Some street scenes just make you curious. Start your prospecting by being curious and asking the right questions.
From 'Street Life in London', 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith. LSE library.

This blog is being generated from the exciting city of Las Vegas, where I am attending the NAB convention. Las Vegas is one of my favorite cities to watch people, to just sit back on the strip with an adult beverage and observe what is going on around me. The fun of this pursuit is in determining the many questions I would each ask each person as they pass by if they would give me just five minutes. What are the observations that are making me so curious?

Let’s start with the street “personalities,” such as Chewbacca and Darth Vader. I wonder how they determined what “personality” they would be. Is this a good business for them, to be out in full costume standing in front of casinos on the strip? How about when it is 90 degrees? How did they get into this form of employment? Do they see a future in being a “personality,” and if they could, how would they make this “job” more productive?

Then there are workers who stand tirelessly on the strip handing out fliers and brochures for some of Las Vegas’s seedier businesses. They wear colorful hats and t-shirts identifying their client names and websites. How long do they work each day? How many fliers do they have to hand out to make any money?

And finally, who told them that “clicking” while passing out these little handouts and pamphlets increases profits? If you have ever been to Vegas, you know that sound.

Finally, there are plenty of tourists with super-sized plastic drink cups in hand walking from point A to point B, surrounded by others clutching similar plastic cups. Is this their first time here? Is it their first time anywhere?

What about the bride and groom in full wedding attire playing craps or slots? I wonder if this gambling is taking place BEFORE the wedding or AFTER. What made them want to get married in Vegas? Did they elope, or did they bring the whole family to enjoy the blessed event?

People watching like this can also help you in your sales career.

1. First, be naturally curious and dedicate time to prospecting. You have to take prospecting for new business seriously and carve out time to create good questions and ask them of new clients.
2. Be prepared to ask those quality questions. If I would have the chance to ask the people I have been observing in Las Vegas some questions, they had better be good ones, or they will just keep walking, not wanting to waste their time.
3. Be really curious. It will show. Endeavor to seek out information about the business that maybe the client has never considered themselves. Make them really think about their responses because your questions will be the ones they have not been asked a hundred times before.
4. Finally, keep track. Keep track of all the people you prospect and all the information you gather. A media sales CRM and sales analytics solution is optimal for this purpose, but if you don’t have access to one, use a spreadsheet. You will begin to discover what questions bear fruit, and what type of client you can be the most successful helping.

Be curious about people and be curious about new businesses, and enjoy the discovery. Your livelihood depends on it.

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Once you have those clients, learn how to use eMarketing to communicate with them more effectively: