Can You Imagine Sales Without Marketing? What if You had to Drive Traffic?

So, here’s the thing, in no way, form, or fashion am I saying marketing should take a hike. When I talk about sales without marketing, I’m suggesting that sales professionals should be proactive and accountable for driving traffic in addition to marketing efforts.

We want the success that many other people do not get. If we want to do that, we must be willing to do things that other people will not do.

The journey to success includes a lot of discomforts. It’s the way you handle this discomfort that will determine whether or not you’re able to overcome all the obstacles that will appear before you.

Interestingly, most people cannot tolerate even the most minor level of discomfort, and they give up as soon as it appears.

So how can you avoid discomfort and become successful? It has a lot to do with prospecting and driving traffic of your own.

Face the Discomfort

Instead of seeing discomfort as negative, think about it as an opportunity. Stare it down and think of it as a way to learn something new and experience a sense of achievement as soon as you overcome it.

You see, the problem is that we will do something uncomfortable.

So if we wait until that moment of discomfort to decide how we will respond, we’ll listen to the very primitive side of our brain and fall prey to it. This primitive side of the brain will say, “Run!”

If you decide how you’ll act when you face discomfort, you’ll choose from the logical side of your brain.

Think About How You Reach Prospects

We’ve repeatedly heard prospecting is just about pounding the calls or talking to people. It’s supposedly nothing more than a numbers game. We keep hearing that you’ll get that business if you just do it enough and talk to enough people. But is this true?

Well… yes and no.

There’s no question about the first half of the problem. If I’m not going to put in the numbers, if I’m not going to work on the quantity, then there’s no question I’m going to have a tough time trying to bring up that new business.

But of course, it isn’t just about the quantity. It’s also about the quality. So, what do we do to make sure that we get both?

Don’t think about the prospects you will reach out to in bulk. Think about each prospect as an individual. And don’t just regurgitate the same thing repeatedly and hope it will somehow lead to success.

Instead, do a quick mental reset before every call, and remember that each individual is unique, and you need a new approach to talk to them every time.

Direct Your Discipline

We tend to think that we need more discipline in our lives. The truth is, we have plenty of discipline.

However, we may not be directing it in the right direction.

Your discipline should be directed toward making better habits. It’s not about worrying daily about to-do lists and tasks you really don’t want to do. It’s about developing better habits. Those habits are those subconscious traits we build up over time until we don’t think about them anymore.

Is prospecting good for you?

Yes, of course, it is. But you need to focus your discipline on developing habits that will constantly work on advancing your prospecting skills.

Fuel Your Enthusiasm

One of the problems with prospecting is that frequently sales professionals aren’t particularly excited all the time. This is normal, but it isn’t something you should allow the customer to pick up on.

A lack of enthusiasm will quickly get transferred onto the phone calls or conversations you’re having with a customer. As a result, the customer will also pick up on your mood.

Why would anyone purchase from you if you aren’t even excited about the product?

Customers want to do business with people who excite them. Who invigorates them and brings something new to the table.

You see, positive and upbeat people are far more likely to be successful than people who seem soulless about their job. Thinking creatively about prospecting is the best way to overcome a lack of enthusiasm or a low mood.

Here’s one thing you can do if you know you’ve got some phone calls coming up. You might consider doing this three days before you make those phone calls. Send very brief handwritten notes to everybody you’re about to call. Use this note as an introduction to your phone call.

Now they already expect your call. And now, you are both more comfortable about the upcoming conversation because you expect it to happen.

When you set up the expectation like this, it’s more likely to make the call go well and set you up for success, too.

Give Before You Ask

Prospecting is really about networking. The wrong way to think about networking is, “What can I get out of this relationship?” The right way to think about networking is, “What can I offer to this relationship, and what does the other person need from me?”

Prospecting and getting to the point of closing sales is all about the relationship and rapport you build with others. The more value you give, the more people are open to hearing what you have to say… and, ultimately, what you have to sell.

You can always come up with more ideas of your own. As long as you think about both sides, you can come up with great ideas to make prospecting fun and exciting.

Make this an ongoing habit, and you’ll produce the desired results.