The Tribune

By Scott Farrington

There are so many things about my profession that I like, one being that I get to work with some of the best and the brightest. The other is the power to choose who you want to work with. I have seen this from top professionals and producers, who guard their pipeline by choosing who they want to spend time with.

I remember receiving some great advice early on in my sales career from a seasoned, successful sales professional. He told me: “Not every prospect deserves to be in your sales pipeline.”

As a young and enthusiastic sales professional, I thought every prospect was worth pursuing. I had a sales pipeline that was bursting at the seams with unqualified opportunities. And way too often, the best opportunities were buried underneath prospects that really were not worth my time.

Believe it or not, you can choose who you want to work with. It is a two-way street: How you treat your prospects and how they treat you. Professional prospects will treat you with respect and direct responses. Unprofessional prospects, let’s just say, are unprofessional.

See below for the type of prospects top producers work with consistently to hit their revenue goals.

• Prospects that treat you like partners, not vendors. These are the folks that are willing to engage in conversation, provide information and bring other decision-makers into the process. They return your phone calls and e-mails with direct responses. Prospects not willing to do all of the above are probably going to treat you like a vendor. And, in the end, the only thing that matters is: “What’s your price?”

• I have in the past performed like a seal at a show, going way beyond the normal call of duty for a prospect. Only later to find out they have opted to go with another company solely based on price.

Often, price is an indicator of service and quality. Many times the client has returned to say goods were never delivered, or the quality was very poor etc. These same prospects will sometimes come back in a panic and want me to perform like a seal again, forgetting the last time they forgot to reward the seal with a fish. Seals are smart, you know! And they do have the ability to remember.

• Prospects who are professional and serious about improving their current situation will treat everyone with respect and appreciation.
  

A tough lesson that I had to learn early on in the sales business is that there are a lot of people who confuse whining with winning. They aren’t happy with their sales results and complain about missed forecasts or deadlines. Despite dismal sales results and poor promotions, they are not willing to do anything to fix the problem. They have grown into comfortable living. Remember the quote: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

My suggestion is to work with nice prospects and customers. Life is short. Why spend it with people who do not value you or your company.

I have learned over the years that how a company treats their ‘vendors’ tells you how they treat their employees and customers. Companies with great cultures treat all people professionally and with respect, whether it is a person working for them or trying to sell to them. Remember, it is OK to fire prospects and customers. It frees you up to find those nice clients.

Guard your sales pipeline and carefully qualify your opportunities. Work with companies that value partners who are committed to excellence and play nice.

All of these sales and marketing strategies are certain to keep your business on top during these challenging economic times. Have a productive and profitable week.

• NB: Scott Farrington is president of SunTee EmbroidMe, a promotional and marketing company specialising in uniforms, embroidery, silk screen printing and promotional products. Established over 27 years ago, SunTee EmbroidMe has assisted local businesses from various industries in marketing themselves. Readers can contact Mr. Farrington at SunTee EmbroidMe on East Shirley Street, by e-mail at scott@sun-tee.com or by telephone at 242-393-3104