I spend a lot of time teaching people how to have better sales conversations but saying all the right things won’t get you anywhere if you’re saying them to the wrong people. So the question becomes, how can you make sure you’re talking to the right people? How can you avoid wasting your time and your prospect’s time on a conversation that won’t benefit anyone?
The answer requires you to vet your prospects before you reach out to have a meeting with them so you can identify whether they’re a high-quality prospects or a waste of time. In order to do that, you need to have a clear understanding of who your ideal prospect is, so I’m going to give you some prospecting tips to help you out.
Who Are Your 5 Best Clients?
I’d be willing to bet your 5 best clients have a few things in common, and it’s not just that they work with you. Maybe it’s the position they hold at their company. Maybe it’s their income level. Take some time to think about your 5 best clients and what makes them your best clients. You could also look at more personal things that make them your best clients, such as whether they have a family or are single, whether they have pets, whether they’re cat people or dog people, etc. Are they night owls who call you late, or early birds who wake you up at dawn with their questions? Why do you love working with them so much?
Who Are Your 5 Worst Clients?
Knowing the kind of people we want to work with also requires us to understand the kind of people we don’t want to work with, take some time to think about your 5 worst clients. What do they have in common? What makes them so difficult to work with? Put together a list of the attributes they have in common.
Who Are Your Most Profitable Clients?
You’re in business to make money, so let’s not beat around the bush when it comes to the profitability of your clients. You’ll notice that this is a separate category from your best clients. There might be some overlap between the two, but your best clients won’t always be your most profitable clients. You might have people you love to work with, but they don’t give you as much work as some of your other clients, or maybe they don’t pay on time. Take some time now to think about your most profitable clients and ask yourself what characteristics do they have in common? For this, you’ll probably want to ignore the more personal attributes, and instead focus on things like the position they hold at the company and their income level.
Who Are Your Least Profitable Clients?
You might have clients you love to work with who turn out to be your least profitable clients. I’m not saying you must stop working with them, but again, you’re in business to make money, not to make friends, take a moment to look at the positions they hold at their company, maybe the kind of company they work for, etc. Once you know the “red flags” that indicate an unprofitable client, you’ll know to skip the sales conversation and move on to the next person. If you want to have coffee with them and just hang out as friends, that’s fine, but do that during your free time, not during your business hours.
If you want to learn more about how to identify your ideal prospects while getting a chance to ask me questions about the process, then you’ll want to sign up for my webinar on April 23rd so you can learn how to fill your calendar with the right prospects.