You’ve heard of the compound effect. It’s that ripple effect you get from doing small things over long periods of time – with discipline. Darren Hardy wrote a whole book, “The Compound Effect,” about how you can leverage it in your life with massive results.
We’ve all heard the stories. Invest a penny a day for life, and you’ll have a bounty upon retirement. Eat a few less calories each day and you’ll be thinner for it, without hardly feeling it, one and two years later.
The key is in consistency over time. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Change happens over time. It works for prospecting too.
How Does the Compound Effect of Prospecting Work?
Simply put, consistent prospecting over time will yield a higher percentage of appointments than inconsistent prospecting. What’s consistent prospecting? Doing prospecting activities every week of every month of every year, year in and year out.
Call, email, network, door knock. Send lumpy mail. Invite prospects to events. Do all the activities that will keep you in front of prospects regularly. Your prospecting activities never stop, for any reason, because if they do, you’ll feel the effect months down the road when you really need those new leads. Maintain the rhythm.
Why Salespeople Fail at Prospecting
Most salespeople have the best intentions to prospect, but roadblocks occur and they don’t follow through. They forget the compound effect of prospecting and give up.
The top 5 prospecting roadblocks that stall sales reps are:
- Fear. No salesperson will admit to fear, but when they refuse to pick up the phone, make no mistake, fear is the root cause. Training will help them get comfortable enough to begin calling.
- Lethargy. You have a capable prospector with time to do the prospecting activities, but they aren’t making the calls. Use your sales manager accountability toolset to push them out of their laziness – or let them go.
- Gatekeepers. Salespeople with mediocre skills will be stalled by gatekeepers a high percentage of the time. While prospecting training will solve this, even the worst sales reps consistent calling will have success some percentage of the time.
- Incomplete or incorrect lists. This is an excuse. In the online world, there are host of tools to fill in incomplete lists. While a sales rep researching contact info isn’t as effective as one who has a clean list, not calling = no compound effect of prospecting.
- Time. Confirm that your sales rep isn’t tasked with too many responsibilities, such as marketing or quoting. Cold calling invariably falls to the bottom of nearly every salesperson’s list.
If your salesperson is allowing a roadblock to stall their prospecting, there is no possibility of compound effect success. You have to fix it.
When Can You Expect to See Compound Effect Prospecting Results?
Prospecting results are dependent on three factors:
- Your salesperson’s skill. The more competent your sales rep at prospecting, the more appointments they’ll set. However, even inexperienced disciplined sales reps will set appointments and drive ROI.
- Your recognition in your top target markets. How well known you are in your market paves the path for a sales rep to reach prospects. Calling from Microsoft will open doors simply because a contact knows their name. Combine sales and marketing campaigns to increase your recognition and give salespeople compelling reasons to prospect.
- Your list. Keep your list clean and segmented and continually add to it. Now your salespeople can devote all their time to prospecting activities.
Like investing, when you first begin practicing the compound effect of prospecting, you won’t see immediate, consistent results. As your sales rep prospects weekly, every month of every year, year in and year out, the appointments and new sales will come. No matter how good business is, or how slow the leads are coming, don’t allow your sales rep to stop.
By the second year, you’ll begin to see increases in new appointments. They may not be as regular as you’d like, but over time, that will shift. The compound effect of prospecting will work.
Expand Beyond the Compound Effect of Prospecting
The compound effect works for more than prospecting. When you’re practicing it in your marketing strategy, you’ll see the leads come: inbound leads, SEO rank improvements, more participants at events, higher email open rates, increased downloads, social engagement and more. Integrate your prospecting and marketing to maximize the compound effect.
Then practice patience and discipline. The compound effect of prospecting will work for you.
If you want to leverage the compound effect of prospecting in your organization, contact us and we’ll talk about the right approach for you: training, coaching or lead generation.