Personal Selling

Prospecting For And Qualifying Prospects:

Filling The Salesperson's "Pot Of Gold"

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 3–2

Stages In the Personal Selling Process

Stages in the Selling Process1. Prospecting and qualifying prospects2. Planning the sales call (the preapproach)3. Approaching the prospect4. Making the sales presentation and demonstration5. Negotiating prospect resistance and objections6. Confirming and closing the sale7. Following up and servicing the account

The professional selling process is a continuous, interacting, and overlapping cycle of seven stages


Figure 3.1:The Personal Selling Process (PSP)


Prospecting and Qualifying Prospects

The first stage of the selling process gives the PSP wheel its initial push


The Importance of Prospecting

Prospecting is necessary for several reasons– customers switch to other suppliers – customers move out of your territory– customers go out of business– customers die– customers' businesses are taken over by other companies– customers have only a one-time need for the product– relationships with some customers deteriorate and they

stop buying from you– your buying contacts are promoted, demoted, transferred,

fired, retired, or resign– you need to increase total sales


Benefits of Prospecting

• The benefits of prospecting include:1. Generates a continuous flow of sales 2. Offsets the loss of customers3. Helps create a more productive selling

environment for you (i.e., the likelihood of your making a sale increases because you are dealing with a qualified-“legitimate”-customer)

4. Provides a more enjoyable selling situation (i.e., your qualified prospects have a need for the product; therefore, you won’t need to use high-pressure selling)


Qualifying: How a Lead Becomes a Prospect

A lead points to a potential buyer. Salespeople must qualify a lead in terms of 4 basic criteria that can be remembered by the acronym NAME, as follows:1. Need or want2. Authority to buy3. Money or ability to buy4. Eligibility to buy

Two other qualifying criteria are:1. the accessibility of the individual 2. the potential profitability of the prospect over the long run


Sources of Leads

Two basic ways to search for leads to qualify as prospects

1. random searching2. selective searching




Random-Lead Searching

• Generating leads by randomly calling on businesses (sometimes called "blind" searching) include:

1. Door-to-Door Canvassing and Cold Calls2. Territory Blitz of Organizations3. Advertising4. Electronic mail and Web sites


Selective-Lead Searching: Direct Sources

• Systematic strategies to generate leads from predetermined target markets and controlled largely by the field salespeople themselves include:– Friends, neighbors, and acquaintance– Personal observation– Spotters– Endless chain– Centers of influence– Internet (e-mails)


Selective-Lead Searching: Direct Sources (cont’d)

– Former prospects and customers– Junior salespeople and sales associates– Professional sales organizations– Company records – Mailing Lists and Directories– Newsletters– Surveys


Selective-Lead Searching: Indirect Sources

General announcements or calls to potential markets, hoping that prospects will come forward and identify themselves, include:

1. Direct mail• When preparing a direct-mail piece, salespeople ought to

follow these guidelines:– Address your letter to an individual– Use an attractive format– Keep it simple– Stress benefits– Provide proof– Ask for action– Follow up your mailing – Keep records of mailing results


Selective-Lead Searching: Indirect Sources (cont’d)

2. Trade shows, fairs, and exhibits3. Professional seminars, workshops, and

videoconferences4. Contests5. Free gifts6. Unsolicited inquiries7. Telemarketing for Proposals


The Prospecting Plan

• To maximize prospecting activities, salespeople must develop and execute a comprehensive prospecting plan, which has several steps:

1. Set objectives for prospecting2. Allocate time for prospecting3. Become familiar with prospecting techniques4. Choose one or more prospecting techniques5. Systematize the prospecting plan6. Evaluate the results (use Prospecting Methods

Evaluation Form)


Figure 3.2: Prospecting Methods Evaluation Form


Prospects: The Salesperson's Pot of Gold

• Prospects provide every selling organization with the promise of future business

• When salespeople aren't having sales success, a long list of prospects can keep them motivated to make the next sales call and continue looking for that "pot of gold" at the end of the faint rainbow peeking through an otherwise cloudy day


Key Terms

• Personal Selling Process (PSP)– The seven-stage process of professional personal selling, from

prospecting and qualifying prospects to following up and servicing customers.

• Lead– Anything—a name, address, or telephone number—that points

to a potential buyer.

• Prospect– A lead that has been qualified as a definite potential buyer.

• NAME– An abbreviation for the process of qualifying a lead in terms of need for the product, authority to buy, money to be able to buy, and overall eligibility to buy.


Key Terms (cont’d)

• Random-Lead Searching– Generation of leads by randomly calling on organizations.

Sometimes called "blind" searching.

• Selective-Lead Searching– Application of systematic strategies to generate leads from

predetermined target markets.

• Door-to-Door Canvassing– Knocking on doors in a commercial area without an

appointment to locate prospects.

• Cold Calling– Approaching or calling a business without an appointment

for the purpose of prospecting or selling.



• Territory Blitz– An intensified version of door-to-door canvassing in which

several salespeople join efforts to call on every organization in a given territory or area.

• Spotters– People who work in jobs where they meet other people and

who can help salespeople obtain business leads. Also called "bird dogs."

• Endless Chain– A classic method of prospecting in which the salesperson

simply asks recently satisfied customers for prospect referrals.



• Centers of Influence– Individuals or groups of people whose opinions, professional

activities, and lifestyles are respected among people in the salesperson's target markets.

• Marketing Information System (MIS)– Any systematized, continuous process of gathering, sorting,

analyzing, evaluating, and distributing market information. Can be helpful to salespeople in obtaining leads and prospects.


Case 3-2. When Cold Calling Turns Cold

1. What are some underlying reasons why Securevest salespeople are having increasingly difficulty selling to new accounts?

2. What does the situation facing Securevest salespeople seem to tell you about cold-call prospecting?

3. What alternate prospecting techniques should Securevest salespeople consider? Why?

4. If you were a Securevest salesperson, what action would you now take in your territory?

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Personal Selling