I hear all the time from salespeople saying how their prospecting plan doesn’t seem to be delivering the results they need. Everyone needs to continually fine tune their prospecting process.

The biggest problem I see is people take a plan they’ve seen work for somebody else and think they can replicate it and achieve the same results. Doing so is only going to set you up to be disappointed. The only question is the degree of the disappointment.

7 Questions you need to ask when thinking about your prospecting process:

1. Do I sell a consumable or something people buy on a regular basis?
2. Is what I sell considered a routine purchase or is it a capital expenditure/major expense?
3. Are my customers professional buyers who interface with numerous salespeople?
4. If the customer chooses not to buy from me, are they buying from my competitor or not making a purchase at all?
5. Are my prospects currently buying what I sell from someone else?
6. Is what I sell purchased via a contract, quote or some other type of deadline process?
7. Are customers familiar with what I sell or is it something I need to educate them about?

It takes time to get it right. Don’t think for a moment you can craft a plan and poof, have amazing results. Yes, there are underlying fundamentals to every prospecting program, but how you apply those fundamentals is what will make the difference.