How to Stop Gambling for Prospects (Money Monday)

0:01Jessica Stokes: So going into a follow-up call, I want every important note right at my fingertips, not buried somewhere in a scribbled stack of notes. And with Plod Notepin S, I always have them because it's a wearable, portable note taker that lets me stay present and focused on customers during every single meeting. Plod captures the conversation and turns it into organized summaries and action items so I can follow up faster. And if I need a specific detail, Plod's recall has that ready for me. And that's why Jeb Sr. and I and all of Sales Gravy trusts our Plod Notepin S. Try Plod and stay focused on the conversation while it handles all of your notes.

0:34Jessica Stokes: Go to plod.ai forward slash Jeb. That's plod.ai forward slash Jeb and use code JEB to get 10 % off your purchase.

0:48Jessica Stokes: This is Jeb Blunt and it's Money Monday on the Sales Gravy Podcast. Say, make money, money, make money, money, money. Make money, money, make money, money, money. Money makes the world go round. I'm the talk around town. Hi, everyone. Welcome to this episode of Money Monday. I am Jessica Stokes, filling in this week for Jeb. I want to start with a question. Have you ever bought a scratch-off lottery ticket? Most of us probably have. You scratched it, you had your fingers crossed, hoping today's your lucky day. Now imagine if that was your entire financial plan. You have no savings, no investments, no paycheck, just scratching off a lottery ticket and hoping one of them pays off.

1:26It sounds ridiculous, right? But here's the funny thing. That's exactly how a lot of salespeople prospect. They make a connection on LinkedIn and then they sit back and hope. They hope that somebody responds. They hope that somebody is interested. They hope the timing is right. They hope they're the decision maker. And then nothing happens. When they get no response, they just assume prospecting doesn't work. The truth is the prospecting isn't broken. random prospecting is. Now, I'm going to admit I've made this mistake myself. Earlier in my sales career, I was chasing anyone who looked like they could buy.

1:59I spent hours researching random companies. I'd send emails, leave voicemails, and then kind of move on. And sometimes I wonder why my pipeline wasn't full. The problem wasn't that people didn't need what I sold. As a matter of fact, I was selling a commodity everyone actually needed. The problem was I was spending most of my time talking to the wrong people. Everything changed when I stopped relying on luck and started following more of a system. That's what I want to talk about today. Because the highest performing salespeople don't wake up wondering where the next opportunity is going to come from.

2:33They build pipelines on purpose. One of my favorite Jeb Blunt quotes is, randomness is the enemy of effectiveness. Think about that for a second. Randomness is expensive. Every minute spent chasing the wrong prospect is a minute you're not talking to the right one. The best salespeople know exactly who they're looking for. They know the industries they win in. They know the size of the company. They know the titles of the buyer and the common challenges. They don't just throw darts and hope that something sticks. So before you make another prospecting call this week, ask yourself, is this actually someone I should be talking to?

3:12because better targeting creates better conversation. Here's something I see often when I'm coaching sales teams. A rep blocks an hour to prospect. They sit down, open up the CRM. They spend the next 45 minutes figuring out who they're going to call. By the time they've researched the company, looked at a LinkedIn profile and searched through Google, their prospecting hour is over. Sound familiar? Prospecting starts long before you pick up the phone. The best salespeople are consistently building lists, Not because their pipeline's empty, but because they never want it to become empty. Spend 30 minutes a day building a list for tomorrow.

3:48And then when the prospecting time arrives, you're ready. Also, one touch point is not prospecting. Sending one email, not prospecting. Making one phone call, not prospecting. Today's buyers are busy. They're overwhelmed. Their inboxes are flooded. Many experts actually estimate that it takes somewhere between 8 and 11 meaningful touches before you might earn engagement. Think about that. Eight to 11. Yet most salespeople quit after one or two attempts, not because the prospect said no, but because the prospect said nothing. Silence is not rejection. That's why consistency wins. Make a phone call, leave a voicemail, send an email, send a LinkedIn connections, video message, call again.

4:33Every touch point is building familiarity and that familiarity starts to build trust. Now, Along with this consistency, you have to give customers a reason to engage. Many salespeople spend too much time talking about themselves and their product in the prospecting outreach. They say things like, we're an award-winning company. We're the top A, B, or C. But here's a problem. Your prospect isn't thinking about you. They're thinking about themselves. They're thinking about their goals, their problems, their deadlines. This is why we help teams develop their because statements. Don't just ask for a meeting.

5:13Give the prospect a reason to engage. When your message starts with their world instead of yours, everything can change. I want to leave you with one final thought. One of the biggest mistakes that salespeople make is treating prospecting like an emergency. All of a sudden, the pipeline gets thin and that panic sets in. So you pick up the phone and you make 100 calls in two days and maybe you uncover an opportunity or two. So the prospecting stops. Here's a better approach. I want you to prospect every day, not all day, every day. 15 focus touch points every day will outperform 100 frantic calls that you squeeze in at the end of the month.

5:57That's the law of cumulative impact. Small actions repeated consistently creates extraordinary results. So here's what I'd love for you to do this week. Take a look at your calendar. Do you actually have prospecting blocked on your calendar? If not, schedule it and protect it. Treat it like it's your most important customer meeting. Then ask yourself these five questions. Do I know exactly who my ideal customer is? Am I building prospecting lists before I need them? Am I using multiple touch points instead of just giving up after one or two? Am I giving my prospects a relative because statement to meet with me?

6:38Am I prospecting consistently or only when I'm desperate? If you can answer yes to these five questions, then you're going to stop riding that feast or famine roller coaster. You'll stop hoping and you'll start controlling your pipeline. And like we say here at Sales Gravy, the pipe is life. Prospecting isn't about luck and it's not about scratching a lottery ticket. It's about daily discipline. Thanks for joining me for another episode of Money Monday. And if this episode encouraged you, share it with another salesperson who might need the reminder. Keep showing up, keep dialing, keep moving forward.

7:15You've been listening to the Sales Gravy Podcast. This is Jessica Stokes. Make today awesome.

7:26Jessica Stokes: I ain't never going back again. I need some C notes, some cheddar and a stack of ends. I need a bowl of dough. I don't need no Facebook friends. I need a pack of them snaps, a handful of Fetty wops and rubber band on my green backs. Look, dog, don't be playing with my paper. I need every red cent. That's why I brought my little scraper.

7:56Thank you.