By Todd Duncan

To a certain extent, all of us play the numbers game in selling. However, it is erroneous to assume that if you see more people you will get more business. It’s true that you usually need more prospects when you are starting your sales career than when you’re established. But in either case, it’s not the numbers that ultimately count. It doesn’t matter how many prospects you see. It matters how you see the right prospects.

Would you rather see ten prospects and get one sale, or see one prospect and get one sale? Easy answer, right? It never feels good to have nine prospects say no. Your confidence and profits are only impacted positively by how many people say yes, not by how many calls you make. Therefore, prospecting is a productivity game, not a numbers game.

To maximize your prospecting efficiency you must replace the traditional “more is better” quantity concept with a “less is best” quality concept as you master the Law of the Bull’s-Eye in your career. This is especially critical when you consider how much time prospecting can take from your day if it doesn’t produce sales.

Profitable, efficient prospecting requires that you understand that your prospects will become clients who are either time abusers or time users. They can be categorized in one of the following four profiles:

Low profit/high maintenance: Prospects that have potential to produce a little business and a few referrals and are very hard to serve because of unrealistic price and service demands and inefficient business practices

High profit/high maintenance: Prospects that have potential to produce a lot of business and some referrals but are very hard to service because of unrealistic price and service demands, inefficient business practices, and a high need for ego fulfillment

Low profit/low maintenance: Prospects that have potential to produce a little business and a few referrals but are likely to provide greater profits as the relationship grows, and are easy to serve because of a high level of professionalism, strong desire to partner with you, and efficient business practices

High profit/low maintenance: Prospects that have potential to produce a lot of business and many referrals and are easy to serve because of a high level of professionalism, strong desire to partner with you, and efficient business practices

Prospect types 3 and 4 are obviously the kinds of people you want to work with on a regular basis. Type 2 prospects could be good to aim for, but only if you could lower the level of time and energy it takes to serve them. However, my experience is that the process of trying to convert a type 2 to a type 4 prospect usually takes more time than it’s worth, especially when there are many more qualified prospects avail¬able.

Type 1 prospects are generally never going to be worth doing business with. In short, type 1 and 2 prospects like to say no or grind you on price and service, and they are unreasonably untrusting. Type 3 and 4 prospects like to say yes and with high trust established will usually prove to be great clients.

Whether you sell sophisticated computer solutions or more sim¬plistic imaging equipment, homes or loan services, Mercedes or Fords, business opportunities or office supplies, financial planning, legal advice, or accounting services—all sales presentation success is predicated on hitting the right prospects who will in turn become clients that reap high returns for life.

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