Poker is one of the hottest activities currently sweeping the nation. A quick scan of the cable channels shows all types of televised poker and Saturday Night Poker games have returned as a fixture in American society. Everyone is bragging about who is the best and one can even go to school to learn how to play the game like the professionals.

Despite all the knowledge and skill displayed by a professional player, one could take almost any eight year old in America and consistently beat the experts. In fact, we could take an eight year old that has never played the game and in just a few short minutes, show her how to consistently beat the pros.

Impossible you say. Well, give me a minute to work on your thinking. Facts say if you give the eight year old girl 15 cards from which to come up with the best five and give the professional just five cards to come up with the best five card hand, that the eight year old will win the vast majority of time. In fact, from a statistical perspective time is the only variable before the eight year old bankrupts the pro.

Now wait a minute you say, rules prevent the game from being played that way. Once again, you are right. That’s why it is a good thing for you that you earn your living in a game that has no such rules. In sales and marketing, the person with the most legitimate prospects generally is the person that will sell the most and earn the most, regardless of experience or talent. Just like the eight year old with the most cards, the company with the most legitimate prospects wins!

Think this is wrong? Then take a look at any one of your competitors within your very own marketplace. Pick one and imagine that person having twice the number of legitimate prospects to work with than you do. Regardless of your skill level and experience, who will sell more and who will earn more? Look at this same situation in another way, only using two other companies as an example. Who would you bet on to sell the most and earn the most?

Your path to greater earnings is inherently tied to the number of and quality of the prospects that you are working. You have to have prospects in order to make a sale. The more people you have to see, the more opportunities you have to make a sale.

Do you have a goal of new prospects for each week or each month? The impact on your earnings can be tremendous. Many companies place a lot of emphasis of skill development and very little on multi-channel marketing. Skill development and training is great and necessary. It is also absolutely useless without prospects.

If a “rookie” company is out performing the “seasoned” company, the vast majority of the time the “rookie” is seeing more prospects than the “seasoned vet,” especially new potential customers for the organization. It is absolutely amazing what ills are cured by having a vast number of prospects from which to sell.

Although marketing has yet to become a spectator sport like poker, the commonality between the two is amazing. Get cards and play them. The more cards, the more your likelihood of winning. The neat thing about selling is that there are no card limits and you can play with as many cards as you can find and handle.

Good luck and contact us if you need some help.