Sales Reinvented

The purpose of lead generation and prospecting are the same: to get prospects into your funnel. Mark Boundy—a Sales, Pricing, and Value Consultant—has amassed wide-ranging experience in the industry for 25+ years. One thing that he always emphasizes is knowing your customer’s wold intimately. Why does it matter so much? How does it impact your prospecting process and level of success? Find out in this episode of Sales Reinvented!

• [0:50] Prospecting and lead generation are the same
• [2:44] Why prospecting and lead gen are important
• [3:30] Mark’s prospecting process: slow down to speed up
• [4:54] Attributes of a successful salesperson
• [8:04] Understand your customer’s world + ask insightful questions
• [10:10] Mark’s prospecting and lead generation dos and don’ts
• [11:50] How Mark recruited the recruiters

After you understand the customer’s business you need to provide perspective. You can’t have perspective on something you don’t understand. Your customers are being bombarded with calls and emails. They don’t want to spend time educating someone on their business.

So your job is to slow down to speed up. Before you make a call, understand the customer’s business well enough so you can have an insightful question to ask in the first 15 seconds. It lets them know you have an intimate understanding of their business and know what their big fires are. You can’t do that with a canned script. 

Your job is to be in the top 10% of the fires they’re already fighting. The secret to successful prospecting and lead generation is understanding the customer’s world so well that you can instantly plug into one of their top priorities. You become a priority and a resource to meet their business needs. 

Mark once had a job where his whole region was light on funnel. So they did a prospecting blitz to fill the pipeline. The guy who did the best was only making 5 calls a day. So they asked him what he was doing. The answer? Research. 

He would find someone that looked like a candidate, researched them to understand them, and prepared 1–3 insightful questions that he can help them answer. He was crushing it. But if he was in an organization that measured “activity” he would’ve been in trouble. 

An organization needs to measure the right KPIs. John Tukey—a famous statistician—says “Far better an approximate answer to the right question than an exact answer to the wrong question.”

Mark had worked with two SDRs that he was sharing with other salespeople. He found out that one of the SDRs was getting bonuses based on the number of calls that he made. So what did he do? He gamed the system by letting the phone ring for 1 ½ seconds—and then he’d hang up. What should you measure instead? Listen to hear Mark’s thoughts!

Don’t measure the wrong thing. Measure the number of appointments. If you slow down your reparation, you can vastly increase your number of appointments. You can leave a great insight as a voicemail. At one point, 25% of Mark’s voicemails got return calls. He had earned the right to a conversation.

Mark firmly beliefs you must understand your customer’s problems. Know how your product or service delivers customer outcomes. Then, learn how to translate features and benefits into customer outcomes. When you’re prospecting, you say “My company delivers these outcomes. Does that resonate with you?” If you’ve done your research, you’ll know the answer is “yes” or they’re lying. Sometimes the answer is “no” but can mean they just don’t have time to talk to you.

If they’ve said “no” to your offer—but you know your insightful question impressed them—ask if you can call time to time with any other insights. If they say yes, you’ve received permission to come to the front of the line and move into their circle of trust. Deliver value from the first second you’re on the phone. What are Mark’s top 3 prospecting dos and don'ts? How do you earn the right to a conversation? Listen to find out!

• John Tukey
• CSO Insights Buyer Preference Survey (2018)

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Prospecting—though every salesperson hates to admit it—is the necessary evil in any business. You have to prospect to get leads in your funnel to nurture them through the process. But how you do it matters. That’s what Steve Hall—the Managing Director of Executive Sales Coaching Australia—emphasizes in this episode of Sales Reinvented. Don’t miss it!

• [0:48] Is it a matter of semantics? 
• [1:17] Why are they important?
• [2:52] Steve’s ideal prospecting process
• [5:52] Attributes a salesperson needs
• [7:05] Skills for salespeople to develop
• [7:46] Top 3 prospecting dos and don’ts
• [10:20] Persistence and resilience are powerful

Prospecting and lead generation: They’re just labels, according to Steve. Prospecting is identifying potential customers who may have a need that you can supply and can afford to pay for it. Lead generation is looking for people in the middle of the buying process looking to buy. 

