This begins a series about a methodology for prospecting that I’ve developed. I call this methodology 3P.

In the game of golf there isn’t a greater feeling than hitting the perfect shot at the perfect time, hitting it right where you want it. It is an exhilarating experience that is etched in your mind for a lifetime. I had this experience as the sun was setting and as I was preparing for my shot to the 18^th green. As I was poised over the ball my confidence in hitting the shot grew even though I had several hazards guarding a pin placement. How could I have such confidence in such dire circumstances? It was because I had the one club in my hand that had hit that distance over and over and over and knew I could do it.

Now if I were you, I would ask myself what this illustration has to do with selling. This illustration describes one of the easiest ways to accelerate revenue. I call it 3P©. It stands for Perfect Prospect Profile and is foundational to creating a scalable, repeatable, predictable revenue engine that will sustain itself.

Now before I go further, I need to use another golf illustration. Earlier that day I hit what I thought be the shot of the day to a par 3. The swing felt great, the contact was perfect, the ball flight was right at the pin, and I thought for sure I would be putting for a birdie. Instead the ball fell short of the hole into the hazard and I ended up with a double bogey.

Why? Because I had the wrong club in my hand.

The same result occurs everyday in all parts of the world of selling when companies have great hiring practices, hire excellent salespeople, conduct stellar sales training, craft awesome sales tools, construct crisp value propositions, design sharp prospecting scripts, create incredible marketing material, build beautiful showrooms, deliver exquisite packaging, provide unmatched advertising but aim it at the wrong customer profile. You land in the hazard and take a double bogey.

For the 3P© system to work, you need to do four things:

1. Develop a keen understanding of your solutions sets from the customer’s viewpoint.
2. Develop a process to validate whether your suspects are prospects.
3. Determine intangibles within your clients.
4. Conduct research to determine who are your most profitable customers

Over the next few posts, I’ll dive into these topics a bit more and provide some tips to make sure your team can have sales success with the right club in the right place at the right time.