Prospecting In Sales. Which Method is Best?

When it comes to prospecting in sales, the SalesBuzz P3 Method is my preferred method… PIQUE Interest, Gain Permission, Establish Problem Recognition. If you pique their interest to the point where they literally give you Permission to ask them some questions, and those questions uncover a problem – you’re cooking with gas.

Prospecting in Sales: The SalesBuzz P3 Prospecting Method

The ability to prospect is an essential sales skill. You are nothing more than an order taker without it. A sales rep has numerous acronyms to follow when it comes to selling. Here are a few of the more common (and played out) ones:

• BANT
• SPIN
• MEDDPICC
• AIDA

BANT is one of the most well-known Prospecting Acronyms.

• BUDGET
• AUTHORITY
• NEED
• TIMEFRAME

In my experience, this method does NOT work for me because I do best when I follow a step-by-step plan or process.

You will have very short sales calls that end abruptly if you start the call by trying to figure out if the prospect has the BUDGET for what you offer before you even agree there’s a NEED.

I prefer a little OCD in my sales call process, and business development reps who are struggling to get prospects to take the next step could easily turn things around with the right game plan.

Enter: The SalesBuzz P3 Prospecting Method

The SalesBuzz P3 Prospecting Method is easy to remember and highly effective. In fact, I would say it’s the #1 most effective way to start a sales call.

Here’s how it works and the reason behind its success.

The First P stands for PIQUE. As in PIQUE INTEREST.

If you cannot PIQUE your prospect’s interest in the first 5 to 15 seconds of a sales call, nothing else matters.

Your job as an inside sales representative is not to close every lead you contact. Your job is to close as many QUALIFIED prospects as fast as possible (And if you are an appointment setter, your job is to CLOSE QUALIFIED prospects on setting an appointment)

The first step in closing a qualified prospect is to confirm that they are, in fact, qualified. You can only do that by talking to them.

You can do all the pre-call research you want on a prospect, but you will never be able to fully qualify a prospect until you have a conversation.

Why is that so?

A prospect must check three boxes before he or she is qualified.

They are:

1. Do they have a problem your solution solves, and do they want it solved?
2. Is this prospect the decision-maker or at least part of the decision-making team?
3. Can they afford your solution should they decide they want it?

Prospecting in sales requires pre-call research and it’s wise to gather a list of prospects that match your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile), but they won’t be fully qualified until you ask questions that answer YES to all three of those qualified metrics.

And in order to ask those questions, you will first need to PIQUE their interest in having a conversation with you. Make sense so far?

The next P stands for PERMISSION.

As in, you PIQUED their interest so much in the first few seconds of the sales call; when you ask them if it’s OK to ask them a few questions to see if you can help them, they say YES!

Here’s an example:

I create a list of sales directors matching my ICP and say:

“The reason for my call is I help outbound sales teams overcome call reluctance and show them how to pick up the phone with confidence, and if I caught you at a good time, I’d like to ask you a few questions just to see if what we have to offer may be of some help to you – Would that be OK?”

Nine times out of 10, I get a YES. That’s how powerful starting with the first two P’s is.

To get further help on creating a winning opening value statement using the P3 method, try this free online course.

PIQUE INTEREST and Gain PERMISSION to continue the call.

Remember, the best way to PIQUE INTEREST is by hitting a pain point or hot button of a problem that your prospect MUST have in order to be interested in your solution. If there’s no PROBLEM, then there’s no need for a SOLUTION.

The final P stands for PROBLEM RECOGNITION

As soon as you pique interest and gain permission, you need to know what the next step is (here’s where your OCD kicks in) in order to continue the flow of the sales call in a conversational manner.

By asking specific questions, you can confirm if there is a problem based on the prospect’s answers.

If a problem DOES exist, the natural human instinct is to want to solve it, and they will be interested in hearing more about how you can help.

If a problem does NOT exist, you did your job! The lead is not qualified at the moment, so you drop them back into a drip marketing campaign that nurtures them until they unsubscribe or until a trigger event happens, and they reach back out to you for help.

Try the SalesBuzz P3 Prospecting In Sales Method if getting prospects on the phone has been a challenge for you, and watch your numbers take off.

– Michael Pedone

Michael Pedone is the CEO & Creator of SalesBuzz.com’s How to Sell with Confidence Online Sales Training Course

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