In Steve’s opinion, prospecting is more important. You want to prospect for choice. If you have a full pipeline ready to buy, you won’t get desperate. You won’t try to close deals that aren’t ready or close those that don’t fit. The fuller your pipeline is, the less desperate you are. 

Is there an ideal prospecting process? Steve’s answer? It depends. It depends on what you sell, who you sell it to, and what the deals are worth. It also depends on how big your team is. If you’re an individual, you have to do everything yourself. If you have a huge marketing team it’s different. Everyone has different capabilities.

The most important thing is to understand who your ideal customer is and identify companies that fit that. Assuming that a new customer’s lifetime value is upward of $250,000, they’re worth putting effort into. So you need to do research (either you or your minions). Then you reach out to them.

What do you do if someone is an ideal customer but they aren’t ready to buy yet? Do you come back in a year? Do you get them in a nurturing program? Who builds the relationship?

Then you have the actual sales process. Steve has one client that has multiple people involved in the sales process:

• The CEO’s executive assistant does the research—with the list they’ve come up with as a team—to find out who the key players are. 
• The CEO or one of his staff get them on a business-to-business call. It works well for them—but won’t work for other companies.

What attributes does a salesperson need to be successful with prospecting? What skills should they develop? Listen to hear Steve’s thoughts!

Steve shared quite a few dos and don’ts for salespeople to keep in mind: 

• Prepare. Don’t just pick up the phone or send an email. Think about what you’re going to do.
• Targeting is critical. 
• Get comfortable with silence.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
• Have a respectful pattern interrupt to get their attention on you.
• Don’t use smart tricks and techniques. Everyone knows them and is used to them. Be genuine.
• Don’t be too salesy or too pushy.

Don’t say “Hello, how are you?” Every single person does that. It says “I don’t really care how you are I just want to sell stuff to you.”

Steve was working with a company trying to invest in aged care facilities. They wanted to talk to the CEO of the company they wanted to work with. The problem was that he couldn’t find a phone number for these people anywhere. Every single number for the company went to a call center!

Eventually, he went to their website and looked at their press releases. The head of corporate communications had their mobile number on the press release. So Steve called him and asked him to forward a message to the CEO’s executive assistant. 

She got back to him and said “The CEO is away—do you want to speak to the CFO?” Of course, they accepted, and that’s how he connected his client to this company. The moral of the story is that not everyone wants to be communicated with. But if you desperately want to connect—try the PR people. 

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Do you want to achieve your quota? Do you want to make more money? Salespeople need to be hungry, according to Mark Sellers—The Founder and Managing Partner of Breakthrough Sales Performance. You’re asking people to open doors—and they won’t all open. But there are a few things you can do to achieve more success with prospecting and lead generation. Listen to this episode of @SalesReinvented to learn more!

• [1:24] How are these two activities different?
• [2:19] Why lead gen and prospecting are important
• [2:56] Mark’s prospecting and lead generation process
• [3:57] Salespeople need to be hungry
• [5:00] Skills salespeople need to develop
• [6:22] Mark’s top 3 dos and don’ts
• [8:06] Take advantage of warm referrals

In Mark’s eyes, lead gen consists of marketing departments that are conducting nurture campaigns, inquiries, or Mailchimp and Hubspot kinds of activity. Prospecting is the domain of the salesperson. You’re out there every day constantly doing something to feed the funnel. The activities can be similar, but it’s about the mindset. The lifeblood of selling is getting new sales. It’s how companies grow and quotas get achieved. Unless you have an organic following, you have to prospect and generate leads to get more business.

Mark’s business is different from most others. He runs a consulting and training business. His lead gen and prospecting efforts are mostly referrals. Where he goes to get his new clients is a small universe. He takes care of the customers he has and because of that, he asks them to hire him year after year. Secondly, because his focus is on caring for his current clients and offering impeccable services, they are willing to directly refer him to other prospects. 

