I know this sounds sort of redundant, but it is true and, sadly, many sales people dont know it.

I was working with a salesman this week who has had a rather slow start with his company. He is selling a specialty product line for the company and he has some unique customer requirements. As a result, he has not had the recent success that some of the other new salesmen have had.

But he has been grinding away as we have instructed him and persisting in his Prospecting efforts. Now he is getting lots of RFQs and orders. He is reaping the benefits of Persistence. He is continuing with his Prospecting efforts.

I have mentioned this before and I will refer to it often. Persistence in prospecting is probably the single most important factor for success.

The more Prospecting you do, the better you get at it. The better you get at it, the more successful you will be. But, you have to actually DO IT!

This young man is really doing all that needs to be done with his Prospecting efforts. He is making his BLITZ CALLs, most of which are on the phone and he is following up in a timely manner.

We make references to famous athletes all the time. Larry Byrd used to stay around after practice and shoot 300 shots on the court after everyone else had gone home. That is why he is one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

My favorite is Walter Payton, the fabulous running back for the Chicago Bears who unfortunately died at a very young age from a rare liver disease. During his career he performed miraculously on the football field. During the NFL players strike in 1982 a news crew followed some of the players to see what they were doing during the strike.

When they got to Payton, he was hopping up sand dunes with his ankles taped together, then hopping down and up again. ( If you think this is easy, give it a try. I did it on the steps of a football stadium a few times, it is a killer! ) The reporter was baffled as to why since Payton was already one of the best players in the game.

Then it became clear. The reason Payton was so good is that he did the basics really, really well. The first thing he did was get himself in the best physical condition he could achieve. By doing this, he was able to have tremendous freedom on the playing field, because he was always strong and able to do anything asked of him, even in the 4th quarter.

The reporter noted that during their research, they interviewed many of the NFL players who said they were staying in shape, but Payton was the only one they actually saw training and training very hard.

Both Byrd and Payton achieved success by hard work - working harder than other great athletes.

And the same holds true for sales people. Look at the superstars. These are the folks who do the basics over and over, which is the simple definition of Persistence. That means they actually DO the things necessary for success. They dont talk about doing them, they just DO them!

And Prospecting is one of the most important basics for the sales professional.

So, when you determine that you want to break away from the crowd and shoot for superstar success, realize that Persistence means that you really have to Persist.

Persistent Prospecting will make your life a lot more fun and successful.

Sell well and often!

Copyright, 2006, WJ Truax