Every job has a version of mopping floors; prospecting might be considered that for sellers. (Mopping is not glamorous work, but who doesn’t love a clean floor!?)

If you didn’t experience a prospecting high yesterday, embrace today as another opportunity! MSD covers it for two consecutive days because it’s a vitally important habit for sellers like you to establish. There are two secrets to prospecting: one, you must make it a habit, and two, you have to set some goals that drive you.

Yesterday and today, the focus is on creating a habit. If you missed out yesterday, that’s ok. But today, don’t just stare at those weights, put a few of ’em in your hands and lift!

Yes, you prospected yesterday, and by the end of today, you will be onboard a two-day momentum train! Whoo-whoo! Good for you. Building selling muscle means daily – not monthly – visits to the gym.

Take a moment and consider what you must do to make prospecting habitual. It’s about finding the time, right? Scheduling prospecting time blocks on your calendar is a smart tactical move, but you’ve run those red lights before. What’s going to really get you to commit? (Only you can answer that; often, the answer is fear. Fear of not selling.)

If your obstacles aren’t time-based but instead deeper rooted, then perhaps you should examine how rejection hinders you. Yes, rejection is a part of prospecting… sooooo many calls and emails must go out before getting a nibble. Getting a nominal response for your effort is a real element of rejection. Perhaps you should make an appointment with that surgeon who can successfully remove that nasty "R-word" from your brain. (It’s an outpatient procedure, ya know.) Seriously, just ignore the tedious nature of prospecting and the rejection that comes with it, and focus only on the outcome: "I will not quit until I get one new prospect to agree to a meeting."

There’s at least ONE out there who will meet with you, riiiiight? Your job today is to find her or him and get those prospecting juices bubbling! Prospecting is the lifeblood of sales, so you must embrace it and make it a habit. You know prospecting is merely a function of grit plus habit…so ignore the R-word and put your head down!

Today, repeat what you did yesterday and schedule a block of time for prospecting. Remember, you’re building a habit! But let’s layer on a wee bit more today: instead of prospecting in a designated 30-minute block, you should push it to 40 minutes today.

If you’re staring at your calendar knowing it ain’t gonna happen, what about fitting in two 20-minute blocks? Even one 20-minute block is a win, but push yourself and try for two. (Give it the full 20 minutes, and don’t drift.)

To motivate you, why not title the calendar invite something like "Mining for Gold: Summer Paris Vacay" or "Prospecting for a Beach House!" Create a vision of what you want, and let that vision drive you.

After you’ve set some calendar blocks and named them with titles like "Prospecting For Gold," "Prospecting for Tesla," or "Prospecting for Chris," you’ll want to create a hot list of target individuals.

Even though your company makes you use their CRM, you’ll want to create a cloud sheet and title it Top 20. Every successful seller maintains and works a hot list, and that’s what your Top 20 will be…your VIP hot list of those you must get to see this quarter to crush your number. Later this month, you’ll work on strategic account planning, where you’ll learn the importance of tracking your prospecting progress and relationship strength against your KDMs (Key Decision Makers). Maintaining a Top 20 list will focus your efforts, so you don’t waste time getting meetings with those who can’t help you make your number!

The real fun starts when you start populating your Top 20 with names. Once your hot list is built, you’ll feel motivated to get those names OFF the list, meaning you will have secured a meeting and can replace her/him on the list with another hot prospect. The list always stays at 20, but that’s the fun of the selling life. Embrace it.