Black Sales Journal

For this post I could not have picked a more important topic. Unfortunately there are many of you out there who have a strong belief that there is nothing less desirable than a morning or afternoon of prospecting.

Prospecting – You Can’t Do Without It!

There are many aspects of cold calling and prospecting that drive Black sales professionals nuts, especially if you are cold calling in person.  This is already a lonely task, especially if you are faced with any aspects of racial preference or racial discrimination.

In the long term, there is no substitute for prospecting.  Networking is productive, and we will  talk about the benefits of networking and its uses in a future post, yet prospecting is a necessity.

Prospecting is a numbers game.  You have heard it, and realize it is true.  Know your numbers.  Know how many calls you make and how many result in an appointment.  Fine tune your approaches for more success.

Note the following:

• Prospecting, over time, is the only way you are going to succeed in sales.  Without this sourcing of new potential customers, you will not have a chance to show your talents
• Whether you are a long-term sales professional or fledgling, your devotion to sourcing new prospects is important
• Even if you closed two sales this morning, there is no better time to prospect because of the new energy you generated

There is no doubt that prospecting is a requirement of the majority of sales jobs.  I want to throw out some tips that might help with this truly necessary evil.

A Few Tips for Success

Here are a few tips that I would like to share regarding telephone and in-person prospecting:

• Master the Telephone - The telephone is your ultimate tool as a Black sales professional.   You probably already know this.  Master its uses and advantages.
• Practice, Practice - Work on your telephone introduction/presentation.  Use a ‘dead’ phone line to work on it over and over.  Try it with a friend or confidant.  If you have a mentor, express your desire to work on it with them.
• Create Interest - You must create interest, anticipation, and curiosity.  You need to be able to draw someone into this meeting and dialog.
• Make Realistic Claims - As you do your sales points, make realistic claims.  You may need to prove them one day.
• Be Confident - Find your comfort.  Sound confident, informed, and race neutral. Be personable and not mechanical.
• Be Concise - Know your sales points.  It is in essence your elevator speech.  Be able to say why someone should work with you and your organization in 15 seconds or less.
• Know the End Game - The end game of all prospecting is to get in front of the buyer.  Always remember this.  You want an appointment!
• Have Knowledge - Know what your organization can do for a particular industry even if you don’t know the client’s needs.  Be prepared to talk about it.
• Name Dropping - Be prudent about dropping names, but do so when it makes sense.  Remember, some buyers do not want any information shared with their competitors.  Just know the landscape.

One point that I don’t need to tell you about is that as a Black sales professional in B2B you should avoid putting your picture on your business card.  It is not required, and most employers would give you a choice anyway.  Why create situations that can lead to preference or prejudice?

More Prospecting Discussion to Come

We will be covering some important prospecting activities later in January, February, and March.  Items such as:

• Getting past the gatekeeper
• Understanding Your Sales Metrics
• Selling A Commodity? How to Build Value!
• Networking Your Way to Prospects

Make sure you check them out.  Your comments would be appreciated.

Write me at michael.parker@blacksalesjournal.com.

You can say it any way you want to, but “keep your business to yourself”.  In today’s wired world too many professionals broadcast things that never would have been exposed before.  Don’t make that mistake!

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A news flash about four  years ago about our closest celestial neighbor, the Moon, disclosed some secrets that many might not even have know were even secrets.  Despite common sayings and even albums (Pink Floyd ‘The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973 and many others) many don’t realize that the far side of the Moon, let’s call it the “Dark Side” had not generally been seen by the public until a few years ago.

The Moon does not revolve on an axis as the earth does, so we constantly see one side.  What does this have to do with sales? Being the consummate sales professional has much to do with how you conduct yourself with your employer, your co-workers, and your customers. As a Black  professional your personal life, well… much of it, should be less visible than the ‘dark side of the Moon’ to many who you interact with in business.

You are developing your sales persona, and it is your ‘brand’ so it is your responsibility to manage what everyone sees and knows about you.  You will overcome obstacles in the process, but you don’t want anything that will make it tougher.  With a few exceptions you are in control of this, and you should exercise that control wisely.

Self-Inflicted Damage

This post is important as much of the damage regarding what is said or released is considered “self-inflicted” damage.

The topics for this ‘self-inflicted’ damage includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Politics
• Race Relations
• Religion
• Family
• Company Management
• Salary and benefits
• Interracial Relationships
• Sexual Relationships

Above all, remember a most important lesson.  As indicated in Black Sales Journal 10/27/11 – The 3 Unmentionables for the Black Sales Professional, avoid talking about the following;

• Politics
• Race Relations
• Religion

The Scene of the Crime

The forums and situations that you have utterances and conversations about these topics are many.  The people that you have these situations with can be the familiar to a network broadcast (social media).

Co-workers – Treat the people that you work with like they are people you work with.  They are not your best friends, and don’t need access to your life story, your relationships, and your ‘master plan to beat the man’.  What you say at the bar or club can come back to haunt you.  Some solid examples appear in the following posts:

• Friends, Co-Workers, and Vampires (Black Sales Journal 1/30/2012)
• Friends at Work (Black Sales Journal 5/23/2011)

Social Media – Wow! This one deserves more discussion than we can give here.  Do you need to post those pictures of you with the dreaded ‘red cup’?  Social media makes it easy to find something to criticize.  This is the broadcast that we spoke of earlier.  Your personal life is your business and you should recognize that there is no context specified on social media, it is just ‘out there’.

• Social Media – Avoiding the Pitfalls (Black Sales Journal 3/10/2011)

Customers – You never know what perceptions the customer has until you have the deepest of relationships.  That is only going to happen with a select number of customers.  This means that you still must project your brand.  For the Black sales professional I suggest that there is no casual day at a customer location that you need to participate in, wear your uniform (Your suit or business attire).  You are the professional.  There is no usage of slang and colloquial terms and foul language.

The customer will only know about your family and friends what you tell them.  Even if he tells you about his brother Rick, who smokes something that smells funny, that does not mean that you need to air your family’s dirty laundry.  You might read the item below to see the importance:

• Preference, Prejudice, and Your Customer, Black Sales Journal 12/27/2010

Management – Your manager needs to know you.  Actually, your manager needs to know the ‘you that you want him to know’.  This is “image management” in its finest sense.  Do you want management to know all of your past?  Do you want them to know the nature and depth of your intimate relationships?  Do you want them to know that you have relatives that are incarcerated?  I say why have those types of conversations and disclosures?  Now you may think that this does not happen, but it does.  Be careful because as I have said before “You cannot put toothpaste back in the tube”.

I say that your superiors should know the things that will shape your brand!  You are a hard worker…you worked your way through school.  You have perseverance and stick-to-it-ness…you were an athlete on scholarship.  You have a good personality and good values and can show it, stick to that type of disclosure.

No discussions on religion, race relations, and politics.  Don’t be baited.

Build a Brand for Yourself

We will cover this more in February and March, as it deserves it.  When you go this route, you use each of the above, social media, co-workers, management, and the customer to make it happen.  It is not an easy process, and it requires that each input and contact be carried out with forethought and consistency.

Always be the best!

Your comments are appreciated.