Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations
Book Preface
For 25 years I’ve hoped for a book like Fanatical Prospecting, and never has this powerful message and valuable advice been needed more than it is today.
Like a prophet, Jeb Blount boldly points out the lies of the loud, popular nouveau sales “experts” whose deadly advice leads salespeople and sales leaders astray. These experts preach to all who will listen that prospecting—proactively pursuing prospects—no longer works. What’s particularly dangerous about this false teaching is that it is exactly what the struggling, reactive salesperson wants to hear. Why do the hard work to prospect and self-generate new sales opportunities when some “guru” lets you off the hook by telling you that it’s “old school” and “doesn’t work anymore”? Why block time to pick up the phone if instead you can tweet, write blog posts, or play for hours posting comments in a LinkedIn group?
The truth, as Jeb so eloquently shares, is that there is no Easy Button in sales. There is no magic bullet or secret sauce. No one sales tool, gimmick, or mystical new process guaranteed to fill your pipeline. In spite of what the social selling Kool-Aid pushers and inbound marketing companies tell us, the truth is that top producers and sales superstars are fanatical prospectors who take personal responsibility for identifying and creating their own sales opportunities.
When a company’s sales organization is failing to make its number or reach its potential, it is not because its salespeople can’t present well, are ineffective closers, or lack the skills for offering insight or challenging prospects. It’s rarely because of a deficit of talent. The reason most sales organizations are not making their numbers is that the pipeline is anemic because the sales team is not prospecting.
Prospecting not only still works, but it’s the fastest and most effective way to accomplish exactly what this book’s subtitle promises: opening sales conversations and filling the pipeline!
Jeb Blount knows prospecting. He is an authority on this subject because he was an all-star, record-setting salesperson and executive sales leader before building his own wildly successful sales training and talent management company. Today he transforms sales organizations by helping them accelerate performance and speaks to hundreds of companies across the globe each year that are eager to hear his inspiring message about what it takes to reach peak performance—fast.
In Fanatical Prospecting, Jeb leaves no stone unturned and holds nothing back. He shares why we need to prospect, exactly what to do, and how to do it.
New sales are the lifeblood of a business. Nothing is more important than securing discovery meetings, conversations, appointments, and sales calls with potential customers. And that is exactly why this is the most important book ever written on this topic.
If you are a sales leader or salesperson looking for help creating more new sales opportunities, then this book is for you. But be warned, once you read Fanatical Prospecting, there will be no more excuses. From understanding why and how we must interrupt prospects, to jealously guarding our precious golden hours for selling, Jeb provides a comprehensive guide to increase sales fast. There is practical, powerful advice on using every means (social selling, e-mail, telephone, text messaging, networking, referrals, in-person prospecting) available to start sales conversations and create new opportunities.
If you picked up this book because you’ve never prospected for new business or you are struggling to hit your numbers, congratulations. I promise that if you follow the prescription Jeb provides, your results are about to improve dramatically. And if, like me, you’re a long-time believer in prospecting, this book will take your game to completely new levels.
—Mike Weinberg, The New Sales Coach and
author of New Sales. Simplified.
CONTENTS
- Cover
- Praise for Fanatical Prospecting
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Foreword
- Special Note: Free Prospecting Resources
- Chapter 1: The Case for Prospecting
- The Real Secret to Sustained Sales Success
- In Search of the Easy Button
- Stop Wishing That Things Were Easier and Start Working to Become Better
- Chapter 2: Seven Mindsets of Fanatical Prospectors
- Success Leaves Clues
- Chapter 3: To Cold Call or Not to Cold Call?