Mark emphasizes that you need to engage in stage zero conversations. COVID has given us an automatic excuse to ask “How are you doing?” and “How is your business doing? Have you changed your strategies or direction?” Having important business conversations gives you credibility while also emotionally connecting and empathizing with a potential client. Hopefully—out of those conversations—new opportunities will arise. What are Mark’s top 3 prospecting and lead generation dos and don’ts? Listen to find out!

A year and a half ago, Mark reached out to a consultant from another business (a conglomerate of 89 companies). Mark had done business with 3–4 of them. Mark asked if there was anyone he should be introducing himself to and was given a name. Then he asked if he could get a warm introduction, suggesting that this person speak with him.

His contact took the time to write an email encouraging this person to speak with Mark. That led to Mark presenting to 15 of the presidents. He immediately secured two pieces of business. You can’t be afraid to ask. Reach out to people—even if you don’t know they can do anything for you. Take the chance, if they can’t do anything, nothing is lost. 

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Customers don’t just show up—you have to go get them. Or, have a way to get them interested in learning more about what you offer. You need to engage in both prospecting and lead generation if you want to grow consistently and be sustainable. To do that, you need to get a prospecting system in place. What does Diane do? Listen to this episode of Sales Reinvented to find out!

Diane Helbig is a business advisor and trainer, author, and podcast host. She’s been training small business owners and sales professionals on the importance of discovery during the prospecting, and lead generation stages of sales for over 20 years. She is the author of Succeed Without Selling: The more you think about selling the less you’ll sell, Expert Insights, and Lemonade Stand Selling.

• [0:57] How are prospecting and lead gen different? 
• [1:33] Why both are essential to sales success
• [2:15] Diane’s prospecting and lead gen process
• [3:51] Attributes that make a salesperson great
• [5:18] Skills salespeople need to develop
• [7:36] Top 3 prospecting and lead gen dos and don’ts
• [9:40] Motivation goes a long way 

Diane’s prospecting system begins with identifying a target market. Then you must develop a list of prospects within that target and do some research on them. You need to learn as much as you can so when you do outreach, you have something to talk about. Diane loves it when people use LinkedIn to see how they’re connected. Why? Because a warm introduction is ideal. When you go to set up a meeting, you’re more likely to get it.

With lead generation, you need to develop a list of prospect characteristics in your target market. Set up an ad campaign or an email drop campaign to draw their attention and interest. You get them to your website to reach out to you. 

Be realistic. Understand that you’re not going to sell to everyone in your target market. Attention to detail is also important, especially when getting down to determining characteristics.

You must be patient and good at reviewing data. What are the results of your lead gen? Is it working? Are you targeting the right audience? You can be flexible and make adjustments. 

Curiosity is a huge skill that salespeople need—but most salespeople don’t embrace it enough. Why? Because they want to sell to everyone. 

She emphasizes that you have to listen actively and intentionally and ask questions. Lead into a conversation not knowing if they will be a customer. Allow the conversation to tell you if they are a good customer fit.

You also have to learn how to structure your time for a prospecting system to work. It’s really easy to get distracted. So set up a system and work it. Know what the steps are and block them on your calendar. What are Diane’s top 3 prospecting and lead generation dos and don’ts? Listen to find out!

Diane had a business friend that owned a gift basket company. She was very motivated and clear on her target market and who she should be doing business with. She went through Diane’s LinkedIn connections and emailed the 5 companies she wanted an introduction to. But they got zero responses on LinkedIn.

So Diane decided to try and different tactic emailed each of them directly and asked if they’d take her call. All of them said yes. Why? Because they trusted Diane. She wouldn’t send them someone not with talking to. It gave this gal credibility. She ended up doing business with four out of the five! She had a process, she worked it diligently, and she followed through immediately. Prospecting systems work.

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Prospecting is the lifeblood of every business. Having a full pipeline of qualified prospects means you have choice. According to Marcus Cauchi—a Fractional Chief Revenue Officer for several technology startups—you should have 300–500% more at the “qualified moving to closable” stage of your funnel. You have to drive opportunity with sufficient velocity through the disqualification process. 

