Never Prospect Again!

The three words in the headline carry a bold promise and sound like the headline to an ad for a gimmicky sales approach. But nothing could be further from the truth. You actually have an opportunity to go cold call free, and I am living proof that it’s possible, having gone 11 years without ever calling on someone whom I did not know or have a connection to.

Have I done it through LinkedIn? Nope. Facebook? Yeah, right. Twitter? Like, um, no. I did it the old fashion way—one personal introduction at a time.

Here’s the formula. Beginning with the next sales call you make, never leave an existing account without having met at least one new person in the building. Does it need to be upper management? Not hardly. In fact, the lower on the totem pole the better.

Simply stick your head into a stranger’s cubicle and introduce yourself. Have a quick chat to find out what he/she does. Comment on the photos in his/her office and drop off a card. Then, go around the corner and write down anything you can think of regarding that person. Finally, make it a point to say hello every time you return to that building.

The net result will be that you have a new potential customer. How? Because that person will someday leave the company and go somewhere else. You’ll come in one day to find the cubicle cleaned out and when you learn that he/she has taken a new position at Humungous Corp., you have your way in.

It really is as simple as that! One new contact per visit. Do the math. Even on the low end, it’s extraordinary. Let’s say you visit just five clients per week. That’s five new connections times 50 weeks (I’m giving you a vacation!), or 250 potential clients per year.