- The Fine Art of Interrupting
- Stop Seeking the Easy Way Out and Start Interrupting and Engaging
- Just Afraid to Make the Call—Not Cold Call
- Chapter 4: Adopt a Balanced Prospecting Methodology
- The Fallacy of Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket
- Avoid the Lunacy of One Size Fits All
- Chapter 5: The More You Prospect, the Luckier You Get
- The Universal Law of Need
- The 30-Day Rule
- The Law of Replacement
- The Anatomy of a Sales Slump
- The First Rule of Sales Slumps
- Chapter 6: Know Your Numbers: Managing Your Ratios
- Elite Athletes Know Their Numbers
- You Cannot Be Delusional and Successful at the Same Time
- Chapter 7: The Three Ps That Are Holding You Back
- Procrastination
- Perfectionism
- Paralysis from Analysis
- Disrupting the 3Ps
- Chapter 8: Time: The Great Equalizer of Sales
- 24
- Adopt a CEO Mindset
- Protect the Golden Hours
- The Fine Art of Delegation
- Blocking Your Time Will Transform Your Career
- Horstman’s Corollary
- Stick to Your Guns
- Concentrate Your Power
- Beware of the Ding
- What Lurks in Your Inbox Can and Will Derail Your Sales Day
- Leverage the Platinum Hours
- Measure Your Worth
- Chapter 9: The Four Objectives of Prospecting
- Prospecting Is a Contact Sport
- Set an Appointment
- Gather Information and Qualify
- Define the Strike Zone
- Close the Sale
- Build Familiarity
- Chapter 10: Leveraging the Prospecting Pyramid
- Walk Like an Egyptian: Managing the Prospecting Pyramid
- Powerful Lists Get Powerful Results
- Chapter 11: Own Your Database: Why the CRM Is Your Most Important Sales Tool
- Own It Like a CEO
- A Trash Can or a Gold Mine
- Chapter 12: The Law of Familiarity
- Prospecting Lubrication
- The Five Levers of Familiarity
- Chapter 13: Social Selling
- Social Selling Is Not a Panacea
- The Social Selling Challenge
- Social Selling Is Not Selling
- Choosing the Right Social Channels
- Five Objectives of Social Prospecting
- Personal Branding
- Building Familiarity
- Inbound Prospecting Through Insight and Education
- Leveraging Insight and Education to Power Up Strategic Prospecting
- Trigger-Event and Buying-Cycle Awareness
- Research and Information Gathering
- Outbound Prospecting
- The Five Cs of Social Selling
- Social Media Prospecting Tools
- Social Prospecting + Outbound Prospecting = A Powerful Combination
- Chapter 14: Message Matters
- What You Say and How You Say It
- Enthusiasm and Confidence
- What You Say
- WIIFM—The Power of Because
- Bridging to the Because
- The Secret to Crafting Powerful Bridges
- Ask For What You Want
- Assume You’ll Get What You Want
- Shut Up
- Chapter 15: Telephone Prospecting Excellence
- Nobody Answers a Phone That Doesn’t Ring
- The Telephone Is, Has Always Been, and Will Continue to Be the Most Powerful Sales Prospecting Tool
- Nobody Likes It; Get Over It
- Most Salespeople Have Never Been Taught How to Use the Phone
- The Ultimate Key to Success Is the Scheduled Phone Block
- The Five-Step Simple Telephone Prospecting Framework
- Leaving Effective Voice Mail Messages That Get Returned
- Five-Step Voice Mail Framework to Double Callbacks
- Timing Teleprospecting Calls Is a Losing Strategy
- Just Eat the Frog
- Chapter 16: Turning Around RBOs: Reflex Responses, Brush-Offs, and Objections
- Rejection Won’t Roll Off Your Back
- Reflex Responses, Brush-Offs, and Objections, Oh My!
- Planning for the RBO
- The Turnaround Framework
- Putting It All Together
- When the Horse Is Dead, Dismount
- Chapter 17: The Secret Lives of Gatekeepers
- Seven Keys for Dealing with Gatekeepers
- The Calling-Other-Extensions Hack
- The Salespeople-Help-Salespeople Hack
- The Go-Around-Back Hack
- Chapter 18: In-Person Prospecting
- Limited Application of the In-Person Prospecting Call
- The Five-Step Hub-and-Spoke Technique
- Preparing for Effective In-Person Prospecting
- The Five-Step In-Person Prospecting Call Process
- Put Your Sales Goggles On
- Chapter 19: E-Mail Prospecting
- The Three Cardinal Rules of E-Mail Prospecting
- Rule #1: Your E-Mail Must Get Delivered
- Rule #2: Your E-Mail Must Get Opened
- Rule #3: Your E-Mail Must Convert
- A Good Prospecting E-Mail Begins with a Great Plan
- The Four Elements of an Effective Prospecting E-Mail
- Practice, Practice, Practice
- The Best Time to Send E-Mails
- Pause Before You Press “Send”
- Chapter 20: Text Messaging
- Texting as a Business Tool Is Accelerating
- Familiarity Is Everything with Text
- Use Text to Anchor Conversations at Networking Events
- Use Text Following Trigger Events
- Use Text to Nurture Prospects
- Use Text to Create Opportunities for Engagement
- Seven Rules for Structuring Effective Text Prospecting Messages
- Chapter 21: Developing Mental Toughness
- It Takes Grit—You Have to Grind to Shine
- Four Pillars of Mental Toughness in Sales
- When You Are on Top, Attack Yourself
- Chapter 22: Eleven Words That Changed My Life
- Chapter 23: The Only Question That Really Matters
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Index
- End User License Agreement
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