After 21 years of working with CEOs, presidents and business owners, I’ve see just about every scenario with how businesses are run.  I’ve worked with very successful business people.  I’ve worked with the people who weren’t successful but with hard work and guidance became successful.  I’ve worked with, or should I say struggled with, the CEOs, presidents and business owners who just didn’t “get it”.

What’s the difference between the people who are successful and the ones who are not?  The answer isn’t complicated.  It’s not about the economy.  It’s usually not about the product.  It’s about the attitude.  You need to understand why you are in business.  Everyone in business says that they want to make a profit.  That’s the result of being in business.  You become profitable by having customers or clients, establishing and maintaining good relationships, creating a great work environment for your employees and understanding the cost structure of doing business.

But here’s the secret that is no secret at all.  Successful business people understand that you must prospect, sell and close deals.  Almost every time someone goes out of business it’s because they aren’t doing enough business.  The part of the business most people dislike is prospecting.  Prospecting and new potential clients are the lifeblood of your business.  Even if you think you have enough business, you never stop prospecting.  Not ever!

If you don’t believe that prospecting is an important element of your company’s sales cycle then your sales force won’t either.  Sales people would rather follow up on a lead that has come in by way of the internet, phone or referral than to actually go through the process of prospecting and looking for new business.  Of course, in addition to prospecting it is important to maintain the customer or client base you already have.

Prospecting is the first step to putting money in the bank and staying in business.