Sales ‘Cease and Desist’ Order

For the first time ever, I gave a client the advice to “cease and desist all prospecting activity effective immediately.”

She phoned in for her coaching call and it was evident from the get-go that her energy level was down. Once she started talking, I understood why: She was burned out, frazzled and frustrated. Those are not good qualities to have when the goal is to be energetic on the phone or when meeting with a client or prospect. So, imagine her surprise when I told her to stop selling altogether.

Why would I say such a thing?

The problem in this situation is that my client is calling on the wrong kinds of companies. She was “dialing for dollars,” as they say. Call after call would result in voice mail or worse (and you know it’s bad when voice mail is the better option!).

Therefore, I saw no point in her continuing to put in effort whose only result was utter defeat. Did I suggest that she quit and go to work at Walmart? Not at all. I just wanted her to regroup, recharge and, more importantly, aim better before moving forward.

It is better, in my opinion, to stop making all calls and “sharpen the saw”—as Steven Covey would say—than to continue down that same road again and again and feel worse and worse about the outcome and, ultimately, yourself. For my client, and perhaps you as well, the key is to find a better quality prospect.

How and where do you find these better leads? That’s the tricky part, and there is no one answer that fits all situations. Maybe I ought to make that the topic of my next “Short Attention-Span” webinar. Hmmmmm...

Anywho...back to the subject at hand: finding better leads. Where are your leads coming from? If you can relate to my client, perhaps this advice would work well for you, too: