Summary: How well does your current prospecting approach work? Are you comfortable with prospecting? On a scale of one to ten, how confident are you that your current approach to prospecting -- that is, identifying and bringing new clients through the door like clockwork -- is completely dialed-in and as effective as it can possibly be?<br> <br> <br> <br> Do you have a clear idea of exactly how many people you're approaching, how many of them you've been able to qualify in, how many you've been able to qualify out and how many are just completely blowing you off?<br> <br> If you were to rate the effectiveness of your prospecting, right now, on a one to ten scale, what would you give yourself? Would you give yourself a seven? Or a nine? Or a three?<br> <br> If you're not completely confident in and comfortable with your current prospecting approach, if it's not generating the results you want and need, that's a real problem. So I'd like to suggest that you get comfortable with it, starting today. Because if you don't, it's very unlikely that you will take all the necessary and appropriate actions that you'll need to take in order to make it happen.<br> <br> Before we get into today's topic, I'd like to say that it's a testament to the quality of the readers of my newsletter and the listeners of my podcast that all the feedback I got last week regarding my discussion of "Paupers Selling Promos" was very positive and encouraging. Yes, a few paupers unsubscribed and a few others tried to make the case for why people with absolutely nothing to offer another human being should still be allowed in the industry, but by and large the producers in our industry agreed with me. No real surprise there, but it was still nice to receive the feedback. So thank you.<br> <br> Now, on to prospecting!<br> It's a sure bet that one of the things the failures in our industry have never managed to do, is to perfect their prospecting approach.<br> If your current approach is working well, that's awesome. But if it's not, I urge you to tweak it, change it, adapt it, test the results and do whatever is necessary to make sure that your prospecting efforts flow from you naturally, operating like a well oiled machine.<br> <br> This is something that we work on extensively with our Makeover clients and our $100K Coaching clients and our Top Secrets of Customer Acquisition clients, because it's just that important.<br> <br> But for purposes of our discussion today, I'd just like to provide you with 5 tips for getting completely comfortable with prospecting. And you need to be completely comfortable with it, because if you're not, you just won't do it. Or you won't do it enough. Or you won't do it consistently. And that lack of action could literally cost you millions of dollars in lost opportunity over your working lifetime. That's how important it is.<br> So let's get started:<br> 1. Target businesses you actually want to sell to (and don't sell to just anyone.) Establish some standards! Decide in advance what types of businesses you want to sell to, and which type you'd like to leave for your unworthy competitors. Will you get it exactly right the first time out of the gate? No! It will take a little practice. It will require trial and error, but it will be worth it. Start out by targeting those you THINK you might want to sell to and see how that goes. Then target others if you don't like the results you're getting. This can actually be done very quickly and very effectively when you have the right prospecting approach in place, locked and loaded! Or you can drag it out for years with an inferior approach like much of the industry does... and still not know who you should be selling to.<br> <br> 2. Target positions that suit you. What positions do you like? Of course I'm referring to positions within companies. Do you want to target executives, administrative assistants, human resources?
