How to Prepare for a Great Prospecting Day in the Field

CATEGORY: Cold Calling, Preparation

Let’s imagine we are going on a trip to a location far away and it’s time to pack your bags!

What do you need to assemble? You need to right number of clothes for the days you’re gone. Your toiletries, your tooth brush. Don’t forget your chargers and any technology you’ll need while you’re away. Oh, and don’t forget to plan for any surprises. How’s the weather going to be out there?

This idea of preparation for a trip is the same as how you should plan for an effective day of prospecting in the field. It requires the same strategy up front.

The unfortunate reality is sales reps and sales management rarely prepare to do this on a consistent basis. It’s more of an event, doing this preparation for a one-day field blitz, rather than a daily habit.

So, sales people tend to wing it most of the days, leaving the office with a “I’m going to go out in the field. I’ll see you later” comment to their peers. At the end of the day the conversation is similar. One person asks, “how did today go?” The other responds with, “oh, it went alright.”

This is a problem with preparation.

I’ve got 3 tips for you to help you with preparation. There are so many to list but let’s just start with the fundamentals.

If we consider our imaginary trip we were about to go on, the goals were simple. Have enough clothes so you wouldn’t stress out on the trip and be prepared for anything!

Our goals are similar when planning for an effective sales day in the field.

Sales Tip #1 Have A Goal For The Number Of Prospecting Touches You Make For The Day

You must be specific. Don’t just say “I’m going to drive down to that one business park in that one part of my territory.”

Success and measurement go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.

That means you must have a list prepared for the day. With accounts to go see on it.

There are horror stories about people planning and spending most of their day behind the windshield of the car. That’s something you want to avoid. You must spend most of your day in front of clients.

That’s where the numbers game comes in…

I like referring to your prospecting as “touches.” Touches could relate to cold calling in person, over the phone, using email strategies and more.

When it comes down to it, the sales person who is able to have the most touches day in and day out is going to be the most successful because they will be involved in the most opportunities.

A challenge here is consistency! Doing this every single day can be draining. Here’s a few tips:

Plan to deliver some creative drop offs for each touch. For example, a flyer or something relevant to the time of year (Halloween, Valentine’s Day, etc.)
Align a drop off with a follow up over the phone and/or email
Verticalize your drop offs and your days

Obviously it will take time for this as well. So plan accordingly.

It’s not enough to just plan on doing activity. You must plan on outcomes as well.

Sales Tip #2 Have A Goal For The Number Of Prospects You Find During Your Day

The result of having a great day in the field is not just in hitting the number of touches you planning for the day, but it’s to achieve the ultimate goal of prospecting…to get new prospects!

There is something magical about having an intention for your day. Take advantage of that. Believe in the possibilities and plan for that outcome!

You can’t start the day with saying “we will see how it goes…” A baseball player doesn’t go into a game thinking that. They go into every game with the goal and expectation of winning. The same goes for you.

If your planning for creating prospects you need to be prepared with what you will say to get a prospect to meet with you.

That requires preparation and must be rehearsed. In the field you wont have the liberty to hide behind a talk track.

Your message, keep it simple and focused around how your product or service could potentially improve their business.

I am a big fan of having a pitch around some sort of no-risk trial or test. If you don’t have one for your business, you should find something you could do.

At the same time you should be prepared to handle objections. Don’t get surprised here. It’s going to happen!

A good tip here is to have a case study or testimonials from clients that you could leave for the prospect to better put them at ease in case you are running a meeting right on the spot.

Sales Tip #3 Plan To Stay Positive Throughout The Day

It’s very possible that you will have some challenging moments which will make you question if this is the right career for you. When this happens, embrace it! Those are the moments that strengthen your character.

The wrong thoughts can really hurt your productivity but the right thoughts can help you find opportunities you would’ve never found otherwise. You must learn how to feed your brain positive thoughts and affirmations throughout the day.

A tip for you here is to plan to feed your brain positive thoughts through music, breaks, and revisiting your goals and accomplishments.

Summary of How To Plan To Have A Great Prospecting Day In The Field

No matter what, the success of your day is entirely up the way you planned it out beforehand. Plan for touches, plan for prospects, and plan to have fun during the entire part.

These are the 3 sales tips that could help you have an effective day in the field.