In sales and marketing, maintaining an honest and confident posture is critical. Selling or prospecting from a posture of neediness or desperation is a turn-off.

None of us enjoy walking past five desperate salesmen loitering outside the doors of a car lot awaiting their next victim. You are the prey and at any moment you will be pounced on. My local car dealer has a “no dicker sticker” policy. When I have purchased vehicles in the past, I know that I will pay the same amount over invoice, no exceptions. I enjoy that sales environment much more.

Everyone in sales and marketing is interested in increasing their odds for success. In one of my favorite scenes in the movie, “Dumb and Dumber,” Jim Carrey asks what are his chances or being with his dream girl.

You could spend days, weeks, and even months pursuing a business contact just to find out that they are not interested. In some cases, you never had a chance anyway or maybe just one in a million!  Desperation is not a good business posture. Some prospects may give you the impression that they are interested when in fact, they’re  not.

My experience is that many don’t like to say NO, at least not at first. They want to break it to you easy. Your hopes could be tired up in a series of contacts and seemingly positive exchanges and because you believe this person would be great for the business, this could go on for weeks as you jump through the “give me some more information” hoops.

You provide websites, brochures, send emails along with several meetings and phone consultations.  Hours are spent, culminating in NO or even worse your prospect just mysteriously disappears.  They won’t return calls or emails.  They never answer their door… Amazing, they become a missing person.

Nothing wrong with providing information for weeks at a time, but if they’re the only game in town and say NO, you’re out of business until you can find another prospect.  I use the drip system all the time with people. I believe prospecting is like a courtship process of building a relationship and trust, but I don’t put all my effort eggs in one basket.

Although there are several points I could make about prospecting techniques, here’s the main focus of this article.  When developing your network, including acquiring customers and business prospects, pursue more than one person at a time.  I recommend that you create a continuous flow of prospects — another good topic to cover later.

I like to have four or five good potential business prospects in process, sorted out from various lead sources.  Everyone’s timing is different so your sense of urgency may not line up with theirs.   When you have a lot of leads and potential business, your demeanor reflects confidence.  You are relaxed because after all, you have several more prospects for your business.

Also, take charge and serve your prospects but don’t jump through hoops thinking your business translates to real results.  If you are building a network marketing business, as a business owner,  serve them by qualifying them.  Find out ASAP if your business or product is a fit for them.  As a business owner, ask qualifying questions — interview your potential business prospects.  Find out their strengths and how they could benefit the team.  Let them know that you and your team are willing to make an investment in their success.

Your potential customers and business prospects will respond to a confident business owner that has their best interest in mind.  Let them know that it’s OK for them to say NO. In other words, your product or business may not be a fit for them. And, always get referrals whether they are interested or not. In fact, most of the time, I start the process asking them about who they know that might be interested.

Success is not a random chance and especially not a lottery scratch ticket or game of 21.  Increase your odds by adopting an ownership posture and your chances won’t be a one in a million.