Are You Creating Opportunities or Just Responding to Them?

Or, to put it another way, are you proactive about creating deals or do you just sit back on your ass and wait for the phone to ring? Are you a salesperson or are you an order taker? Sales pro’s are always, one way or another, out prospecting for new opportunities. Yes, I said prospecting.

I had actually set up a draft of this post several months ago (title only) and then had promptly forgotten all about it. Then a couple of weeks ago, one of our NetWorks! Boise Valley members pipes up in the meeting and thanks everybody for the general shared leads that people had been providing and indicated that he had actually called on a number of these and had been able to successfully secure their business. I was floored. “Let me get this right. You are actually calling on leads that were not specific referrals for you and you are making sales!!!???” Well, what a novel idea 🙂 [Tweet “Are you proactive about creating opportunities or do you just sit back and wait for the phone to ring?”]

Referrals and introductions are great. We all love them. They provide us with a competitive advantage and a distinctly higher chance of closing the sale. However, they generally also have a couple of other things in common …

The prospective customer has already identified a need
They have shared that need with the person who sends you that referral or introduction
Most likely, they have also shared that lead with others who may also be referring your competitors if they have not already spoke to your competitors directly

So, you have an advantage but, you also find yourself in a competitive situation. For that matter, is your advantage any greater than that your competitor also enjoys? Maybe. Maybe not.

Did they call your company after looking in the yellow pages. Count the alphabetically listings before yours and identify your competition. Google search? Hopefully you have the best SEO. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter recommendations? Are you even active in social networking?

On the other hand, if I create a deal out of nothing by carefully prospecting, asking excellent questions, and then presenting the benefits of my product or service … I have an opportunity to create that need and secure that sale. The common inventory term, FIFO, also applies to sales. If I am “First In and First Out”, there is no competition. And you, my friend, are a true sales pro!

Please note – This article was originally written and published by me on my NetWorks! Boise Valley site. If you are a B2B salesperson living in Boise, Idaho and are looking for a top-notch networking group … please visit the site and give us a shout!

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!