A Sales Rep at Rest

In mid-January of this year, I did something I hadn’t done in nearly a year: I worked out at a gym. No, it’s not newsworthy or even Twitter-worthy. No, I didn’t take any “before” pictures (it’s not that bad). Still, if I was still on that useless time-suck Facebook, I could have ridden that update for days.

What makes this “seriously, Bill?” blog topic worthy of mention is the instant effect it had on me. Initially, my body reacted by shutting down at about 8 p.m. that night and I was fast asleep on the couch. But the next day, I noticed something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Namely, the strong desire to go back for more.

The force awakened.

Prospecting is like that. Most veteran reps are riding the wave of success, milking the business created and hoping new orders come to them organically. Only when a client leaves does the sedentary become active again. A sales rep at rest tends to stay at rest. Hopefully, not too much time has passed since the last time new business was sought, else it will be quickly discovered that the rules have changed and no one gave you a copy of the new playbook for sales growth.

To this group of veteran reps, I advise this: Dedicate a day for pure prospecting. Notice that I didn’t say, “cold calling.” Rather, take a day off from your regular sales activities and pursue appointments with new customers. Do a sales workout, if you will. At worst, it will remind you how important it is to take care of existing clients so that you never, ever have to do that again. At best, you will get a little bump in motivation and who knows, maybe even score an appointment with a new client.

You might even fall asleep on the couch at 8 p.m. that night.

Bill Farquharson can drive your new business efforts. Find more free sales tips, archived blogs, columns, and information on his training programs at BillFarquharson.com or call Bill at 781-934-7036. His email address is bill@aspirefor.com