Episode 187: Lisa Leitch

Productivity Begins with Proactive Prospecting

Meet

Lisa Leitch

Lisa Leitch is a Sales Strategist, Speaker & Coach who helps sales leaders & their sales teams to “Be Strategic, Be Proactive and Be Brave to grow their sales. Lisa is the first female to hold the dual CSP Designation of Certified Sales Professional and Certified Speaker Professional.

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Today’s guest, Lisa Leitch, believes that proactive prospecting is key to productivity as a salesperson. It takes discipline, rigor, and drive to achieve results. It’s important to learn to be efficient and get into a rhythm. In this episode of Sales Reinvented, Lisa shares her take on productivity and a few key strategies that can help you become a more productive sales professional.

Lisa is the President and Sales Strategist of Teneo Results. She’s been a sales and training coach for over 15 years and worked with thousands of salespeople in over 250 different companies. Her mantra is “Be strategic. Be Proactive. Be Brave”. She brings years of experience in the sales world to this episode—don’t miss it!

@TeneoResults joins Paul in this episode of @SalesReinvented to share her take on productivity—and how she believes it starts and ends with Proactive Prospecting. Don’t miss it! #SalesReinvented #Sales #Productivity #ProductivityTips #ProspectingClick To Tweet

Outline of This Episode

[0:53] Lisa’s definition of productivity and its importance
[1:56] Why aren’t salespeople as productive as they could be?
[2:58] Steps to improve day-to-day productivity?
[4:30] What are the attributes of a productive salesperson?
[6:10] Lisa’s foolproof strategies to improve productivity
[11:58] Lisa’s favorite productivity story

Don’t get stuck in the day-to-day

According to Lisa, being in the sales industry requires rigor and determination. You need to achieve results—and discipline and rigor are what get you there. But in the sales world, no two days are the same. It puts you at a disadvantage because it’s difficult to get into a rhythm and be efficient.

Instead of focusing on improving day-to-day productivity, Lisa proposes setting 3-year goals. Where do you and your team want to be in 3 years? You can then break those goals down into yearly, quarterly, and weekly goals. You dissect those weekly goals into 7-day tasks. It’s about having a long-term vision for success and being future-focused.

@TeneoResults shares that to improve productivity you can’t get bogged down by the day-to-day. Learn more about her process in this episode of @SalesReinvented #SalesReinvented #Sales #Productivity #ProductivityTips #ProspectingClick To Tweet

Be clear on your ideal clients

Salespeople are often so focused on making sales and creating revenue that they lose sight of their ideal prospects. It’s not all about getting a yes—sometimes it’s about saying no. You must walk away from clients who won’t help you yield results or who you know will be high-maintenance.

If you have clarity on your ideal client it helps you focus your prospecting. It helps you attract and do business with the right people, where you can help them grow their business. One strategy you can use is to refer clients who aren’t a good fit to other people who “serve those types of clients better”. In that way, it’s not a hard no, but the offering of a better fit.

The concept of Proactive Prospecting

A strategy that Lisa has found greatly improves her productivity is Proactive Prospecting. Salespeople always want to be growing their business and keeping their pipelines full. Lisa blocks time to prospect, reach out to existing clients, schedule meetings, and more. She points out that to grow the business you need to move the needle on your dashboard.

Lisa blocks Thursday mornings from 7:30 am to 8:55 am. She has found that this is the most productive time to be prospecting. You catch VP’s of sales (or other senior leaders) in their offices before their 9 am meetings. They’re also more likely to respond to an email or answer their phones. She sets a goal to make at least 10 phone calls in that time slot.

Another strategy that Lisa finds simple but effective is the “Double Whammy”. People are more likely to use email, but it is easy to accidentally delete a message. If that’s your preferred method of reaching out she recommends following up with a 2nd point of contact with a different medium such as call, text, or message on LinkedIn.

Lisa’s tips to keep you efficient

Lisa points out that if you’re trying to be more efficient you need to maximize your time. If you’re traveling to a meeting with a client, always look for a 2nd client to meet with. She also recommends shutting off your email notifier. It’s an unnecessary distraction and your messages are likely not urgent.

Above all, don’t be a transactional seller. Do your best to answer client questions and respond to whatever they need, but focus on being consultative. When you focus on building relationships with your clients and understand their needs you can provide solutions to their challenges—and be more productive.

@TeneoResults shares tips to help keep YOU efficient as a sales professional in this episode of @SalesReinvented—don’t miss it! #SalesReinvented #Sales #Productivity #ProductivityTips #ProspectingClick To Tweet