|
Prospecting to Hit Your Sales Goals
A Celebrity Apprentice Sales Lesson
In Sunday’s Celebrity Apprentice episode (2012/05/13) Clay Aiken and Arsenio Hall are going head-to-head in the final task that will weigh heavily on who the final winner will be. Part of that task will be judged on the amount of revenue each side brings in for their charity.
Arsenio has some real star power friends with deep pockets. Clay Aiken and crew - at least from what we were shown in the episode - not so much.
What’s interesting to me is the strategy (or lack there of) from both teams to raise funds. Arsenio was at least aggressive and had fund raising as a top priority whereas Clay was more focused on the production side of his tasks.
WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT THIS? I’m an Inside Sales Rep – Not a Celebrity!
Hang with me here… You’ll see. So if Arsenio has star power behind him and his strategy is to simply pick up the phone and dial (cold call) what could or should Clay Aiken have done to at least have a chance to out earn Arsenio and his teams rolodex of cash?
Both teams had to sell tickets to the event they were each putting on. Whoever raised the highest amount would be in a strong position to win the overall title.
Prospecting Lesson – Straight Ahead
If you are going to win a sales contest (or achieve your goals) you have to have an adaptable game plan. One that clearly defines what it is you want to accomplish and how you are going to get there. If there were a limited number of tickets to sell (which there was) we need to set the price per ticket.
So how do you set the price per ticket?
I would have looked up what the largest amount of money ever raised on Celebrity Apprentice was and set a goal to beat it by 20%. (Maybe that’s your annual sales goal… to beat last years by 20%)
So you get that number (I believe it was $1.6 million dollars) and set the number to beat at $2 million. Now divide that by 75 tickets (or however many they had to sell)
Now that you have your sales goal ($2mill +) and your price per ticket needed ($27k), before “smiling and dialing” build your prospecting list and only put those names who can afford to donate at least $27,000 per ticket (I rounded up) on that list.
I believe they had a group of 5 on each team. That means each member needs to close 15 prospects who can average at least $27,000 per ticket in donations.
So now start the brainstorming session that will have each person list out whom they know that could afford to donate that kind of cheddar, and build your ideal targeted prospecting list. I would also shoot for at least 30 names per team member with the understanding that not everyone would close 15 each but that some of the names would also donate above the minimum.
The lesson here is this…
Are you wasting your time chasing prospects that will never help you reach your goals?
If so, what are you going to do about it?
Simplest answer is to clearly define what your goal is and who your ideal prospect is and then make that list before picking up the phone and doing the blind “hunt and peck” method.
Now of course, between now and next week’s finale, Clay could get a huge donor out of nowhere and win it all… But is that the prospecting sales strategy you're willing to rely on?
Michael Pedone
CSS: Chief Sales Scientist
SalesBuzz.com (A 2011 Sales Training Company Watch List Award Winner!)
Tired of Sales Call Rejection? Final Days to Register Are Approaching
8-Week B2B Sales Improvement Program
- Eliminate "No, Thanks", "Not Interested" & "We're All Set" Responses from Cold and Warm Calls
- Neutralize Gatekeepers & Get Voicemails Returned
- Ask Engaging Questions Instead of Probing
- Improve your Qualifying Skills
- Give Stellar Presentations & Handle Objections
- Close Follow-up Calls and Get Targeted Referrals
- How to Set & Achieve Your Toughest Sales Goals
- Improve Your Time Management Skills
Duration: 1 hour per week for 8 weeks
Where: Online @ your desk, conference room or home
Presenters: Michael Pedone
Get Dates / Times & Pricing Now
|