PDF Summary:Fanatical Prospecting, by Jeb Blount

According to some self-proclaimed experts in sales, the art of prospecting—proactively finding and reaching out to potential customers, especially via telephone—is dead. But, according to sales specialist Jeb Blount, this opinion couldn’t be further from the truth. In Fanatical Prospecting, Blount argues that prospecting relentlessly is essential to maximizing your potential as a salesperson.

In this guide, we’ll begin by discussing Blount’s argument that prospecting remains a crucial part of success in sales. Then, we’ll examine his general guidelines for prospecting—including how to overcome your hesitations, use your time efficiently, build name recognition, and prospect through a diverse array of channels. To conclude, we’ll analyze Blount’s specific strategies for different approaches to prospecting—including prospecting in person, via the telephone, via email, and via social media. We’ll also consider alternative sales approaches from other experts and supplement Blount’s advice with more in-depth sales techniques.

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(Shortform note: The preference for sticking with one prospecting method often stems from status quo bias—our tendency to maintain our current situation and resist uncomfortable change. For example, a salesperson who is advanced at cold-calling might be reluctant to dive headfirst into other forms of prospecting, since that would require changing the status quo.)

Channel #1: How to Prospect In-Person

Although prospecting has become increasingly remote, Blount notes that in-person prospecting remains integral—especially when selling to higher level executives, whom you’re less likely to get a hold of via other means. In this section, we’ll examine Blount’s strategy for executing in-person prospecting, both in preparation and in the moment.

What to Do Before In-Person Prospecting

Before you’ve met your prospect, Blount highlights three pivotal tasks that you should complete: determine your goal; analyze your prospect; and tailor your approach.

Task #1: Determine Your Goal

Blount writes that before prospecting in person, it’s crucial to decide ahead of time what your goal is since that goal will shape your plan. For example, are you attempting to close a sale with a prospect, or are you merely attempting to build name recognition and gather further information about them for the future?

Task #2: Analyze Your Prospect

Next, Blount points out that you should analyze your prospect before prospecting in person. This process involves collecting any information that could be relevant to you as a salesperson—for instance, their role in the company or any recent developments that could prompt a need for your product.

Task #3: Tailor Your Prospecting Plan

Once you’ve collected information about your prospect, your next task involves using that data to create a plan that’s tailored to them and their needs. Blount notes that this might mean discussing important news about their business when starting the conversation. For example, if you’re planning on meeting someone whose company recently acquired a smaller subsidiary, you might mention that you can imagine how logistically complicated the acquisition was.

Additional Ways to Prepare for In-Person Prospecting

In addition to Blount’s three tasks, sales experts offer myriad additional strategies to ensure you’re well-prepared for in-person prospecting. For example, they recommend that you:

• Prepare a plan in case you meet gatekeepers, such as secretaries, who might try to prevent you from meeting your prospect. For example, you could ask for the gatekeeper’s advice about which person to speak with—this puts them in a collaborative headspace and might make them likelier to help you.

• Rehearse the specific benefits that you can offer your prospect ahead of time, rather than focusing on what you want to sell them. For instance, rather than discussing the specs of (say) your new software program, discuss how those specs can increase efficiency.

• Take time to practice gratitude for the chance to meet with prospects and potentially improve their lives.

• Recognize that you’re interrupting prospects’ days so that rejection doesn’t catch you off-guard.

What to Do During In-Person Prospecting

After you’ve established your plan of attack, the next step is to execute it. To do so, Blount recommends these four steps: approach with composure; state your name and intention; have a conversation; and, finally, make your request.

Step #1: Approach With Composure

Blount suggests that to start off on the right foot, you must approach with composure. He contends that, when prospects sense that you’re approaching with enthusiasm and self-assuredness, they’re much more likely to hear you out than if you seem anxious or unconfident. Further, he maintains that this self-assuredness stems from having a well researched plan, so if you complete his three previous tasks, this step should come naturally.

(Shortform note: For people who lack natural confidence when meeting new prospects, it can be helpful to practice the strategies confident people employ to make a good first impression. For example, confident people often make eye contact when meeting someone new, and they use body language—such as nodding along to show engagement—that conveys warmth and assuredness.)

Step #2: State Your Name and Intention

Next, you should state your name and intention. For example, a salesperson from a fitness equipment company might walk into a local gym, introduce themselves, then say “I’m from FEC fitness equipment company, and I overheard that you were considering updating your gym equipment. I was hoping to speak to your manager to see whether my company could be the right fit for you.” According to Blount, this direct approach will help you gain credibility and not come across as a desperate salesperson.

