Creating A Sales Funnel

Your Funnel Your most precious commodity is your selling time and because you want to be a winner, you need to have a good system for finding new business. It must not be dependent upon the activity of somebody else, and in prospecting for new clients, preparation always pays. So, you need to get started on developing and building your funnel. There is always a relationship between the number of leads you generate, the number of appointments you make and the number of sales you can close. By collecting this information, you will clearly see the areas that may require additional effort. Approximately 20 per cent of your clients provide 80 per cent of your sales, so focus your efforts on that top 20 per cent, but also keep in touch with the 80 per cent. You never know when one will be ready to become part of your top 20 per cent. You will need to exercise judgement constantly to spot which are the poor prospects—35 per cent is a pretty usual percentage in most territories. Then there are those outside your current client list. There are ‘suspects’—potential clients who are not yet qualified. Then there is the potential gold ore, your real ‘prospects’—people with the need, desire and resources to buy your product. The activity of prospecting helps you to anticipate problems in your current client base. It is a sorting device to remove that 35 per cent of duff prospects in your client base where you could be fooling yourself. You will be left with a shorter list than you started with, but it will be real and allow you to focus on those sales goals that can be achieved with a minimum amount of effort and in the shortest period of time. You then work your funnel, so those prospects make it through on a predictable basis and support your business and personal goals. To begin, you need to identify an ample supply of real prospects. Look at the mechanics of finding your prospects which include:

· Acquiring referrals. · Using the telephone to qualify prospects and get appointments. · Overcoming perfectly normal reluctance to make cold calls.

· Defrosting your telephone cold calls. · Telephone cold call checklists to support your activities.

Use Linkedin tools

Judge your actual suspects and prospects against an ideal prospect profile to ensure that the bulk has a productive probable outcome.

Your selling time is a precious commodity so use it wisely.

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