Waiting is not a sales activity.

By S. Anthony Iannarino
  

I often hear salespeople say that they are "waiting" for some event to occur before they call their prospect. Most of the time the event that they are waiting for is the passage of time. They say things like "I am waiting to call them in August," or  "I am waiting to call them next quarter."

Many salespeople believe that their prospect recognizes that they have allowed time to pass, and, as such, now has an improved opinion of the salesperson for having waited before re-approaching the prospect. This is especially true when the prospect has requested that the salesperson call at some time in the future. Nothing could be further from the truth (in most cases, the prospect doesn't even remember being called).

Waiting is not a sales activity.

The main reason that salespeople decide to wait is simply that they don't have another way to create value for the prospect. Our challenge as sales professionals is to generate interest in our product or service, and that is easier to do if you can create value for the prospect. "Waiting" does in fact create value for the prospect . . . they have one fewer salesperson calling them. But waiting does not create real value for either the client or for your company. 

What can you do to create value for your prospect now? What kind of sales activities can you add to your arsenal of tools that generate value for your prospects and generate interest in you and your company? If you don't have tools and techniques that create both value and interest, you need to go create them. 

What are you waiting for?