Marcus emphasizes to make sure that you get to the qualified stage quickly and cleanly with the least amount of effort and waste. When you prospect for choice—and have a full pipeline—you can walk away from bad business and you’re never dependent on any one deal. Marcus shares a wealth of information in this episode of Sales Reinvented—don’t miss it!

• [1:15] Prospecting and lead gen—in Marcus’s words
• [1:41] You need to prospect for choice

• [2:50] Marcus’s prospecting and lead generation process 

• [6:32] What is the red thread?
• [7:27] Recruit for high intelligence and laziness
• [10:10] The top skills salespeople should develop
• [11:42] Top 3 prospecting and lead generation dos and don’ts
• [13:43] How Marcus turned a cold call into a sale

Prospecting for choice begins with identifying who is and who is not someone you should be prospecting. Disqualify everyone who isn’t a good fit—that means anyone less than a 100% match. You have to be ruthless with disqualification. You should be ready to go for the “no” and find out why they should not buy. If you don’t know why they need help, the risks they’re trying to mitigate, the problems they’re trying to overcome, or their ideal outcomes, you have no business interrupting them.

To prospect for choice, you should also know who your customer is and what they all have in common. Be relevant, timely, respectful of their time, and deliver value on every call. Marcus hates the drivel he hears from people selling marketing automation companies saying it takes 18 attempts to speak to get a conversation in the C-suite. It doesn’t. It only takes one.

If it takes more than that, look at your messaging and find out why it’s not working. Odds are, it’s long, it’s wordy, and it’s irrelevant. It talks about your company, your product, and your services. Touch them with stuff that is relevant. 

He notes that you have to remember that prospecting doesn’t end after the initial conversation. You must care for the middle of the funnel. It’s hammered into you to prospect and get people into the funnel. Then you’re pushed to get to closing. The middle of the funnel is often neglected. Treat prospecting as a sacred act and make sure that you are focusing on making fewer higher-quality calls, being timely and relevant, and nurture them through the pipeline. 

Carl Von Clausewitz wrote a book called “On War.” When he recruited Prussian soldiers, he looked for high intelligence and laziness. Why? It meant minimum effort which equaled a minimum loss of life.

You can approach prospecting in the same way. You need to be well organized and good at research. You need to understand your customer’s world and understand their customers. What is the competitive landscape? If you are good at that, you can elevate your prospecting so you can hit the bullseye far more often—with less effort. 

Marcus interviewed a couple of ladies in the SaaS space. These ladies were smashing their quotas. But when they do, they sit back and ask themselves “What could I have done better?” 

What other skills should a salesperson develop? What are Marcus’s top prospecting and lead generation dos and don’ts? Listen to learn more!

Marcus received a call from someone who immediately started talking about financial training. Marcus interrupted this person and said, “I think you’ve got the wrong person.” Turns out, they did have the wrong person. But instead of ending the call, Marcus asked, “What were you hoping to get from speaking to this person?” Marcus converted him into a bootcamp for cold-calling. The moral of the story? If someone has a pulse, start a conversation with them! You never know where your next opportunity will come from. 

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Why is prospecting a long game? How do you build relationships that lead to new customers? What is the right way to do social selling? Ian Moyse—the EMEA Sales Director for Natterbox—joins me on today's show to answer these questions and so much more. Don’t miss out on his insight and expertise in the world of prospecting and lead generation. 

• [1:05] Lead generation and prospecting: What’s the difference?
• [2:42] Why lead gen and prospecting are so important
• [4:54] What does Ian’s prospecting process look like?
• [7:48] The attributes of a great prospector
• [10:01] Skillsets to focus on developing
• [13:14] Ian’s prospecting and lead generation dos and don’ts
• [20:54] Ian’s favorite prospecting story

Ian points out that salespeople have a bucket. That bucket is always emptying because you’re either losing deals or winning deals. Either way, your pipeline is emptying and you must look ahead. Many salespeople spend all of their time closing. Suddenly, they have a bad quarter and realize their bucket is empty because they haven't been prospecting. 

During Covid-19, Ian has consistently heard conversations where a project is being deferred because the business itself is stopping all spend. 2020 has demonstrated that you need to keep your pipeline full. You want to aim for 5x your target in the pipeline. It takes consistent continual prospecting.

