The sales process starts with prospecting. This is how we find potential future customers – or ‘prospects’.

The Book of the Course!
Sales Skills: A Management Courses Introduction
This book gives a broad introduction to the topic, for managers and professionals who don’t want or intend to specialize in sales and selling. And as a fast start for someone needing to make a start in selling, for whatever reason.
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See below for details

Sales and Selling Skills
This video is part of course module 8.4.1
Program 8: Managing Customers and Clients
Course 4: Sales / Selling Skills
Section 1: The Sales Process

Other videos that describe the Sales Process:
The Sales Process https://youtu.be/iPZNem-Xguw
Pre-Sales Activities https://youtu.be/lEBsFG_jqnU
Rapport Building https://youtu.be/aJqduxW2MA4
Opening the Sales Meeting https://youtu.be/gjI7e-DBPH4
Diagnosing the Need https://youtu.be/pAsYVf4E3to
Presenting Solutions https://youtu.be/xf-mhhbL2tk
Handling Objections https://youtu.be/S6JFm46Gfso
Seeking Commitment https://youtu.be/1D1-VC9Ccjk
After Sales Activities https://youtu.be/3qrrlXwDjJI


LESSON NOTES
How we find prospects:
- The prospects identify themselves
- Prospects identify each other
- The salesperson identifies the prospects
- Going where the prospects are
- Happenstance

The sales team may then contact potential prospects through any of the possible communications channels.

Mailshots can be:
- broad - with the goal of identifying prospects or
- focused, with the aim of progressing a potential prospect to the next stage of a buying process.
They need to be personal, clear on the benefits you are offering, and to the point.
For broad mailshots, suggest an action that will benefit the prospect and give you information that you can use to qualify the prospect, like an interaction with your website.
For focused mailing, follow-up with a call.

Using emails (or even text messages) are adaptations of this approach.

The one that is different is cold calling. The essentials are to prepare:
• What you are going to say
• Yourself – your readiness and enthusiasm for the call

Closing Thoughts
Rejection is a part of the process. You need 10, 20, 50, or 100 rejections for every success - depending on what product or service you are selling.

RECOMMENDED EXERCISE
1. How does your business find new prospects? (1 MC CPD Point)
2. If you had to create sales from nothing, where could you find a set of prospects? (1 MC CPD Point for each distinct answer - no extras for variations on an idea)

DOWNLOADS
Free Resources
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Paid resources
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RECOMMENDED READING
There are many books that introduce sales and selling. These are the ones I have, and can recommend:
To Sell Is Human https://geni.us/L2EQmt
The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need https://geni.us/AEAVD5
The New Strategic Selling https://geni.us/Zt2Z9n3
SPIN Selling https://geni.us/Ir5xu
The Psychology of Selling https://geni.us/AjR8AA


⭕️ Links to our book recommendations are affiliated through Amazon and help support our free videos

Managers Need a Basic set of kit to do your job well. Here are my top recommendations: https://kit.co/MikeClayton/manager-s-work-kit (the links are affiliated)

MANAGEMENT COURSES CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) POINTS
You can record your Management Courses CPD points on our free, downloadable CPD record log.
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Each video has two levels of MC CPD points. For this video:
- If you simply watched the video, record 2 MC CPD points
- If you also carried out all of the recommended exercises, score a total of 4 MC CPD points

CHAPTER MARKERS
00:00 - The sales process starts with prospecting
00:16 - How to identify prospects
00:27 - First source of Prospects
00:46 - Second source of Prospects
01:25 - Third source of Prospects
01:49 - Fourth source of Prospects
02:13 - Fifth source of Prospects
02:32 - Contacting prospects
03:04 - Mailshots
04:43 - Phone calls
05:08 - Email
05:46 - Prospects everywhere

#Prospecting #Sales #SalesProcess