THE ONLY WAY TO BUILD YOUR TERRITORY

There really is only one right way to build your territory.

First of all you got to realize that you are an interruption
when prospecting, and you have to be comfortable with this
fact if you are going to be successful in sales.

You can't let this fact bother you. And you can't be too
polite about it either.

Because you know what they call polite salesmen?

Poor.

Anyway, I got an email recently from a new commercial
printing salesman. He said he has getting really frustrated
building his territory with prospects blocking access to
decision-makers and telling them that they'll never leave
their current suppliers. Here's what he wrote me...

"I'm new commercial printing sales representative trying
to build a clientele base. It's not going as well as I had
hoped it would - large accounts, insurance companies,
manufacturers and others only allow me to apply to a blind
format on their web site and then *maybe* they'll contact
me. Yeah right! And others proclaim their allegiance to
the printer they've worked with for the last century.
Please share your thoughts." -Greg Steeno


Here's the formula you gotta follow to build any territory,
client base, or business market:

1 - Identify Your Strengths,
2 - Create a Profile of Prospects Who Want Your Strengths,
3 - Advertise to Attract These Prospects,
4 - Sell a Desired Product to an Interested Prospect.

It's very simple, but too many people don't follow this. You
see as a professional salesman, you often have to be a
marketer and a business man too. Either you don't have other
sales-savvy people helping you. Or worse, the help you get
is wrong and full of dumb advice.

Start with identifying your strengths. Know what you do
well, and know what your competitors do well. Get specific,
get nuanced, and get into fuzzy things like the persona,
style and attitude of the company and products you are
selling (because these things attract people).

Create a profile, written down - yes written down - of the
people who will want what you got. This is hugely important,
and one of the easiest and most overlooked methods for
getting more deals.

Far too many sales careers have run out of gas for believing
that "everyone is my prospect." Focus on people who are
likely to want what you got and you instantly will see a
mega increase in your closing ratio.

Advertise to attract your desired prospects. Sales people
think that they can't advertise - that this is something
that "the company" is supposed to do.

Well cold calling is advertising. Emailing is advertising.
Mailing letters and postcards is advertising. Until you have
a relationship established with a prospect, your initial
contact attempts are "advertising".

"Advertise" a message about your strengths to a prospect
that is likely to want what you got, and you'll get some
interested people contacting you.

Then all you gotta do is sell them. And selling a prospect
interested in you, predisposed to think that you can do what
they want is they way to build your territory.

Build your territory on a strong foundation. Do it the right
way, and you'll have long term success in selling.