With the internet moving the world forward, it is safe to say that companies are going to prospect. Ken lays down the questions you can answer when it comes to prospecting. He also gives ten methods of prospecting that will help propel your business forward. Ken covers topics and instructions to cold calling, content marketing, email marketing, networking, social media, and more. You’ll find that with the advent of technology, so many tools are now available for you. All you need is to do your homework.
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Prospecting Today
I’m calling this one Prospecting Today. There are nine or ten legitimate ways that are somewhat evergreen now that the internet is here to stay that companies are going to prospect. Here are what I believe are the nine to ten methods of prospecting, and I mean when I say every company should try because you don’t know until you try. Here are the questions you want to ask yourself regarding prospecting. Number one, where is my customer? Where do they hang out? Where do they communicate? Where do they look for information? Where do they play? As I go through these ten, in the back of your mind, you want to do an overarching question of, “What are these ten places that would be a great melting pot for my customers?”
There's a right and wrong time of when to ask for referrals. Click To TweetThe first one is cold calling on the phone. The two questions you want to ask yourself, hopefully with a group of people. If you’re a one-man or a one-woman show, then you’re going to do this by yourself. Here’s the first part. Why might cold calling on the phone work? Write down an answer about why it might work. Even if you’re a negative pessimist, you’re going to write down a positive for every one of these. Even if you can’t stand cold calling on the phone, it doesn’t mean you have to do it. You’re going to get creative here. The second part is what would it take to do it? If you know you’re never going to make a cold call in your life, what would it take to do it? “I’d have to hire a bunch of interns and maybe even on commission-only.”
Assuming you have a business now, you have customers, there is a lot of homework you could do on referrals. There’s a right and wrong time of when to ask for referrals. You’ve got to do some homework on that one. Why might asking for referrals at a specific time work? What would it take to do it? Maybe you’re in the throes of your business, you have no time to do it, but what would it take to do it? If you don’t know exactly what content marketing is, you’ve got to do a Google dive and do some homework. Find out what is content marketing and why might it work for you. Content marketing works for 100% of businesses. We use it and put it in practice for everything we do and for every business we coach. Why might it work and what would it take to do it?
I can’t even imagine how much money we’ve made and generated from networking, literally rubbing shoulders, being in the right place and at the right time. Remember, the harder you work, the luckier you get. For email marketing, why might it work and what would it take to do it? Here are the first five: cold calling on the phone, referrals, content marketing, networking, and email marketing. The next two are webinars. This is called working in your PJ’s. Why might it work and what would it take to do it? I can’t even imagine how much money we’ve generated from seminars. Why might it work and what would it take to do it?
Networking is all about rubbing shoulders in the right place at the right time. Click To TweetPlease don’t look at social media like the average male adult looks at an engine. You lift the hood for the first time when you’re a teenager and you’re like, “That looks complicated. That looks intense.” The reality is there are only so many moving parts, there are only so many nuts and bolts, engines are not that complicated. Understanding how to use social media is not that complicated. Do some homework. For social networks, what might it take to work? Why might it work? What would it take to do it? Finally, door-to-door or knocking on door cold calling. I got my start knocking on physical doors with no experience and I can grow your business. I continued to knock until I finally got some business and some testimonials. Finally, this one is so forgotten and so misunderstood. The radio, newspaper, highway, billboards, TV commercials, cable, just advertising. Start with a tiny budget and then grow the budget. Try different stations, try different platforms. Why might it work? Advertising works. What would it take to do it? Could you imagine there are ten of these here? If you said January through October, we’re going to try a new one a month because it might work. Take care.
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