Prospecting is a Game

Prospecting has become a four letter word for many of us trying to start our own business. It is the necessary evil that we all must do, but can never seem to find the time. We become easily distracted with "B" type work instead of working to grow through meeting and networking with others.

If you've just moved into an area or you have absolutely no contacts in the market you are working to win over, prospecting for new customers is not only necessary to your success, its CRUCIAL! So how do you make prospecting fun and simple and almost subconscious? Try turning it into a game...

My father is a guru in sales. He knows how to close a client better than anyone I know. He studied a lot of the greats. Tom Hopkins, Zig Ziglar, and others from his company all had great techniques but I honestly can't remember who taught him the 10 pennies. For all I know he came up with it himself. Knowing how his mind works it wouldn't surprise me.

When I was a child I remember him moving his pennies all the time. As months went on it became more and more difficult for him to move them from his right pocket to his left. He used to tell me that he needed to meet 10 new people every day that he could educate on their financial situation. Once he made a contact, he would move one penny from his right pocket over to his left. Once he had moved all 10 pennies he could call it a night. This also meant that he now had "places to go" as he called them in order to turn his new found contact into a client by giving a presentation.

In the beginning he told me it was really easy to move the pennies. His approach and overall technique needed work and he heard a lot of "no's." The good news was that a "no" meant he was that much closer to going home for the evening. After awhile the "no's" just didn't really hurt anymore because they became harder and harder to get as he constantly perfected his technique by talking to 10 different people a day. The 10 actually grew to 20 and sometimes 30 contacts and he actually couldn't move all the pennies anymore because there wasn't enough "no's" in an evening.

He would even try to make it a game with how many people he could talk to in 2 hours and how many "no's" he could get. In the beginning he would sometimes get 10 "no's" in an hour, but eventually he could never move all the pennies in that period or in any period.

The 10 pennies are the perfect way to hone in your prospecting skills and take yourself to the next level. Once you can no longer move 10 pennies in a 2 hour period, you know you've mastered your quick approach presentation and have your new customer's interest to take things to the next level and have a NEW "place to go!"