Bring Back This Lost Art Form

Prospecting is nearly a lost art. Sales people rely on dealers to bring in nearly all traffic, and dealers, through marketing, should provide approximately 30 first-time customers to each salesperson monthly.

However, the salesperson must also bring in a minimum of 10, qualified first-time customers through prospecting. This creates a pool of 40 first-timers. The salesperson should also bring back a percentage of “be-backs.”

By combining the be-backs and prospects, the potential to close increases without raising marketing expenses.

Mastering the art of prospecting builds a solid base of clients, delivers a steady stream of referrals, and leads to higher closing ratio — nearly 60% or better.

Benefiting from prospecting's powerful potential requires an unwavering commitment from managers.

The sales manager teaches, trains, and becomes a role model. He or she explains how to prospect, demonstrates in the field and coaches telephone prospecting.

In the early days, sales managers would take five or six sales people into the community. They would go to a local donut shop, talk to the customers and leave, knowing that everyone there knew who they were, what they did and why they should keep their contact information. Then they went next door.

It may sound old-fashioned in today's multi-media world. But personal communication builds relationships and is most effective as a first step.

Prospecting has four primary results:

Successful prospectors know that, while there are many approaches, the best methods are in person, telephone, written communication, e-mail or instant messaging.

While each is important, this article addresses creating a file of future prospects through personal contact. That means any prospecting in which a salesperson comes face-to-face with the prospect.

Personal prospecting should be done every waking minute of the day. Wherever the salesperson goes, he or she should always be looking for a good prospect. Here's a brief list of potential places to find prospects:

The list is endless. Choose the right words to capture a prospect's interest instead of turning them off. An effective introductory question is, “What type of car are you driving?” Without fail, this will provide an answer and start a conversation. Then do this:

There is no better time to revive the lost art of prospecting. It will keep sales people busy with leads and referrals all year.

Richard F. Libin is president of Automotive Profit Builders Inc., a dealership consulting firm specializing in customer satisfaction and maximizing profits. He is at [email protected] and 508-626-9200.