Ian points out that there’s no perfect answer. There is no golden key. It takes hard work. His advice is to focus on your perfect persona customer. Too many activities are just trying to fill the bucket. But you need people in the bucket who are in alignment with your value proposition. It’s better to have more qualified leads in your pipeline than waste your time. 

What are the attributes of someone who is great at prospecting? What skills should a sales professional focus on developing? Listen to hear Ian’s thoughts!

Ian emphasizes that you can’t think activity is productivity. Ian has seen too many people who gave up on social selling because their bosses force them to make 50 calls a day. They’re hung up on activity. But what if you could do it differently? What if there was a better way to generate their quota of leads without cold-calling? Activity should be done in the smartest way. Ian is tired of hearing “Sales is a numbers game.”

He also points out that you shouldn’t connect then pitch. Everyone sees it: You get a connection invite on a social platform and it seems genuine. But soon after, you get a sales pitch. They think that’s social selling. That’s going up to someone and instead of chit-chatting after a handshake, you immediately pitch them. You’d never do it in the real world. 

Stop chasing the same person in the same manner. If they haven't looked at the first few emails or messages, how annoyed will people be when they see the 4th, 5th, or 6th? It doesn’t work. The more you do, the more the walls go up. You've created a human spam filter. You will probably never get through to them because the more you push, the more they resist.

Ian reiterates the need to take time to qualify your leads. Don’t sell to someone who isn’t your prospect. If you look at someone’s LinkedIn profile, the clues are there to help you find a way to a conversation. Ian gets pitched all the time on social selling and CRM. But if salespeople simply looked at his LinkedIn profile and what he does, you’d never approach him trying to sell those things. 

He implores you to be like Sherlock. Go deeper and smarter than your average salesperson. It’s not rocket science. Slow down, read, and work smart. How do you find an authentic way that isn’t just reaching out cold and getting ignored? What will lead to a conversation? Ian will find a way to get a warm introduction from someone else by looking for shared connections. If you share 20 connections, who of those do you have a relationship with? There might be 3 people. 

Reach out to each of them and let them know you’re trying to connect to someone. Then ask how well they know them. You’ll get nos—but sometimes you’ll get a yes. Secondly, look at their jobs. Is there anyone there that you might know that they’d be connected with? It doesn’t feel quick, but you have a better chance of getting to a conversation than a phone call.

He encourages you to be bold and ask for introductions. He just had a new customer come on board and has built great rapport with them. Ian noticed they were connected to a senior person at another organization. So Ian reached out and asked for a formal LinkedIn introduction. He got a conversation and got a call booked. 

What is Ian’s favorite prospecting story? How is prospecting playing the long game? Ian tells a fascinating story that takes tenacity and consistency in this episode. Don’t miss it!

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Why do you need to craft a transformational message that resonates with your prospect? Does it increase your success with prospecting? Sonia Dumas believes the right message attracts people who could be interested in your service—but only if your message resonates with them at the right moment. If it does, they find their way into your marketing funnel.

Sonia—the founder of the Unstoppable Sales Community—joins me in this episode of Sales Reinvented to share why she thinks your message is one of the most important things to master.

• [0:45] What is the difference between prospecting and lead gen?
• [2:22] Why are both processes so important to sales?
• [2:22] Prospecting and lead gen must be strategic
• [4:10] Sonia’s prospecting and lead gen process
• [6:00] A sales professional needs to embrace a positive attitude
• [7:55] The skillset Sonia believes is a gamechanger
• [8:51] Top 3 prospecting and lead gen dos and don’ts
• [11:35] Every conversation you have is an opportunity 

If there’s no fuel in your car—or energy in your Tesla—it doesn’t matter how amazing the car is. It won’t go anywhere. Small business leaders want more revenue and income, but they don’t have a lead generation or prospecting plan. A website doesn’t cut it. Posting some content doesn’t cut it. Scattered activity doesn’t attract clients. Even worse—it wastes time. Prospecting and lead gen must be strategic and valuable.

