Are you searching for ways to increase your customer base? If you want more customers, one of the best ways to find them is through Power Prospecting.

Many sales people will state that they spend most of their time prospecting. But several years ago, a study by Selling Power magazine discovered that, on average, salespeople spend only about 20% of their time actually engaged in the processes of prospecting, selling, or follow-up. Yet these are the three activities which produce the majority of your sales results.

That same study also pointed out that this 20% figure has remained the same since the beginning of the century when it was first measured. In spite of all the tools designed to improve productivity, little has changed. Decades of new incentive and training programs designed to boost sales performance have made no difference.

Although exceptional marketers will manage to increase that 20% figure for themselves, consider what would happen if you doubled or tripled the effectiveness of the time actually spent on prospecting, selling and follow-up.

If you want to win more customers, you must do a better job of prospecting. And each minute of prospecting and selling time is precious. That's where Power Prospecting comes into play.

For many people, prospecting may be a terrifying process because they know there will be a lot of rejection. But they will also discover a lot of new, previously untapped prospects.

We've all heard that prospecting is a numbers game. But there are countless reasons why few people actually work the numbers, even when they know they should.

Other than dealing with the underlying fear of rejection, it all boils down to one problem - the failure to establish a systematic process which puts prospecting into meaningful action.

Initial Planning

Effective Power Prospecting may well revamp your sales process. The key is knowing how much activity you need to complete each day. Start by deciding how many new customers you want. We'll use 50 per month for the following example.

Next, develop your sales multiplier. Based on past history, project how many sales you will make if you call on 100 prospects. Divide 100 by that number to determine your multiplier. For example, if you make 25 sales per 100 prospects, your multiplier is 4 (100 / 25).

Then determine how many days you will actually be selling during the the time period you are working in. Don't forget to consider holidays, vacations and training days. We'll use 20 for our example.

Now multiply the number of new customers you want (50) by your sales multiplier (4) and divide by the number of selling days (20). The resulting answer of 10 means you must make 10 Power Prospecting calls each day to achieve your objective.

What To Say

When you begin calling, you must make your remarks short, simple and to the point. Start by introducing yourself, quickly explain what you do, show that your understand their situation and suggest a time for future appointment. Here's an example.

"Hi, my name is (your name), and I'm with (business name). We specialize in helping companies reduce their travel costs by introducing several unique and powerful new strategies that will improve your bottom line. I know you weren't expecting to talk with me today, so I won't take any more of your time. I'd like to set up a time to come by and visit with you so I can learn more about your travel needs. Perhaps we can work together some day. When would be a good time? First of the week, end of the week, morning or afternoon? What's best for you?"

All that's necessary now is to make sure you make the required number of calls. To form the habit, set up a regular time of day to call.