The science in selling comes down to a pretty straight forward formula. The bigger your pipeline, the better chances of success. A Robust Pipeline = Predictability + Power + Profit.

The foundation of building a pipeline is about blocking out the time and being committed to focused prospecting. It’s getting back to the basics.

Pause now and think, “What’s my mindset when it comes to prospecting, one of the most critical parts of selling?” Make notes and using the information here, set a strategy that best matches your Personality Style and mindset.

Remember the story about the two salespeople who go to East Africa to sell shoes? After a couple of days, one salesperson calls the home office and says, “I’m coming home, there’s no chance to sell shoes here, everyone’s barefoot.” The other salesperson working in the same area calls the office and says, “ramp up manufacturing, we have a gold mine here, no one wears shoes!”

Having the right mindset is crucial when you prospect. It’s really the lifeline in selling your products and services. No one picks up a phone that doesn’t ring. Salespeople might be great at sales meetings and presenting, but if you can’t get in front of a prospect, it really doesn’t matter!

When you focus on building a robust pipeline, your efforts will lead to predictability, power and profit. Let’s see why.

Predictability is established when we build our pipeline. After all, a pipeline is merely the number and quality of leads that you have in some stage of development. When you know how many and how qualified your leads are, it leads to consistency. The stronger your habit of blocking out time for prospecting, the better you get at it. And more prospects leads to more appointments. It’s just like a good golf swing. The more swings, the better it gets. It’s muscle memory. Same with good prospecting. More calls, more prospects. It’s a linear formula that’s predictable.

You also gain a position of power with a robust pipeline. When you’re active and setting appointments, you gain confidence – the number one asset of successful salespeople. Since you are no longer desperate for business, you can stand your ground when customers ask for discounts. Remember that you have power when your demand is greater than the supply. Power is leveraged when your pipeline is full.

Last, the result of a robust pipeline is great performance. The chances of making your quota are so much greater when you have more appointments. For most, sales is a competitive sport, with everyone wanting to overperform. When you build a strong pipeline your chances of success skyrocket. So, the bottom line is building your pipeline.

And of course, your personality style matters when you are building your pipeline.

Remember there will be rejection when setting appointments. Each personality style needs to use their strengths to overcome disappointment and maintain their confidence.

If you have a Blue Personality, focus on building the relationship and how your solution will be a benefit to the customer. If you’re Gold, use your strengths to convey the return on the investment and the value. Those with a Green Personality are great at explaining the problems that their solution will solve and can get into any detail the prospect wants to know. If you’re an Orange, engage your competitiveness and the thrill of the win.

Don’t let rejection stifle your activity. It’s a natural result of calling people you don’t know. Focus on your natural strengths and it will be an asset to building your pipeline.

Good Selling!

©2019 Stu Schlackman