Curiosity Didn’t Kill the Prospect, only the Cat

Curiosity is the key to a productive prospecting call.

There’s a lot being written about prospects (potential customers) being well informed and will this, therefore, be the death of salespeople? To me this is a clear indicator that prospects are curious – they have issues to solve and goals to achieve and are actively seeking new ideas.

So why is there such a strong perception that cold calls from salespeople are unpopular and outdated?

To quote the Marketing Director of a high street bank: “I get around 20 cold calls a day. It’s not that I don’t want to be called, I just want the calls I receive to be useful.”

He went on to explain what he meant by “useful”. He expects the salesperson to have done their homework, know a bit about what’s going on in his world and give him a new perspective on something.

In conclusion, when prospecting, remember that prospects start curious. We only have to extend that curiosity – give an inkling we might have a solution – just enough for them to want to extend the conversation.

Happy prospecting.

Lastly, a bit of 80s nostalgia from Curiosity Killed the Cat (not the Prospect)