Prospecting. It’s a chilling word to most sales people. Many that I’ve met would rather run naked around the showroom than pick up a phone a dial up a ‘complete stranger’. But for many sales people ‘prospecting’ isn’t a choice it’s a necessity. As manufacturer’s push hard for increased volumes there are rarely enough walk-ins to achieve the sales objectives, so someone, somewhere has to find those extra customers. The manufacturer runs campaigns, the dealers run adverts even the finance companies produce leads………but ultimately it’s often down to a sales person to pick up the phone and try to make an appointment.
I’ve run prospecting courses for more than 15 years, I’ve met some really good people, sales people that sell good numbers of cars at decent margins….but give them a lead, hand them a phone and often you will see them crumble. You have to ask yourself why. Fear of failure? Fear of the unknown? Maybe, but almost universally they would rather sit and wait for a walk-in than go and generate an appointment by themselves.
But I also know a man for whom prospecting held no fears, he was one of the best….no, he was the best prospector I have ever met. He didn’t get fed warm leads by his company; he found his prospects in the telephone directory, the residential pages. This was cold calling in the extreme.
His name was Kofi, he worked for an insurance company and for six months I sat at the desk next to him.
Every morning, just after 9.00 Kofi walked in to the office, made himself a coffee, opened his briefcase, took out a telephone directory and started dialling. His script was simple ‘Hello my name is Kofi Addison Sakyi from XYZ Insurance Company, I am in your area on Tuesday at 2pm or Wednesday at 3pm, which would be best for you?’
Day in, day out Kofi made the calls and asked the question, ‘Tuesday at 2pm or Wednesday at 3pm, which would be best for you?’
If you have ever tried to prospect then you know it’s a job that needs to broken into bite sized chunks, 10 calls then a break, 2 appointments then a coffee. Everyone has a system to keep them sane, but Kofi had an unusual one. He kept a log, a simple log. A single line down the centre of a page, on one side a ‘Yes’ and on one side a ‘No’. After every call he noted the outcome, yes an appointment or no a rejection. But unlike most people Kofi didn’t focus on the ‘Yes’ but rather on the ‘No’. Having secured ten ‘No’s’ he shut the phone book, picked up his brief case and went home. Sometimes he was in and out of the office in less than 15 minutes.
At first I thought he was mad, but soon I realised he was a genius. Kofi had done an analysis of his own performance, for every ten no’s he secured 3 yes. I know it sounds incredible but it’s true, I stood next to him every day and I can vouch for this extraordinary appointment rate. Of the three appointments he made, Kofi also knew that one would cancel, leaving him with two face to face meetings.
Kofi was a lovely man, the people he met liked and trusted him and out of two appointments he kept, one of them would result in a sale. He didn’t mind what they bought, he only cared that it was right for them and that they could afford the premiums. Kofi was never bothered about how much commission he would earn.
But Kofi had run the numbers. Based on one sale a day, 5 days a week and 40 weeks of the year he would earn around £48,000 a year. Not bad money for 2014, but amazing money in 1985 when you could buy a house for under £50k.
One day, fascinated, impressed and slightly in awe of Kofi, I plucked up the courage to ask him a direct question ‘Kofi, you prospect every day….how do you keep yourself motivation to make appointments?’
Kofi smiled his big beaming smile, ‘Jason’ he said ‘I have the easiest job in the world, every day I get up and come to work, and all I have to do is get 10 people to say no. What could be easier?’
Kofi had created a unique way of looking at prospecting. As a result he never minded talking to a stranger, he didn’t worry about rejection….instead he targeted himself on it.
Perhaps it’s time that we all became a little bit more like Kofi, because I suspect few sales people will find themselves with more customers than cars anytime soon.
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