Maximize Your Leads with Automatic Prospecting!

Which of Your Prospecting Sources Have Been Successful This Year?

Grab a pen and list every person or business you count as a center of influence source and prospecting source. The CPA down the street. The mortgage lender. The client who tells everyone to come to you.

Now write the number of leads each one sent you in the last 12 months. And then write down how many times you’ve had contact with that person or business in the last 12 months. How many times have you sent them a lead?

If that page has more blanks than numbers, you don’t have automatic prospect sources. Often times we have the hope that centers of influence will send us prospects, but are not putting in the work to make those sources automatic.

What “automatic” really means

An automatic source sends you leads without being asked every time. They do it because they trust you and because you stay on their radar. That doesn’t happen without proactive attention spent nurturing the relationship you have with a potential prospecting source.

As you prepare for the next year,

1. Score every source. Count leads sent, appointments held and business written. Good feelings about a relationship are not a metric. Be sure to include the times you’ve reached out to them to see how their business is going, with an interesting article about their industry, or even sent them a lead. The relationship should be a two way street.

2. Nurture the sources that perform. Your top three deserve a real plan, not just a holiday card or present. But together a plan to stay in touch with them. Learn what their clients need, send them something useful, and have a plan to thank them for leads.

3. Maintain what already works. Productive sources often get the least attention because they feel taken care of, but that is risky. Schedule your next contact before they forget about you when their client needs an expert. When will you take them a coffee or drop donuts to their staff? How often should you send an email or call to see how business is going?

4. Build a structure that survives a busy week. Put the touches on your calendar and track your follow through in your CRM. Review your sources at a monthly team meeting. If nurturing depends on someone remembering, it will fall off.

Your challenge this week

Finish your list of sources. Circle your top three sources and schedule a touch with each one before Friday. Then pick one name with a blank next to it and decide: build that relationship, or take it off the list.

Want your whole team working through this together? Our Automatic Prospect Sources training is three, one-hour coaching sessions with guided worksheets and tools to evaluate, nurture and protect your sources.