Do You Have An Effective Prospecting Strategy?

Prospecting. It’s a vital part of any industry, but in the financial services industry it’s often the area that is the easiest to ignore.

We all know that service is important. And simply by servicing a client you can and should find new opportunities. Especially if your team practices. “Service Through Selling”.

At the same time, there’s always a need to bring in brand new prospects. But it’s easy to let service get in the way of prospecting. Today we challenge you to stop and look at your calendar. How much time does your office have dedicated to prospecting for NEW prospects?

Chances are it’s either not a lot of time, none at all, or it’s there, but often scheduled over because a fire happens. Especially in recent times, it’s been difficult to meet new people, but that simply makes it more important to have a good understanding of the prospecting activity that is happening in your business. Once you’ve baselined how much time is currently dedicated to prospecting, it’s time to ask, “How much time each week should your business dedicate to prospecting?”

There’s no one right answer as your goals and closing rates will determine how many new prospects your business needs to reach your sales goals. However, it’s a number that everyone in the office should be connected to at all times. It’s a vital sign of success within this industry. If you’re not meeting this goal, your calendar is not setup for success.

We like to call blocks of time dedicated to prospecting, “Blocks of Success.” And the reason is it’s an activity that you can control that directly determines your success. You can’t always control if a prospect will say yes. In fact, we know there will be many no’s along the way, but you can always control how much time you have set aside to prospect. If you’re not hitting your sales goals, activity is the first area you want to improve.

If you really want to look at prospecting in your business, we highly suggest looking at our Inspired Action Series, “Prospecting in 15 Minutes,” but to get you started, consider these three tips:

• Start blocking time on your calendar. Prospecting time should be treated the same way that you treat a meeting with your top-ten clients. This means it’s rarely moved, interrupted or canceled. It doesn’t matter what is happening, time with clients is often treated with a lot of respect and it’s time to apply the same rules to your prospecting time.
   
• Set up short bursts of prospecting time. Most people don’t love prospecting for new leads. Therefore, if you try to block two hours or more of prospecting time it can be overwhelming. Some might even call it dreadful. Instead of making this a marathon, plan for short bursts of activity. Maybe it’s 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon. Just 15 minutes. It’s often easier to push through 15 minutes than it is to push through two hours. And while 15 minutes may not seem like a lot of time, it will add up, especially if you prepare for it.
   
• Nurture your list. Organization can be helpful, especially if you’re prospecting in short bursts of time. You should take 15 minutes each week to manage your list. Don’t worry about contacting those prospects, simply get the names and information organized. Determine who to call, put them in a list, and sort them by the reason you’re calling. This time that you use to nurture your lists will ensure that within 15 minutes you can make it through many names. No, you won’t reach them all, but you can leave messages. It’s powerful and effective because you can move fast. Too often, people spend time simply trying to figure out who to call and what to say. It’s a procrastination tactic that can make prospecting extremely difficult.

Put these three tips into action this week and start reaping rewards next week!