(Shortform note: In addition to introducing yourself and your intention, other salespeople clarify that you should also introduce your company to prospects. Specifically, they recommend highlighting the benefits that your company provides—for example, “I work for FEC, a fitness equipment company that provides durable-yet-affordable equipment to local gyms”—so that your prospect immediately knows what could be in it for them.)

Step #3: Have a Conversation

Blount writes that, after you’ve stated your name and purpose, you should have a conversation in which you listen carefully to your prospect, rather than trying to pitch them something. Because people enjoy talking about themselves, your prospect will be more likely to like you if you genuinely listen to their thoughts and needs. Moreover, listening to them will provide you with more information about their company that can help you convert your prospect into a sale down the road.

(Shortform note: Sales experts recommend that, when having a conversation with your prospect, you should ask several clarifying questions to better understand them and their company. For example, you could ask them what their largest hurdles currently are as a company to see whether your product could help them overcome these hurdles. Alternatively, you could ask them about their goals for the coming year to assess whether your product can help them reach these goals.)

Step #4: Make Your Request

Finally, Blount encourages you to end your discussion with your prospect by making the request that aligns with the goal you set earlier. For instance, if you’re trying to increase the prospect’s familiarity with your company, you could ask whether they would have time to meet with you next Monday to talk more in-depth about the products that your company offers. By contrast, if you’re trying to close a sale, this step could involve asking them outright whether they’re interested in purchasing your product. In either case, asking directly gives you the best chance of fulfilling your goal as a salesperson.

(Shortform note: Although making a request is a necessary part of prospecting, many salespeople feel intimidated being so forthright. To assuage these worries, experts recommend reminding yourself that your prospects are aware of your motives—they know that you’re a salesperson whose goal is to sell them something. Thus, you don’t need to worry about blindsiding your prospect with a straightforward request, since they likely already know it’s coming.)

Channel #2: How to Prospect Via Telephone

Blount notes that, while prospecting in-person allows you to spend time face-to-face with your prospects, prospecting via the telephone allows you to speak to prospects with unparalleled efficiency. For this reason, telephone prospecting is arguably the salesperson’s most powerful approach. To do so effectively, Blount recommends implementing a four-step process that’s similar to his in-person approach, but with a few small tweaks tailored toward phone conversations: Hook your prospect, state your name and intention, give your prospect your reason for calling, and make your request.

Step #1: Hook Your Prospect

Once your prospect answers the phone, it’s important to hook their interest by using their first name. According to Blount, most people are hard-wired to respond upon hearing their name—it naturally draws their attention, meaning they’ll be less likely to immediately hang-up the phone.

Step #2: State Your Name and Intention

Blount writes that, immediately after calling your prospect by their first name, it’s essential to state your name and give your purpose for calling. Just like during in-person prospecting, providing your name and purpose is an act of transparency that builds credibility with prospects, making them more likely to hear you out.

Step #3: Give Your Prospect Your Reason For Calling

According to Blount, after stating your purpose, it’s time for the most important part of the call—giving your prospect a reason why you’re calling. For instance, if you were selling memberships to a lawn-mowing service in the summer, your phone call might look something like this: “Hi Julie, this is Jeb from Turf Experts lawn-mowing company. I’m calling to see if you might be interested in our service because summer’s approaching and many working people don’t have the time to mow their lawn every week.”

Blount relates that, because humans naturally desire reasons that rationalize their action, the simple act of providing a “because” statement will significantly increase the likelihood of converting your prospect into a sale.

Step #4: Make Your Request

Finally, once you’ve stated your reason, it’s time to make your request as straightforwardly as possible. Just like when you’re prospecting in person, stating your request clearly and concisely offers you the best chance that your prospect will agree to it.

Jordan Belfort’s Alternative Approach to Telephone Prospecting

Although Blount’s preferred approach to telephone prospecting has much in common with other approaches, some salespeople recommend a slightly different approach. In The Way of the Wolf, for example, Jordan Belfort proposes a three-step method for telephone prospecting:

• First, introduce yourself, your product, and your company. Unlike Blount, however, Belfort recommends asking for permission to ask further qualifying questions about your prospect.

• Next, ask investigative questions to determine whether your product might be a good fit for the prospect. For example, you could ask about their experience with other similar products and any difficulties their company is facing.

• Finally, clearly explain how your product could benefit your prospect and highlight how easy the buying process is to assuage any anxieties the prospect might feel.

Thus, while there are commonalities, Belfort’s approach is subtly different from Blount’s—it specifically includes time for asking further questions about your prospect, for example, and streamlines Blount’s third and fourth step into one unified task.