Blasting out content, paying for ads, and attending meetings won’t fix your lead gen without meaningful information to assist your leads. To start moving the needle, you need information for your leads to discover. They then discover that you’re the solution to their problems.

The more you can create a genuine connection, the more you will have payday conversations. That’s when your prospect feels welcomed, acknowledged, and valued to such a degree that they’re open to having you transform their life. 

What is your transformational message? Is it crystal clear what problems you solve and the audience you solve them for? If it isn’t, your leads won’t see your services as a solution to their problems. Your pipeline will stay empty. Your value has to be clear so your leads want to learn more. 

You have to know the details of the problems your prospects are working to solve. You need to communicate that you know the nitty-gritty and communicate that on your website, your social media, your newsletter, etc. Start the process because you have a message.

When you have a transformational message, your pipeline will start to fill up. You have a solution that can impact lives. Your income will grow because of the transformation you’re providing. 

If you hate prospecting and consider it a chore, you will communicate desperation in everything you do. Instead, Sonia recommends focusing on what you enjoy: Do you enjoy transforming lives? Do you enjoy making an impact? You need to have fun with prospecting. Let the genuine pleasure of transforming someone’s life resonate in your marketing and your conversations. 

Secondly, you have to focus. Your message has to be focused. You have to provide clear value and know what your ideal audience wants and needs. Sonia emphasizes that “Without focus, your efforts will be like a whisper at a rock concert. No one is going to hear you.”

You have to make a commitment to show up. It doesn’t matter if it’s once a day or once a week. Consistency builds confidence. It starts with you becoming confident. Those who are watching you become confident in your expertise, thought leadership, and your ability to solve their problems. Without consistency, confidence can’t be built. 

What skillsets should you develop? Listen to hear Sonia’s thoughts!

Sonia believes that the best way to prospect is by focusing on sharing how she enjoys helping others solve a problem. When she does that, doors open wide. She was having a casual conversation with a vendor about how much she enjoys helping business leaders. She wasn’t pitching or offering anything. At the end of the conversation, he offered to introduce her to a friend that runs an executive coaching program.

The CEO of this program jumped on a call with her. By the middle of their call, he asked her to train his top 10 salespeople on how to have payday conversations with prospects. Every conversation you have is a lead generation and prospecting opportunity. You never know when someone will say “Tell me more!” or “Let me introduce someone.” It’s an opportunity to attract, engage, and convert a stranger into a client.

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Why are lead generation and prospecting so important? How do they complement each other in the sales process? Why is keeping your pipeline full so important? How does cultivating an awareness of needs lead to a higher close rate? Nick Kane—a Managing Partner at Janek Performance Group—shares his point of view in this episode of Sales Reinvented. Nick is a published author and sales performance expert. Don’t miss out on his expertise—listen now!

• [0:55] The difference between lead gen and prospecting
• [1:44] Why are both important to sales?
• [2:53] What Nick’s prospecting process looks like
• [4:44] The 3 components that lead to successful prospecting
• [7:42] Skills sales professionals need to develop
• [9:24] Top 3 prospecting and lead generation dos and don’ts
• [14:27] Prospecting in the life insurance industry

Without prospecting and lead generation, Nick shares that you’ll struggle to generate new business. You have to keep the funnel full or you have to rely on a high close rate. An organization must focus on generating enough leads to keep their salespeople busy and help them hit their quotas. 

Nick emphasizes that both activities are complementary and benefit from each other. Lead generation consists of getting new opportunities in the pipeline and moving them through the funnel. It is a multi-prong activity that could include paid search, SEO, content development, sponsorships, and more. It does depend on the organization and target audience. 

Nick points out that prospecting depends on who you are going after. Prospecting should include leveraging social media and social selling, networking events, business development activities, referrals from existing clients, and more. 

Nick believes three components lead to successful prospecting:

1. Mindset: Direct prospecting activities require the ability to deal with rejection. You have to be prepared to handle rejection. You must also help your customer create an awareness of needs to provide valuable insight, to raise a customer’s interest. 
2. Skillset: You must have a willingness to help, be persistent, and be consistent. You can’t just focus on the opportunities right in front of you and neglect prospecting. When deals are closed out you’re left with very little. 
3. Process: To Nick, top-performing sales professionals are not just calling anybody. You need to identify the right targets who will value what you have to offer. Narrow a list to a smaller pool for targeted prospecting efforts. 

