For many sellers, independence is more than a virtue – it’s a way of business. But I’m here to say that working alone won’t make you a sales superstar.
I know. I’ve tried it, and until I started collaborating with others, my numbers were mediocre.
Oh, I made my quota every year. But the real money, accolades and professional success didn’t come until I started to collaborate.
If you want to be a sales superstar, you want to collaborate too. And it all starts with your prospecting approach.
Prospecting is hard work.
- Planning
- List building
- Research
- Messaging.
- Value Propositions
- Action
Why would you want to do it alone if you can share in the work and share in the rewards?
As you plan your prospecting, consider who else can help you. What lead generation activities can you do with other people that will lighten your load?
Here are just a few effective collaborative attraction strategies to consider.
Online Events
Online events such as webinars or audio conferences are a perfect way to reach those prospects who are out of your proximity and / or not quite ready to commit to a personal visit. Web-based events are great because they are:
- Recorded. You can re-use the recordings in other prospecting activities and even during the sales process.
- Inexpensive. Whether you get 25 or 2500 participants, the incremental cost is minor. You can target as many or as few people as you have in your micro-segment and not worry about the price tag.
- Able to reach large audiences. You can collaborate with someone who isn’t in your region and reach your combined lists no matter where they’re located.
But what I like best about events in general–online or local– is that the people who come are interested in the topic. That means they’re already thinking about the issue you’re targeting, making them qualified prospects for you to call on.
Local Events
Online events are important, but they don’t altogether take the place of local events. Lunch-and-learns and executive breakfasts are great opportunities for face-to-face networking where you can observe prospects’ levels of interest. The personal connections make it easier to set first appointments because you’ve established a familiar relationship.
As a rep, it may seem daunting to host a local event if your company doesn’t have the staff to make it happen. That’s where collaboration becomes important.
As a sales rep, I used to host early morning events where I brought the donuts and coffee, and an alliance partner did the presentation. (I got the easy end of that deal, didn’t I?) Afterward we shared in the leads.
Recently I attended an elaborate half-day event that one of our clients hosted to celebrate their 25th year in business. They couldn’t have done it without the support of their alliance partners–companies like ours, and even their customers– in planning the presentations, then spreading the word.
With both on-line and local events, you want to collaborate. It takes time to create the presentation, send the invitations, and follow through on all the other associated details. Divide the work and share in the rewards. Don’t be scared off by the amount of work to be done. The results are significant.
These are just a few of the collaborative attraction strategies you could use. There are also local networking events, public relations, and alliance partnerships.
The key is to integrate collaborative attraction strategies into your lead generation campaign. While they may not feel like second-nature at first, or even as easy as cold calling, the results you’ll see will have you coming back to do it again. Use the free Campaign Planner I’ve put together in The Sales Magnet Tool Kit to step you through planning a campaign.
When you engage in collaborative attraction strategies, you’ll soon see your pipeline filling up with hot prospects – and you’ll become a sales superstar.
If you’re looking for more ways to use collaborative attraction strategies, expand your lead generation and fill your pipeline with hot leads, get my new book The Sales Magnet: How to Get More Customers Without Cold Calling available at Amazon.com now.
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