Prospecting Animals Eat More

Don’t go hungry from a weak pipeline!

By Ralph Cerullo

You may have heard people say that they never cold call by phone or in person, and they don’t send emails or reach out on LinkedIn. They might say something about only networking or receiving referrals. It is true that referrals will right-size the balance between frantic prospecting and strategic pipeline growth. However, how many of us have access to enough of a network or referral base to support a healthy pipeline? Very few do and without a strategy to build new business, opportunities will dry up and leave even the best salesperson vulnerable. Don’t let a false sense of networking work back your safety net. Here are some tips for keeping your pipeline healthy and being a prospecting animal.

1. Prioritize prospecting over all else. Wait for the swarm of banquet hall busy bees from your last networking event to attack you, stinger first, for saying that in public. But it’s true. Always be prospecting so that you can always be closing. It is more important than putting together proposals, sending emails, and working in the CRM. Always make time for knocking on doors and making calls and you will never go hungry.
2. You can only disqualify when you have too much to qualify. What do I mean? People who try and analyze deals at the beginning of their sales career or when their pipeline is low are doing themselves a disservice. When you are opportunity-heavy, it makes complete sense to review qualifiers in a deal and exclude some. When you have none, build volume so you stay busy, psychologically healthy, and well-practiced.
3. Two-hour blocks are a waste of your time. Prospect for a full day or two a week and in between appointments on the other days. Stop acting like you have something better to do with your time. You’re a salesperson and all you should be concerned with is finding opportunities and closing deals. The paperwork will still be there when you get back.
4. No one likes cold calling so you should do it more. Do what everyone else hates to do and you’ll surely get ahead. This isn’t about being happy, it’s about being full!

So, get out there and eat like a prospecting animal and stop waiting for a meal to come your way. Even when you’re up you should be frantically filling your pipeline with fat healthy deals to feast on later!