You want to have strong initial questions to ask prompted by data or insight. It is important to create awareness of needs because prospects aren’t waiting for your call. You need to have the capability to identify good data to be thought-provoking. You just need to win the phone call, conversation, and meeting. You also need the ability to work through initial objections and earn the right to have the conversation.

Nick had the opportunity to work with a global life insurance organization. Prospecting in that industry is extremely challenging. You operate independently and there isn’t a lot of lead generation. The salespeople didn't have strong processes, skills or strategies. So Nick’s team put together a strong and effective approach to support the sales professionals prospecting activities. They needed to maximize their personal and professional contacts to develop prospects. 

They helped develop a personal brand for each sales professional. How did they want to be viewed online? How did they want to come across to prospects? They started to adjust their personal brand and enhance their efforts.

They helped them come up with key metrics and how to track those activities. What level of activity is needed to fill the pipeline and drive results? The combination of those three things drove results for that organization. Prospecting led to more appointments being booked. Their conversion rates are up. Overall revenue is up. They drove overall results for their clients.

You can’t just ask salespeople to go out and prospect and let them figure it out on their own. They need support. They need preparation. They need to learn how to cultivate an awareness of needs in their prospect. Learn more about Nick’s process by listening to the whole episode!

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Sales training courses always seem to start with “You have a lead, now what?” People are left questioning “Where did I get the lead in the first place? Where do they miraculously come from?” It’s why Kendra Lee starts her process with lead generation. Generating leads and doing research gives you talking points—and something to be confident about when prospecting.

Kendra is passionate about helping SMB companies get more customers. Mastering lead generation and prospecting is a great starting point. Listen to this episode of Sales Reinvented for her insight into the lead generation and prospecting process!

• [1:01] Prospecting and lead generation
• [1:32] Why are they important?
• [2:33] Kendra’s ideal prospecting process
• [5:05] Attributes + characteristics of a prospector
• [6:26] Skills a salesperson should develop
• [7:56] Top 3 prospecting dos and don’ts
• [12:23] Drop-by prospecting in Washington D.C.

Kendra starts her prospecting process with lead generation. Kendra is self-admittedly very shy about talking to new people, but she loves prospecting. Cold-calling on its own is challenging. She knew there had to be a smarter way than calling down a list. So for her, the ideal process is to start by identifying who your target market is and what their business issues are. 

Who within that market is your ideal prospect? Who is the decision-maker? Create a value proposition based on those issues.

Then you can reach out by email, LinkedIn, calling, etc. You have to find innovative ways to get past the gatekeeper (voicemail, email deletion, or a receptionist). Once you get the person on the phone, you have to decide how you’re going to uncover their needs and handle objections.

Kendra emphasizes that salespeople must follow up—not give up. They often give up because they don’t know what to say after the first few calls, emails, or messages. Secondly, you must approach the prospect from their business problem perspective. It’s not about your solution, it’s about what their issue is. You need to use your business knowledge about a problem and focus on what they care about. Not how your software application makes their world better. 

What are Kendra’s dos and don’ts for prospecting and lead generation? 

• Don’t show up and throw up. She doesn’t care if you’re calling, emailing, or on LinkedIn. Don’t talk about yourself.
• Don’t ramble in your emails. They aren’t for a sales conversation. Keep it brief. Save the great information for a conversation. 
• Do not lie. It hurts your credibility.
• Do follow-up. Even the worst salesperson will find success some of the time just by following up. Consistency is critical.
• Be yourself. If you aren't being you it won’t come across as a natural conversation. People want to talk to someone genuine. Kendra loves leaving a fun voicemail—no matter the length. Be yourself at every touchpoint. Kendra firmly believes it leads to a higher conversion rate.
• Have a value proposition. What do you do really well? How can you help them? What’s one recommendation? Know what it is that would compel them to have a conversation with you.

