When Can a Sales Person Stop Prospecting?

 

Companies are concerned that once a sales person lands a big deal they will stop prospecting.

Don’t be concerned. They are supposed to stop processing while they bring the new opportunity to a close.  If all energy is not focused on getting the opportunity you will lose it to a sales rep that is focusing all his energy on getting the new account. New business does not happen by accident. Let the sales person do their job. Hire telemarketers or new reps to continue prospecting. The cost is miniscule compared to the missed opportunity of losing a deal. Your company has spent time and resources to get to this point, don't blow it now.

Once the deal is done a good sales person will start hunting for the next one. Be concerned about the sales person that keeps hunting but never brings anything in. It feels like he’s productive but if you examine the sales process closely nothing is really happening.

Comments

 
By: John A. Fallone
On: 12/17/2009 08:46:52
I'm in agreement with many of the general principles outlined in "When Can a Sales Person Stop Prospecting?"

I have a slightly different perspective which I'll outline below:

A number of years ago I worked as a VP/National Accounts for an international organization. The reality was that once a National Account Manager landed several large clients, it became difficult for them to prospect for new business because they had to spend a considerable amount of time managing the customers.

The typical, "less than wonderful" way to address this issue had been to simply hire additional National Account Managers; this was not only very costly, but it caused friction, because the existing rep had to relinquish some territory to accommodate the new hire.

In reality, no significant business development increase was manifested under that arrangement.

I proposed a solution which not only reduced expenses, but exponentially increased sales ten-fold in a relatively short period: Instead of bringing on board new NAMs, we recruited Client Services Coordinators at a lower cost, who supported the sales force and became the administrative single-point-of-contact for clients.*

This move freed up our strong sales force to engage in the hunt for new accounts, (while still maintaining & building deeper connections with their existing customers.

* We paid the client services people a base salary + a small incentive directly tied to the sales volume of the NAM, fostering a strong bond between the two.

Kind regards,

John A. Fallone
President & CEO
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Office: 1-203-274-6098
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jarfallone@gmail.com
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