9/11/2023-Prospecting

The key to prospecting is becoming shark-like in your protection of prospecting time. You have permission to bite anything that swims into your prospecting time. Prospecting is your lifeblood.

Top 20 lists, CRMs, reserved calendar blocks, speed typing, catchy subject lines, positive attitude….hmmm, what else is in your prospecting tool kit?

But honestly? …none of that matters compared to getting in the dirt and doing something that resembles prospecting (…ANYTHING).

Be smart about it, too. If you’re getting nowhere sending out 100 emails and making scores of calls a week, stop doing that. If you’re going to industry events and making friends quickly….do more of that.

Whatever works…do that. And do it again, and again…and again!

Prospect.

That’s today’s DO.

Stop procrastinating. Stop picking up your phone to look at the weather for the tenth time today (the forecast hasn’t changed). Stop wasting time on non-essential sales activities, and PROSPECT.

Call someone. Write someone. SEND SMOKE SIGNALS to someone. Do anything that comes under the category of prospecting.

So you’ve rallied and put a block of time on your calendar for some prospecting today. Excellent. Good for you.

Guard that chunk of time on your calendar with all your might. It helps to title the calendar invite something like "Prospecting for Rome Vacation."

Predictably, the second you reserve a prospecting block on your calendar, people will come out of the woodwork trying to steal that time. Don’t let it happen. Prospecting is a game of both offense and defense. Get aggressive with your offensive attack, and defend that prospecting block with your life.

You know how to get to people. You know how to send emails and make calls. You know how to create compelling outreach. You know how to ask for referrals. You know how to work a list of those who will make your quarter and year.

But whatever you do today, keep that 30-minute block of prospecting time sacrosanct. Protect it with your life because success at prospecting leads to a better life down the road.

Mike Tomlin is the current coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL team and is widely respected for possessing a combination of traits and skills, including grit, perseverance, and intelligence.

In this 3-minute video featuring Mike speaking with a youth group, Mike offers, "What you are capable of doing is not as important as what you are WILLING to do."

Mike’s challenge is clean and crisp: focus on your will….your effort!

So, how badly do you want it?

Your prospecting activities will answer that question.