Face-to-Face Prospecting Still Works

Stranger: “Knock Knock”

Me: “Who’s there?”

Stranger: “Creepy old dude”

Me: “Unless you’re selling Girl Scout cookies, I’m not interested.”

Now that you have an image of a creepy guy selling Girl Scout cookies, erase that memory. My focus is about face-to-face prospecting at brick and mortar businesses, and is still highly effective if done correctly. Advancement in technology is wonderful but never forget our communities was founded on grit and determination, well before computers, tablets, and smart phones.

Let’s face it, retail is tough. They have expensive overhead, often times a payroll to maintain, and competition of online shoppers who have found a way to avoid leaving their couches. Businesses need help with marketing and most don’t understand how to maximize effective web strategies, which is fairly obvious once you spend time talking with them. It makes sense too, they’re focused on running a business and have to deal with a million things. They don’t have time to experiment with Pinterest, listen to a webinar, and do the proper research to be effective via social media marketing. If you’re struggling to connect with businesses online in hopes of finding your next client, there’s an entire community of retail businesses desperately needing you’re help and all you have to do is visit them and have a conversation.

Once you decide that you want to give face-to-face prospecting a try, there are several things you’ll want to do before heading out. You know what they say, proper planning prevents poor performance. We’re going to assume you’ve already identified your target prospect. The first step is picking the ideal location to prospect, one that encompasses several places to visit, preferably in walking distance. There’s nothing better than developing a handful of clients all in the same area to maximize your time.

Now that you know where to prospect, you’ll want to do some research. The Internet is wonderful for providing all the information you’ll need. Below is a step-by-step guide of planning for your day out on the road. While your planning and research may vary depending on the industry you’re going after, the concept will be all the same.

1. Make a list of the businesses in the area that you plan on visiting. Write down all the particulars: address, phone, business owner, etc.
2. Create a checklist that includes things like: Do they have a website, list of social media profiles, yelp reviews, media coverage, event participation.
3. Map out all your prospects, create your attack by visiting businesses closest to each other.
4. You might consider asking your network if they know anything about these companies.
5. Bring along a notebook and plenty of writing utensils to take notes. Even in our technological world, it’s easier to take notes pen to paper when people rattle off lots of information quickly.
6. If you have a tablet and wifi device, bring that along too in case you want to show websites and social media platforms that demonstrate possibilities for their business.
7. Pack plenty of business cards.
8. Make sure you have mints or breath freshener, nobody wants to smell your stinky breath.

Cool, you’re ready to hit the road. You’re dressed professionally and you’ve reminded yourself that you need to smile. Before you enter any store, make sure you turn your phone to vibrate or turn if off completely if that makes you feel more comfortable. Some might suggest leaving it in the car however there might be a situation where you want to show them what their website looks like on a mobile device, many have no idea.

How to identify if a retail store may need help

1. There are very few customers in the store while you’re there
2. You don’t see any social media stickers on the counter or door
3. You ask the owner how business is doing and they frown

Now that you know you have a prospect on your hands, what do you do? Ask questions.

Any good sales professional will listen 80% of the time and talk 20%. There is so much to learn from asking questions and listening. Find out as much as you can about their business, why and how they chose their business, what is currently working and what isn’t. Since you’ve done your research, you already know about their website or lack thereof, social profiles, reviews, and what they may be lacking.

By now you should know if they’re interested or not. They’ll give you buy signs by asking or saying things such as:

• How do you work with clients?
• What do you charge?
• How do I get started?
• I really need your help
• I can see how what you’re saying makes sense

Don’t believe people actually say these things? Just last week I heard four of the above in one afternoon. When it comes to business, especially retail where they have to make their nut each and every month to survive, there is no shame. It’ll become crystal clear which of these businesses need help based on their responses and if you’ve done a good job explaining how you work with clients, there’s a good chance they’ll want you to put together a proposal.

Should you find yourself in this envious position, there are a few questions you’ll want to ask before leaving, assuming you’re looking to work with clients on a monthly or longer assignment.

1. What is your monthly budget that you can allocate for the services I provide?
2. If you like the proposal I send you, when were you hoping to get started?
3. Who else will be involved in the decision making process? You’ll want to meet with all decision makers so that you can answer their questions and handle any potential stumbling blocks.

Going over your proposal

Trust your gut. If you feel a prospect is fishing for a blueprint and not serious about hiring you, address the issue on the front end. Some consults actually charge for their proposals and discount those dollars if they get hired. You’ll have to decide how you want to deal with this risk.

Getting back to basics

As I stated in the beginning, technology can be a wonderful thing, but it’s not always the answer. Years ago, before the Internet, sales professionals had to rely on the telephone and face to face prospecting. They had to learn proper sales techniques to handle objections, understand non verbal communication, and be able to think on their feet. In some ways, technology has made us lazy and allows people to cut corners in their sales process. Send out hundreds of e-blasts a day and see who responds. Search for “who needs my service” on Twitter to find the low hanging fruit. There’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of the advancements technology has afforded us but in the end, being comfortable in looking your prospect in the eye and letting them know you’re the right person for the job is exactly what they need to see.

You may be asking yourself, why not just call the business and try to schedule an appointment to which I respond, ever try to get a car salesman to take you serious, over the phone? Same concept, nothing replaces real life human interaction, especially in business.

Still need help determining your face-to-face prospecting game plan? In need of an effective web strategies to grow your business? Fill out this contact form and we’ll talk.