Strengths Based Selling: #4 Pprospecting

Prospecting: This section speaks more to process than style (talent). Nonetheless, it’s valuable stuff. The authors recommend, again, leading with your strengths and not being afraid to call people and ask for meetings. Such “call reluctance” is common even among the best salespeople. Understanding the key “value proposition” remains at the center of overcoming the reluctance. I liked the section on how salespeople unwittingly set a sales price or “anchor” that fixes the discussion on pricing early on in the relationship (pp. 34-5). They suggest always recommending the top price you can because it becomes the anchor around negotiations. Thus if you come down, the customer will feel like s/he has saved money. Also, the advice about warming up a cold call by preceding it with a letter makes a lot of sense.