Do your prospecting efforts stink?

This story has stuck with me since late last year and I think this is a great time to share it. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that even the most mundane of situations can improve business acumen. Even, if that situation involves garbage. Yes, there is business acumen, or lack thereof, in garbage…

Our home is in an area that has to contract for weekly garbage/recyclable collections. Our service provider was used by the previous homeowners and is used by most of my neighbors. They are prompt, never miss a pick up and don’t mind if there are extra bags from time to time. Sure, I wish they had a few other options but overall, for garbage, I think they do a great job. So that’s the background, here is the situation:

As most of my stories occur, this situation had the most unremarkable start. My front doorbell rang and I answered it to a rather unremarkable man. Now, I am not trying to be mean but he was a rather unkempt and drove a beat-up older truck. I honestly can’t remember his name or his company’s name but I do remember what he said. “I’m so and so and I own so and so company. I’ve been meaning to stop by for a while but didn’t get around to it sooner. I was just visiting family up the road and decided to stop. I have a garbage service that one of your neighbors uses. What are you paying now? I can give you good rates – here’s my card, call me.” Wow, that was impressive?!?

As far as prospecting goes, I am not sure that approach couldn’t get much worse. In fact, there were so many issues with it; it’s difficult to pick a place to start. Here are the four main points that really stood out to me as severely lacking:

1. The approach was bad – “I didn’t get around to it sooner” and “I was just visiting family up the road” were statements that really made me feel special.

2. Next, while he didn’t need to be wearing a tuxedo, a little more of a professional appearance would have been appreciated. A shirt with a logo, a uniform – anything to reinforce the company’s brand would have been much more appropriate.

3. Then, he assumed I just cared about rates and used that to “entice” me – there is more to garbage than just rates. Dependability, service, number of pickups, large junk item hauling…he didn’t even ask me where I thought my current service was lacking!

4. Finally, he gives me a card and says “call me.” Am I supposed to do that just because he said to? How many of us have customers that do everything we tell them to do, HAH, that’s likely to happen!

This man was so off-base in his prospecting that he really is a great example for this blog. Business acumen does include the ability to attract new customers. To successfully prospect, you should know where you competition is lacking and what the potential customers are looking for then you need to determine how you can fill that niche with confidence and professionalism.

Unfortunately as soon as I shut the door, his card went into - come on you can see this coming - the garbage. Funny, the rest of his prospecting efforts are probably in the garbage too.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”