplier. But exactly when the supplies were required, in the middle of the construction job, the supplier’s workers went on strike. The customer was desperate and called the young man to see if his company could deliver quickly. They could, and even through their prices were slightly higher, the young salesman gained a first rate customer who not only bought large quantities from him but who opened doors for him to other people who also became customers.
Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action. First, ask lots of questions with a new prospect to find out how important your product or service can be to his or her life or business. Second, keep in touch with prospects that can most benefit from what you sell and continue reminding them that you want to do business with them. Never give up!
Brian Tracy is a legendary in the fields of management, leadership, and sales. He has produced more than 350 audio/video programs and has written over 42 books, including his just-released book The Way To Wealth.” To receive a free copy of one of Brian’s CDs, go to and click on the Special Offers, Free Audio Program. Also check out Brian Tracy University of Sales and Entrepreneurship at Brian can be reached at (858) 481-2977.
