Where do you find yourself most days as part of your daily routine? A particular coffee shop? A place for lunch? Who do you find yourself interacting with there?
If you are like most of us, you might be thinking “I don’t interact with anyone, I am usually looking at my phone…” This isn’t a blog post that will expound on how we are in a society that is most connected and most disconnected all at the same time. This is an element of prospecting awareness.
David Sandler originated what we as Sandler trainers refer to as the 3 foot rule. David Sandler was an introvert that just happened to develop a great system for selling. He recognized that he needed to challenge himself to interact with those around him everyday as part of his prospecting behavior. The 3 foot rule is defined as, once you are within 3 feet of anyone, find a way to strike up a conversation with the purpose of finding out what the person does for their business and uncover if there is an opportunity to deepen the conversation around business.
This is certainly an exercise in getting out of our comfort zones. But, aren’t most prospecting behaviors? Being aware of the people around you, is being aware of the prospects around you. The guy working on his computer, may be an analyst for the company you have been looking to get into, and a conversation with him turns into the question – “If you were me, who would you want to talk to there?”
Although the outcome like described above may be infrequent, the 3 foot rule gives us the chance to increase our awareness, put another line in the prospecting pond, and at the very least practice our 30 second commercial.
To get out of your comfort zone, I would challenge you to add a goal of 3 foot encounters you will execute weekly as part of your prospecting plan. You may end up being able to tell stories like we have here at Sandler of large pieces of business that happened to start in the line at Starbucks while everyone else was on their phone!
