Even though prospecting is something we all need to do to get our business rolling, we fall short on the activity because prospecting is hard.

There's a lot of rejection involved, and a lot of hours have to be devoted weekly to talking to strangers, calling over the phone, attending meetings, and sending out emails.

Even though a lot of work is involved at this stage of business, the number one thing that makes people afraid of prospecting is the unrealistic expectations that they have concerning these activities.

Most people assume that if they talk to 10 total strangers, they'll end up doing business with 8 of them.

This is REALLY far from the truth!

You might be a brilliant individual and really good looking and fluent. Your product or service might be "one in town" and revolutionary. You might have the best pricing on the planet or maybe have exclusive appeal and "off the wall" branding.

You might have all of these factors and more working for you, but still you aren't going to get 8 out of 10 people doing business with you.

The reason why NOT EVERYONE WILL BUY FROM YOU is obvious.

Not everyone WANTS what you have.

Not everyone NEEDS what you have.

Not everyone can AFFORD what you have.

Because of this you should have more realistic expectations.

Expect 2 or 3 people out of 10 to do business with you. The actual figure will depend on the kind of product, your industry conversion average, and the kinds of markets you guys are breaking into.

If you expect 3 out of 10 to do business with you, but you are consistently getting 1 person everyday as a customer, then at least you feel like you're a third closer to the goal.

If you expect to close the deal with 8 out of 10, then even if you hit 5 consistently everyday, you'll feel like a failure.

Just so you know, 50% or 5 out 10 would be considered MAGIC returns in most industries.

So go out everyday and do what you need to do to bring business in.

But make sure you have realistic expectations around your prospecting activities. That is what will determine whether you go out motivated tomorrow, or shrink away in fear next week.