I marvel at the number of excuses producers come up with as to why they don't spend more time doing the cornerstone activity of their job. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Hardly a day goes by when I don't discuss the most common problem faced by producers: Not enough opportunities in their pipeline.

There are only so many prospecting ways of putting new opportunities in your pipeline, so we start going through the checklist to evaluate their situation. Prospecting and marketing are two different activities. Marketing is about keeping pipelines filled over the long-term. Prospecting is the ability to put opportunities in the pipeline now.

Kevin Trokey is founding partner and coach at St. Louis-based Q4intelligence.

Ranking of opportunity

The highest quality opportunity is when the salesperson specifically asks a client for a referral. The close ratio on these opportunities is five to seven times higher than if the same opportunity was created via a cold call because of the credibility an existing client has when speaking on your behalf.

I ask: "Are you asking clients for referrals or introductions?"

Producer: "Um, no"

I'm talking about opportunities where the producer asks for a specific referral/introduction, which is way different than the random and occasional referral that comes unsolicited. Those opportunities, while still decent, rarely meet the definition of your ideal client and are usually just price shoppers.

The next best source of referrals and introductions are those specifically requested from non-client centers of influence (COI). They still have incredibly high close ratios, but they do fall short of the credibility that comes from existing clients.

I ask: "Are you asking COIs for introductions?"

Producer: "Well, sometimes."

As I said, there are only so many prospecting activities to generate opportunities. If you aren't getting referrals/introductions from clients and COIs, the only thing that's left is cold calling. That's only because hoping and praying for opportunities to come to you is not a legitimate activity.

While not the favorite option of most, it works and is not optional if you're not generating referrals.

Again, I ask: "Well, if you're not asking for referrals/introduction, you must be cold calling, right?"

Before I can even finish my question: "Hell, no!"

Let's take inventory

I marvel at the number of excuses producers come up with as to why they don't spend more time doing the cornerstone activity of their job. I can't get them to change their behavior unless I can get them to change the way they view prospecting.

My next question has the most predictable response of all. "Do you believe in your heart or your gut that you can truly make a significant and positive impact on prospects who become clients?"

With passion and confidence, I always hear, "ABSO-FREAKIN-LUTELY!!"

If you won't do it for you, do it for them

If you have the ability to improve the results of other businesses, you have a fundamental responsibility to make it available to those who need your help. And, this has to start with reaching out to let them know it's available.

If you're hung up on the idea of prospecting, start calling it "an offer to share valuable business advice." Or call it whatever you want, but stop holding out on your buyers! It just isn't fair.

Read more: 

• 5 marketing tips to keep the client pipeline full
• Sorry, not sorry: How to stop the silent business killer
• The 10 commandments of prospecting: 2020 edition