It’s typically hard, if not impossible, for a Sales Rep to know when might be the best time to call a new prospect. This means many calls are typically wasted on prospects who either aren’t interested in a call or ready for a callback. Prospects become hard to reach. When reached, they’re reluctant to chat, especially with a Sales Rep whom they don’t know that well. This makes the job of fishing for new business especially time consuming and exhausting. It becomes an effort-laden guessing game. It’s emotionally draining work which can sap the very energy Reps need to sustain their efforts and reach their quotas.
When ‘fish’ are elusive, Reps typically have two responses: try harder, and learn new sales skills. A Rep who spends more time with their line in the water may feel good (“I’m trying, harder than ever before”), but it is no guarantee of landing their quota. Similarly, if a Rep keeps returning to the same fishing hole, with better bait, and improved casting skills, yet there are no longer any fish in the hole, they’re wasting their time. Worse than that, they won’t even know it.
B2B Sales Reps deserve a break. They need more time for selling and help investing their time wisely. They need a “fish finder”. Give them an effective “fish finder” and they’ll have more chances to show their true fishing skills. Most, when given the chance, will shine. With a properly calibrated “fish finder”, Reps know:
• which prospects are interested,
• what, specifically, each is interested in, and
• the relative urgency of each prospect’s interests
There are no more wasted calls to prospects who aren’t interested in or ready for a callback. Reps no longer waste time dangling their fish lines into an empty fishing hole. As a result, Reps become more productive. They have more conversations with prospects every week and close more deals in less time.
Reps’ results from using a fish finder can be magical. One of our clients routinely interrupts calls with us with the admonition: “Gotta go. Fish on the line.” He gets an emotional charge every time he gets the feedback of a conversation well done (it was so useful to the prospect that they chose to consume the details emailed to them following the conversation). Sales, for him, isn’t energy sapping; it’s energizing.
Once energized, skilled fishers, as craftsmen, respond professionally to the feedback they get. As they do so, they build momentum to reap further rewards. Their callbacks to interested prospects resonate as timely and helpful. So much so that prospects take the Rep’s calls. Productive, helpful conversations ensue. Prospects commit ever larger chunks of their time to the process as they get to know and trust the Rep. Conversations convert to cash.
