Experience the sales process of prospecting for a client

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What are the objectives of this project?

  1. Experience the sales process of prospecting for a client/interview, setting up an appointment and preparing and conducting a sales/information interview.
  2. Learn new concepts and ideas, by interviewing, in person, an experienced business-to-business sales professional.
  3. Share your learning experience with the class. Learn from each other.
  4. This is a “real world” assignment which will give you relevant experience in the working world.
  5. Learn the skills of cold calling and prospecting.
  6. Give students an opportunity to build their network

 

What type of prospect should you be looking for your interview?

The person that you interview:

  • must be a sales professional that has a minimum of 3 years selling experience.
  • must be in the field of selling business-to-business (B2B) solutions to their customer/prospect base. (Note that this eliminates ALL RETAIL)
  • must be a sales representative out in the field calling on prospects and clients (not telemarketing or inside sales or retail sales).
  • hopefully works in an industry you are interested in learning more about!

 

How do I find this prospect? Any helpful hints?

  • Start this project as soon as possible. I can’t stress this enough. It can take a great deal of time to find your prospect and to set up the interview. Go to the GBC library and look up Directories of companies and contact information. Ask librarian for help.
  • Use LinkedIn to search for people who are in sales at the company you are targeting. If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, it may be time to consider creating one.
  • Sales representatives also are often referred as sales manager, territory manager, account manager, sales consultant, district manager, business development manager, etc.).
  • Don’t forget to qualify them, regardless of their title, to ensure that they are a business-to-business (B2B) salesperson.

 

Part 1:  Prospecting Plan and RESULTS of Candidate Profile (Due in Week 5) – COMPLETE/INCOMPLETE

 

Submit your report on the deadline in Week 5.  Sign up for a session with your professor (prior to week 5) to review your report/results. In the report, outline your prospecting plan with a strategy on how you and your partner executed your prospect plan. The report will have your strategy plan, the list of prospects you contacted and the results of calling each one of the contacts on your list. Your final report will have the results of your prospecting emails and phone calls. Below are a series of questions you can use a guide to your report.

 

  • Prospect Profile:
    • Describe the profile of the professional sales candidate you are looking to interview?
    • What industries are you focused on and why did you choose this/those industries?
    • How many years of experience are you looking in your candidate?
    • Is this an industry you want to work in upon graduation?
    • What product or services is this company selling?
    • What makes these companies compelling enough to make it on your prospect list?
  • Prospecting Approach:
    • What is your planned approach to prospecting?
    • Will you be calling, emailing, networking, or any combination of these or other approaches?
    • Provide a sample of your script when the candidate answers the phone or your email/message asking them for an interview.
  • Target Prospect List:
    • List the companies and their contact information (minimum of 10 qualified companies).
    • List how you sourced out the candidates on your list (see textbook for prospecting sources). See ‘Table A’ below for required format.
  • Challenges:
    • What attempt have you made to contact your prospect list? (this is critical and represents 40% of the grade for part 1
    • What are the challenges you have encountered thus far?
    • What changes have you made in your attempts?
    • What has worked, what still needs to be worked on?
  • Questions:
    • Provide a series of potential questions (minimum of 10) that you plan to ask in the interview. Questions must pertain to the course content topics listed in the course outline. Questions related to prospecting, qualifying clients, presentation and closing skills, objection handling objections are a sample of what to focus on. Remember it is important to draft good open-ended questions.

 

NOTE: When prospecting we ask that you do not contact people you know. The intent of this exercise is for you to do cold calls, meaning calling people you do not know and thus exercise the true nature of prospecting. Remember you have a team partner you are working with to work through the challenges and a professor who is available to provide guidance