Do You Have Happy Prospects?

We all want to improve the effectiveness and our efficiency of prospecting and developing new business. In a recent article on Hardware Building Supply Dealer, author Brian McCauley has some strong words: “Quit selling to happy people!”

On the surface, it sounds absurd, right? Don't we all want to work with happy people? In my experience, however, "happy" people have no reason to change what they are doing, so in that sense McCauley is right. If a prospect is happy or satisfied with their current supplier or media rep, you're not likely to convince them to change. That's why we use a Customer Needs Analysis in the Seven Steps to Selling Success. The goal of the CNA is to "find the pain." From a psychological perspective, people only change when the pain of staying where they are or what they are doing exceeds the pain of change.

McCauley goes on to suggest the only way to get a happy prospect to buy is to lower your price and be cheaper than what they are buying now, and even that is no guarantee. While I agree with McCauley and his views on prospecting happy people, I'm going to take the concept in a different direction.

Because happy customers don't need to change, we need to make sure our customers are happy. The average small- and medium-sized business are receiving calls by 37 media reps a month. If they are your client and they are not happy and satisfied, that's 37 times a month you could lose them to a competitor. If they are happy, they are unlikely to take a meeting or entertain something new. Here are three things you can do (and how to implement them) to ensure you have happy clients and protect yourself from other people trying to steal them:

Proactive, Transparent Communication

How to implement:

Schedule regular business reviews (monthly/quarterly) that go beyond reporting to strategic discussions about their goals.

Provide advance notice of potential problems — clients value honesty and foresight over surprises.

Maintain multi-channel communication (email, phone, in-person) to meet their preferred style.

Deliver Measurable Value Beyond the Contract

How to implement:

Consistently present new insights, market trends, or competitor intelligence they can act on.

Offer value-add services (e.g., training sessions, industry benchmarking, secret shopping) without always tying them to upsells.

Track and share ROI metrics from your work so they can show internal stakeholders the impact you're making.

Personalize the Relationship at Multiple Levels

How to implement:

Know their business cycles, pressure points, and internal politics so your timing and solutions fit their reality.

Build relationships with end users, influencers, and executives — not just the buyer or decision maker. (Pro tip: The receptionist knows everything.)

Recognize personal milestones (promotions, anniversaries, company achievements) to show genuine investment in them as people.

While it makes sense that happy prospects are not good prospects, we must ensure our current customers are more than satisfied with our products and service and don't become someone else's viable prospect.

Remember, you can never maintain a long-term competitive advantage based solely on product or price. It's what you do beyond the product (service) that will set you apart.

Think Big, Make Big Things Happen!

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@rab.com. You can all so connect with him on X and LinkedIn.