When Kendra was a rookie in sales, she learned how to do cold-calling and drop-by prospecting (AKA door-knocking). Her manager took her to downtown Washington D.C. to an office building. He pointed to a suite and said “We are going to go in and have a conversation to see if we can get to the IT manager.” He opened the door and pushed her in. 

The receptionist was right in front of her. Kendra looked at her like a deer in headlights. She completely froze. She turned around and started to leave, leaving her manager to swiftly pull her inside and do the prospecting himself. 

Kendra now loves meeting new people. But she had to get past the fear. To do that, she got serious about lead generation. She was never going to walk in a door without a purpose. She had to have a value proposition and do something in advance to warm up that call—even if it was only in her own mind. It’s about coming across confidently. 

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People love to overcomplicate sales and prospecting. Mark Hunter emphasizes that you aren’t trying to create world peace or discover the vaccine for COVID. It’s just a conversation. But it’s a task salespeople need to own up to—that many hate to do. Why? Because they overthink it. Learn some simple tactics to find success prospecting in this episode of Sales Reinvented!

Mark Hunter is “The Sales Hunter”. He is the author of two best-selling books, A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting. Mark is recognized as one of the top 50 most influential sales and marketing experts globally.

• [0:51] Prospecting + lead generation
• [1:12] Why are they important?
• [2:01] Mark’s prospecting process
• [3:18] Attributes + Characteristics
• [5:15] The top skills to develop
• [6:26] Top 3 prospecting dos and don’ts
• [8:33] Embrace the 58–2 technique

Prospecting is going through the qualification process and deciding whether or not a lead can become a customer. You can’t close any sale without starting with a lead. When people complain that their sales are down, the first question Mark asks is “How much time did you append on prospecting and lead generation?” The most often used excuse is that “Marketing does that for me.” Mark emphasizes that clearly, they’re not doing enough or you’d be busier. It’s a task salespeople need to own up to. 

Mark emphasizes that you need to identify your ICP (persona, avatar, etc.). It’s not just anyone who will download an eBook or respond to an email. That just means they have a heartbeat. Mark jokes that his dog has a heartbeat, but he won’t be buying from him!

Focus all of your attention on your ICP. Look at your current customers. What outcomes have you helped them create? What benefits have they received? What are the common traits among them? What are the common descriptors? You can build your ICP from there. 

Mark believes you must have the desire to put the customer first. You sell to help people. You need to know that you can help a person or a company achieve something they didn’t believe possible. Secondly, people don’t wake up waiting for your call. You have to accept the fact that you will be interrupting someone. But if you believe in the outcome you can achieve, you owe it to them. 

Mark points out that a salesperson has to stay focused and cognizant of time management. You must have the focus and the level of authenticity to stay in the game long enough to make it happen. Salespeople can be all over the place with prospecting. But when you keep these three things in perspective, you can be successful. 

You must also be inquisitive. It’s the information you uncover that’s important. You must learn how to engage quickly to get someone to share with you. That comes with the skill of empathy. The person you’re reaching out to has to understand that you’re human and in this situation with them. 

What are Mark’s top 3 prospecting and lead generation dos and don’ts? Keep listening to find out!

Mark was trying to reach the president/COO of a Canadian company. But he wasn’t having any luck. He could only reach this person’s administrative assistant who consistently shut him down. Mark finally decided to use his 58-2 technique. What is that? The best time to call someone is between 58 minutes after the hour to 2 minutes into the hour. Why? Because most meetings start at the top of the hour. 

Mark called this gentleman right at 11 sharp. On the second ring, he picked up the phone—thinking it was his conference call. Mark quickly asked him about an acquisition they had just made. He said, “I don’t have time to talk right now.” So Mark scheduled a time to chat with him that afternoon.

He created just enough interest to set up a conversation. They talked for 15 minutes. Two days later, Mark was sitting in his office having lunch. It was all because he did his homework, called him at the top of the hour, delivered value, and didn’t give up. It led to a six-figure deal. He used normal techniques and strategies and threw in some out-of-the-box thinking.

• Find Your Why by Simon Sinek

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