How fanatical about FTA prospecting is Clay Mills? Just take a peek at his “Recent Calls” list.
As an incentive to his sales teams to increase prospecting sales activity, a year and a half ago he made a commitment to them — one that’s become a gold mine. For every FTA appointment conducted by any Business Process Consultant in Texas, the VP of Sales would personally call and thank the prospect for meeting with our team. Not a pitch, or a follow up; just a simple, genuine, and very personal “thank you” from a top executive.
The call often throws the person on other end of the line for a loop, in the best way possible.
“They think I’m grinding on them. But I just call and thank them for meeting with our team, and that I wanted them to personally hear it from me,” Clay says. “The feedback on this has been amazing.”
He loves the personal touch. He loves the results. But more than anything, Clay loves the excitement it generates among his team to carve out specific times for filling their pipeline. For prospecting like their hair’s on fire.
“Your prospecting directly determines your fate in our business,” Clay said. “We’re a results-oriented business, and you don’t get results without a pipeline.”
To succeed in prospecting, you have to be optimistic/enthusiastic. You have to be relentless. You have to pick up the phone (or launch the virtual meeting) like your sales goals depend on it. Again and again.
Honestly? You have to be fanatical about FTA prospecting.
A Fanatical Read
The first time Clay picked up Jeb Blount’s ‘Fanatical Prospecting,’ book three years ago, he couldn’t put it down. Today, he says his teams live by this book.
“It has everything we’ve been talking about, and finally somebody put it in one spot. I think the book should be the Bible of prospecting for a sales person that’s in it to win it,” Clay says.
Clay's Fanatical Approach
1. The Arms of the Octopus.
You’ve got to take a balanced approach if you want to successfully prospect. Mix phone with email with networking with referrals with video conferencing. Realistically, you can’t reach all potential customers with one methodology.
2. Block Out Your Time.
Simple. Block out time on your calendar for prospecting in advance. The Golden hours at Datamax Texas are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4. This time frame should only include closing sales, sales appointments, or prospecting.
3. The Four Objectives.
Remember, there are four objectives to prospecting:
- Set an appointment.
- Gather information and qualify.
- Close a sale.
- Build familiarity.
Going to Fanatical Lengths.
When the pandemic hit last year, Jeb Blount released his newest book “Virtual Selling,” which offers a lot of structure to communicating virtually and also lays out the framework for effective phone prospecting.
From having your “because” statement, to how to get past phone objections, to leaving effective phone messages, the phone right now is a number one tool for many reasons, Clay says.
“You have to be very flexible (right now),” Clay says. “Many people have been directly affected by COVID, so most importantly, you have to observe, ask, and honor the company COVID protocols. Sales is always a pliable type job. But we have to be extra flexible in our approach right now.”
The bottom line in 2021? Sometimes reaching clients, setting up FTA appointments, and ultimately winning deals sometimes means to going to fanatical lengths.
A perfect example of such “lengths”? Clay’s “recent calls” to recent FTA appointments.
Tyler Business Process Consultant Kaylee Lynn had a “really good” meeting with a FTA prospect late last year. They were in the process of collecting bids from other companies, when they received a call from Clay.
“After our meeting, when Clay called her, she told me that sealed the deal,” Kaylee said. “She told me that the fact that the VP of Sales took the time to call her showed just how much we wanted their businesses.”
