The 8 Sales Prospecting Mindsets of Top Earners Pt 3: Building Habits

By Jeff Shore

I love this quote by philosopher Erasmus. “A nail is driven out by another nail. Habit is overcome by habit.”

Hot markets like the one we experienced recently tend to create bad habits. Laziness is one example. Not that we aren’t working hard, but when it comes to our sales and prospecting skills, why would we work hard on prospecting efforts when we can make sales without having to do that?

We all know that hot markets do not last forever, and the only way to eliminate bad habits is to replace them with good ones. Let’s talk about building a habit of prospecting.

One of the things that we see about great salespeople is that prospecting to them is not a discipline. It’s a habit. 

There’s a big difference. I mean, how much do we like discipline? We think about discipline; it sounds like a negative connotation. But I’ll give you an example. I remember years ago talking to a coach of mine and saying, “I need better discipline. I need to be more disciplined.”

He said, “No, no, no. You have all the discipline you will ever need. What you need are better habits.” He was right. It takes something as simple as flossing. I used to floss occasionally, which means the day before a dentist appointment.

Why? Because I saw flossing as a discipline, it had a negative connotation. Now I floss every day.

How did I get into the habit of flossing every day? By flossing every day. You see, at first, it might feel uncomfortable. Why? Because it’s foreign to us. Because it’s not part of what we do.

But now what happens? I floss every day, and you know what, I don’t think about it. And you know why I don’t think about it? Because it’s a habit. Because it’s an automatic thought.

That is what we need to do with our prospecting paradigm, with our prospecting mindset. We need to look at this and say; this is a habit. It’s just what I do. You don’t have to think about it. You don’t have to fret over it. You don’t have to delay or procrastinate. You know you’re going to do it anyway. 

It’s just what you do. That’s how habits work.

Develop a 30-day Prospecting Habit

Pull out your calendar and say, “I’m going to do my prospecting at this time every day.”

I want to recommend that you do it early in the day. You can celebrate a victory when you finish your prospecting early in the day. Plus, you give your clients all day to get back to you if you have to leave a voicemail.

You want to get into the habit of getting it done as early in the day as you can.

If you didn’t make it to the office until 11:00 a.m. and can’t get your prospecting in until 1:00 p.m. because you were busy, that’s fine. Just give yourself permission and get it done as early as possible, as close as possible to that specific time. Better yet, come in before your sale center opens and do it when you know you will be uninterrupted.

What a terrific way to start the day with a massive victory.

Think about it. If you do this daily, I suggest you set out for 30 days. Guess what happens after 20 days? You’ll be developing a habit. You’ll think about it less and less every single day. It’ll become routine.

Then the Magic Happens

You create a new habit. A habit of success. A habit of knowing that I nailed something that other salespeople are not going to do. And I did it first thing in the day. How cool is that? You see, when we look at habits, it’s not just a matter of trying to establish habits of things that we don’t like to do. It’s establishing habits are things that we eventually enjoy.

I know this sounds kind of weird, but I like flossing. Do you know why? Because I like the thought of keeping all my teeth. I like the idea of being more comfortable at my dentist appointments. I like the fact that I’m doing something healthy for my body.

This is the mindset that we can take when it comes to prospecting.

It’s not just for you; it’s for your prospect who needs your ongoing service. So get into the habit. Make it a ritual every single day.

Develop the habit of taking care of your customers.

Until next time, earn more to earn more!