Yeah, you may have spent a considerable amount of time researching your next prospect on LinkedIn and a slew of other sites, but there may be one reference you forgot to check: your fellow salespeople. Brian Birkett writing for SellingPower points out that overlooking what your coworkers are doing can lead to multiple problems.
Pitching to Existing Clients
Can you imagine? You just did all that work researching this seemingly perfect prospect and finding out exactly who you need to talk to. You get them on the phone, you give your elevator pitch only to hear them respond with, “Didn’t I sign a contract with your company recently?” Oof. Not only did you waste your time on a sale your company already had, you didn’t exactly make your company seem too organized, either. Avoid attempts at sales to existing clients by staying up-to-date with your fellow salespeoples’ latest sales victories.
Pitching to a Prospect Your Coworker Already Called
Again, this is a situation where you’re wasting your own time and might be negatively affecting the sale of one of your coworkers. Hopefully, you can explain your way out of that situation by making up an excuse up about how you’re working with the other salesperson to make sure the prospect is thoroughly informed. But what’s the best outcome from that situation? You’ll either hang up hoping the prospect will forget that ever happened or you may end up having to help your coworker make that sale, splitting the commission. Either way, your coworker is going to feel as if you’re stepping on their toes and no one wants that.
So, regularly check in with your coworkers to get caught up on their sales and pipeline. Better yet, keep information on your prospects and clients up to date in your CRM. And check that database before you take action on prospects and clients. It’ll help you save face, both the company’s and your own.