Turning Rejections Into Conversions

While Blount’s process can maximize your effectiveness at telephone prospecting, he acknowledges that frequent rejections will be inevitable. But, he contends that you can still turn some of these rejections into sales by adopting the following three-step process: regain control of the conversation with a simple statement, subvert prospects’ expectations by agreeing with them, and reiterate your request.

Step #1: Regain Control of the Conversation

Blount points out that, when faced with rejection, your natural fight-or-flight response kicks in, causing you to want to exit the situation. Consequently, he recommends that you issue a quick grounding statement to gain control over your emotions. For example, if your prospect said, “I don’t think we need your product right now,” you might respond, “Many of my other customers mention that at first too.” This statement gives you time to regain composure and take back control of the conversation.

(Shortform note: In addition to issuing a grounding statement, it also makes sense to listen carefully to what your prospect is saying, since that can reveal important information about why your prospect is initially hesitant. After all, as Neil Rackham points out in SPIN Selling, different types of objections require different responses. For example, a prospect who objects to your product’s price should be treated differently than one who objects to its effectiveness.)

Step #2: Subvert Prospects’ Expectations

Next, you should subvert your prospects’ expectations so they don’t believe you’re like all the other salespeople who try to argue them into changing their mind. To do so, Blount advises that you make a small concession and agree with them to show your understanding. For instance, after telling your prospect that many other customers initially feel that they don’t need your product, you could add, “And those customers are right—their companies were fine before I came around. However, my product might be able to improve your company, even if it’s fine without it.” Such a response shows that you understand where your prospect is coming from, rather than immediately arguing with them.

(Shortform note: In Exactly What to Say, Phil M. Jones writes that after you’ve subverted your prospect’s expectations, you should attempt to remove the barrier that they’ve identified that makes them unable to purchase. Because this removes your prospects’ stated reason for refusing to buy from you, they’ll now feel obligated to accept your offer. For example, if your prospect objects to the price of your product, you might counter with, “If I were to drop the price by 10%, would you consider purchasing?”)

Step #3: Reiterate Your Request

Blount writes that, at this point, all that’s left is to reiterate your initial request to see whether your prospect might reconsider. For instance, you might follow up your previous statement conceding that they don’t technically need your product by asking, “So, what do you say we meet next Wednesday at 11 a.m. to see if my product could be a good fit for you?” That said, Blount maintains that if your prospect still rejects this second request, it’s time to move on—after all, you won’t be able to convert every prospect to a sale.

(Shortform note: Blount’s suggestion that you should move on after a second failed request has much in common with low-pressure selling, a sales approach that emphasizes letting the prospect decide to buy rather than pressuring them into a sale. However, whereas low-pressure selling agrees with Blount that salespeople shouldn’t continue pestering uninterested prospects, it disagrees with his claim about making a request in the first place—according to low-pressure selling, after you’ve named your product’s benefits, you should let the prospect initiate the decision to buy.)

Channel #3: How to Prospect Via Email

Although telephone prospecting has long been a staple of sales, Blount relates that prospecting via email is becoming increasingly common. To that end, he recommends that to craft a compelling prospecting email, implement these four steps: Catch your audience’s attention, demonstrate understanding, explain how you can help, and make your request.

Step #1: Catch Your Audience’s Attention

Blount explains that the first step of email prospecting is to ensure that your audience actually reads the email you’ve sent them, rather than deleting it on the spot. To do so, he advises that you catch their attention by writing a gripping subject line and opening sentence that are clearly relevant to them. For instance, if you’re writing to the manager of a family-owned bookstore, your subject might read “Small Bookstores Suffocating Under Pressure From Amazon,” and your opening sentence might read “Many experts predict that family-owned bookstores are a dying breed.” This subject line and opening sentences are immediately relevant to your prospect and compel them to read further.

(Shortform note: In addition to grabbing your audience’s attention, others suggest that you try to tap into their curiosity by piquing their interest. In other words, the first line of your email shouldn’t reveal too much, but rather make your prospect curious about the rest of the email.)

Step #2: Demonstrate Understanding

Next, you need to demonstrate understanding of your prospect’s problems so that you can connect with them on an emotional level. According to Blount, most prospects make decisions based on emotions, so prospects will be more likely to make the decision you want if they think you understand their emotions. For example, returning to the example of the bookstore owner, your next sentence might read, “I’m sure that it’s difficult to keep your business afloat when competing against massive corporations like Amazon.”

(Shortform note: While Blount writes as if demonstrating understanding is merely the second step in crafting an effective email, other experts clarify that you should express empathy throughout your entire email to best relate to your prospects. At the end of your email, for example, this might entail reiterating how thankful you are that they’ve taken the time to read your email.)

