To help get going with a new prospecting campaign, here are some shortcut links to my thoughts of what to consider before and along the way:

• Strategic Profiling & Customer Profiling
• The Importance of Data Quality
• Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make
• Is It Time to Reshape or Evolve Your New Business Plan

Happy Prospecting! 🙂
​Ilse

Well since Easter, there has been a definite uptick in business activities.

It still feels like things are shaking out and settling down out there.

Some new temporary challenges are unfolding as I write i.e. HGV driver shortages affecting fuel and other supply chains, gas prices explode and rising inflation, but they'll get eased and resolved - you know they will. Covid looks under control since mass vaccination. Brexit is behind us so the general economic mood will continue to uplift which means we have an increase of ingredients to make new business grow. To turn that into some arithmetic:

Increasing investment = Increasing budgets + Increasing project plans = More New Opportunities about

Some sectors are making a more sluggish recovery than others but they'll catch up.

Reaching prospects by phone has continued to improve especially since a lot more people have returned to the office. Many held off to coincide with the return of schools in September whilst others are still flexi or hybrid working.

Connecting is a lot nearer to how things were pre-March 2020. Some have been clawing the walls to return to the office and are absolutely done with working from home! I've even received comments on how refreshing it was to speak to a real human being over the phone - I kid you not.

Other office resistors may eventually conclude that long-term it may not be in their professional best interest to work isolated - especially when there are others showing their faces to the boss more often. Plus any roles which involve collaboration, training or managing less experienced colleagues, works better in the office or wherever their roles are normally located.

I would expect some amount of hybrid working to become permanent though.

​Whatever the long term shake out is you need to keep going with those New Biz activities. 

Well I'm sure I'm not the only one that's finding this 3rd lock-down more of a slog. But importantly most businesses seem to have far better adjusted to working remotely or safely with PPE and spacing, etc. To date, there seems less of a drop in business activity compared with the severe economic shock of the 1st lock-down, March 2020.

Where needed phone transfer systems have been put in place if office receptions have been unable to re-open Covid safe. Therefore reaching prospects has become easier and bit less reliant on emails. Online noise pre-Covid was already very loud but with the widespread shift to remote working, online noise got even more amplified.

Going forward, I think the human approach will be really quite refreshing after all the time spent out of the office or wherever your regular place of work is. 

With the ongoing vaccination program really helping to accelerate traction out of  lock-down, plus the government's recent provisional road map out of this, good times are starting to look more like a possibility sooner rather than later. Spring is in the air and economic growth looks like making a comeback too! Which means:
​

• More sure plans can be made
• Decision makers can start making decisions.
• Projects on hold can finally be given the go ahead.
• Businesses in hibernation or semi-hibernation will start to creak and stir again.

There might be a great V shaped rebound, especially for some sectors that will finally be permitted to properly open. For those lucky enough to have experienced full salary or incomes throughout the pandemic, there's a lot of pent up demand just waiting to  splurge or spend at least some of their increasing forced savings pot. 

There are good grounds for optimism that this time we will get back to at least near normal conditions so businesses can function as they should and reach their pre-Covid potential again. 

Time to plan, kick start and ramp up your prospecting activities.

If you need any help reaching out and getting new business, get in touch.

Have a good Spring.