Three Things I Know about Finding New Business

-By John Klymshyn

1) It's not easy.
2) It requires focus.
3) It is WILDLY satisfying ...

I have an affinity for things arriving and presenting themselves in groups of three.

Maybe it's driven by my history as a drummer, maybe it's because we live in a Trinitarian universe. (Ex: Earth, Air & water; Army, Navy & Marines; Chips, Salsa & Guacamole ... you get the idea), or maybe it's because I like the feeling of things listed in threes.

So, when I was asked to write about finding new business (which I think about A LOT), I thought I'd offer these threes. Beginning with the end in mind asks me to stop and consider:

• What three vertical markets am I going to call on?
• What three areas do the people in those verticals gather in?
• What three questions might I ask that get people thinking in ways they have not thought previously?

Selling, in my world, is defined as "having people feel good about making a positive decision to move the conversation forward, with me, today."

Pretty specific definition, yes ... and sales is a precise and demanding profession! In the interest of specificity, let's consider the three ideas I began this piece with:

It's not easy.

Asking people to engage in a conversation with you - a stranger - is not easy. Saying ridiculous things at the outset (like: "I'm not trying to sell you anything") sets us up in a negative fashion, because, frankly - that statement is a lie. No good, lasting, satisfying relationship begins with a lie. We have to begin conversations on purpose, with strangers, and hope for the best!

It's scary, intimidating, and ... this is what makes it fun.

The language we craft (and deliver) makes the difference in how people perceive, react and respond to us.

Selling is not for the faint of heart.

The good news is that it can be done with integrity, imagination, and with a sense of humor. Such as "I'm calling today to introduce myself and to see if what we offer / do / provide might be of  use to you and your team / group / company some time down the road. What's the best way for us to figure this out?"

It requires focus.

In my book, How To Sell Without Being A JERK!, I share Painful Selling TruthsTM. One of them is: "If you want new business today ... today is FAR TOO LATE to start working on it!" We have to have a vision for the future, upon which we act today.

How many people - by the end of this selling day - will hear your name, and the name of your company?

NOT READ IT IN AN EMAIL ... HEAR it, because you picked up the phone and had the audacity to call?

Start a commitment of a number of cold calls to make every week.

Group them together, so that you are doing a group of them IN A ROW, without stopping, giving up, complaining, checking email, chatting with a co-worker, or watching videos of a cat dressed like a shark on a vacuum robot being chased by a baby duck. (Yes, there is a YouTube video with that exact insanity...)

It is WILDLY satisfying. 

Getting a prospect to agree to meet with you, hear you out, endure a demo, sit through a face-to-face meeting ... is an amazing accomplishment! Do not minimize the power of these minor miracles. The fact that something happens often does nothing to reduce the miraculousness of the event. (Is miraculousness a word? Well ... it is NOW!)

Case in point: you are probably breathing right now. That's miraculous. I rest my case.

Selling is fun, challenging, disappointing and thrilling. All of those emotions show up in a typical sales professional's heart within ninety seconds of each other.

Get out there, and Sell Without Being a Jerk!

The first three people to email me as a result of reading this post will be given a FREE DOWNLOAD of my audio book. 

How does that sound? :)

Remember:

Three Things I Know About Finding New Business...
1. It's not easy.
2. It requires focus.
3. It is WILDLY satisfying...

Get to it! 

John Klymshyn is an Author, Speaker and Coach. He travels the world helping organizations build dominating sales forces.

His three books have been adopted as required reading by some of the fastest-growing and dominant companies in the world.

Klymshyn lives in relative seclusion in Santa Monica, California, where he thinks up stuff like his books, and this blog post. 

Learn more by contacting Klymshyn directly via email: john@klymshyn.com

Audio Book Link:

http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/How-to-Sell-without-Being-a-Jerk-Audiobook/B00O10PDK2/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1414616584&sr=1-1

To learn more about Extraordinary Events, visit http://www.extraordinaryevents.net.