Step #3: Explain How You Can Help

After you’ve related to your prospect, it’s time to give a concrete reason why you can help them. After all, Blount explains that most people are motivated by selfish considerations, so clarifying how exactly you can benefit your prospect will draw them in. For instance, if you ran a consulting company that focused on small businesses, you might tell your bookstore owner, “I’ve worked with several other smaller bookstores in the area and helped increase their yearly revenue by 10% through new marketing techniques.”

(Shortform note: In The Way of the Wolf, Jordan Belfort clarifies that when you explain how you can help a prospect, you should do so by focusing on your product’s benefits rather than its features. For example, if you were selling high-end laptops, you should focus on how much it could improve your prospects’ efficiency rather than its advanced technical specifications that most people don’t understand anyway. In doing so, you make the reasons why your prospect should consider buying your product much more salient.)

Step #4: Make Your Request

Finally, after you’ve explained how you can help your prospect, you need to make a formal request to take the next step toward a sale. For example, you might ask the bookstore owner, “Are you free to meet next Thursday at 2 p.m. so that I can learn more about your business and see whether my consulting company might be a good fit?”

(Shortform note: After you’ve made your request, there are various ways you can close your prospecting email to maximize your chance at a sale. For example, you might end by reiterating how excited you would be to have your prospect as a customer, since that excitement signals that they’re important. Alternatively, you could end by offering to answer any questions so that your prospect can learn more about you if they desire.)

Channel #4: How to Prospect Via Social Media

While email prospecting has been around since the mid 1990s, prospecting via social media platforms—especially LinkedIn—only burst onto the scene in the 2010s. However, Blount cautions that social media isn’t useful for directly selling to prospects, as people use social media to connect with one another, not listen to pitches from salespeople. Rather, he contends that social media is best for fostering name recognition with prospects.

(Shortform note: According to salespeople, social media is more effective at fostering name recognition than traditional modes of prospecting (such as cold-calling) because social media feels like a more personal and authentic way to connect with prospects. For example, prospects who receive a cold call likely know nothing at all about the salesperson on the other line. By contrast, those who connect with salespeople via social media will have more insight into their company and personality, making it easier for them to build awareness of salespeople.)

Consequently, Blount lists an array of strategies for making your prospects aware of you and your company. Specifically, he encourages you to: Frequently connect with prospects, create content that’s relevant to your prospects, and share content that’s relevant to your prospects.

Strategy #1: Frequently Connect With Prospects

According to Blount, the first strategy for building rapport with prospects on social media is simple: Connect with them on various platforms. The specific connection process will look different on each platform—on LinkedIn, for example, you simply send a connection request and if your prospect accepts, you’re mutually connected. By contrast, on Twitter, you might follow a prospect without them following you back. But, in either case, reaching out to your prospects on social media will increase their recognition of your name, leading to more effective prospecting.

(Shortform note: On LinkedIn in particular, the way in which you connect with prospects should differ depending on your relationship with the prospect. For instance, if you haven’t had any prior association with the prospect, you should consider adding a note to explain your connection request and make it more likely that they’ll accept. By contrast, a note can be unnecessary when connecting with a prospect whom you know well from another context.)

Strategy #2: Create Relevant Content

While connecting with prospects can create a baseline level of awareness, Blount suggests that when you publish content that’s directly relevant to your prospects’ lives, it’ll increase their engagement exponentially. He writes that producing relevant content—for example, blog posts, short articles, and explanatory videos—will instantly boost your credibility in the eyes of prospects. Rather than just another salesperson, prospects will view you as a trustworthy expert in their field—one whom they’re more likely to buy from in the future.

(Shortform note: In The Minimalist Entrepreneur, Sahil Lavingia offers concrete advice for businesspeople who wish to create content on social media. For example, he recommends posting transparently about your business journey, since many people are interested in seeing your progress. Additionally, he advises being authentic and personable in your posts to avoid seeming like a disingenuous salesperson.)

Strategy #3: Share Relevant Content

Nevertheless, Blount acknowledges the difficulty in constantly producing high-quality content. For this reason, he also advises that you share content from other credible posters that’s relevant to your prospect base. In so doing, you’ll add value to your prospects’ social media feed, making them more favorable toward you—especially compared with other salespersons who are constantly trying to pitch them something.

(Shortform note: Sales professionals agree with Blount’s recommendation to share relevant content, and they clarify that you should follow the 50% Rule when doing so: At least 50% of your posts should be shared content, rather than content you created yourself. According to these professionals, if the majority of your content is self-created, then prospects will likely view you as self-interested and take you less seriously.)