The Prospect Bank Balance

Written by: Abigail Morris

What do we mean by the prospect bank balance?

When we engage with people for the first time, there are lots of small actions that, if we are not careful, can build up over a period of time and make the person we’re talking to feel frustrated.

There are also lots of positives that can make the person feel really engaged and want to work with you.

To put it simply, the prospect bank balance is all about the small positives you should do, and the small negatives you should be aware of, which will impact your prospect and the potential of your sale.

Let’s explore some of these “debits and credits” that will either help you or hinder you in winning business.

EMAIL SLOPPINESS

Examples of this could be not capitalising someone’s name, or missing essential punctuation and spacing which makes your email congealed and difficult to read. Little things like that can really irritate the recipient and they’ll simply be left feeling that you did not take the time (for them). Don’t put yourself in a position where not double-checking your grammar could lose you deals or opportunities with prospects.

WRONG NAME

Is it Sarah or Sara? Stewart or Stuart? Mistakes do happen, but starting your possible working relationship off by using the wrong name will only give people the impression that you are careless. Take the time to check and get it right the first time.

REPLY WHEN YOU SAY YOU WILL

One credit that will make you look good is replying when you said you would. If you have told a prospect you will get back to them on Monday, then make sure you stick to it. Don’t put yourself in a position where they are chasing you.

MENTION IT NEXT TIME YOU SEE THEM
If they have mentioned something to you (e.g. they’re going on holiday), ask them about it the next time you speak with them. Use a CRM System (or a spreadsheet if you really need to) and record it. Remembering them and what is going on in their world shows that you care. Small actions like this can make a big difference in a prospects mind and can help them to decide that they trust and want to work with you.

WATCH THE LANGUAGE YOU USE

A big debit that is very frustrating is the certain language people use whilst trying to sell. I Don’t use phrases like “Buddy, Mate, Pal, Love, Darling”. Instead, use their first name, or perhaps Sir or Madam. Make sure you use the language that is going to make them feel comfortable. Be led by the language that they use.

DON’T ADD THEM TO AUTOMATIONS WITHOUT PERMISSION

One thing that can really annoy your prospects is automatically subscribing them. We engage with many prospects and let them know about the Saturday Sales Emails we send, but we do not add everyone to that list. That would be annoying for them.

Tell your prospects about the mailing options you have and then let them make the decision whether they want to receive them or not. Don’t just add them into your database – permission is driven by the prospect not by you.

NOT REPLYING BACK WHEN YOU GET A NO

It’s natural to get annoyed when you receive a “no” and delete it. It’s a dead-end prospect anyway right? Wrong! What you should be doing is sending a nice reply. Doing that makes you look like someone who cared and not that you were just after the sale.

Don’t just ignore them, reply back, and reply with information that makes you look the nice genuine person that you are. This may make a difference if they’re ever reconsidering working with you in the future.

TIME MANAGEMENT IS KEY!

Consistently being late is a real challenge, and it is important to get yourself organised. Don’t always be the person saying “sorry I’m late”, or “I’m going to be 10 minutes late”. If winning their business means something to you, put the time aside and get there 10 minutes early.

There you go, a few of the debits and credits that are important to work on not doing the debits and make sure you are doing the credits.

Making these small changes can make a big difference with your prospect conversations and can help you to win more business consistently.

Abigail Morris

Publish date: 21 August 2021

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The Prospect Bank Balance

What do we mean by the prospect bank balance?

Abigail Morris

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