When do People Prospect

  So the question becomes, When do people prospect? The answer is, All the time! Prospecting is not an eight-to-five jobs. Prospecting, when done graciously, can be done in virtually any environment-in social situations, on an airplane, in an airport, at the luncheon or a club meeting, wherever people are present.

The Prospecting Attitude
  Once again, the best-paying hard work in the world is selling, and the poorest-paying work in the world is selling! Your chosen field is not an industry that allows you to "coast." When you get in the
business of professional selling-or more important, when the business gets in you-you will discover that prospecting is not a chore; it is a truly exciting opportunity for success!
  The late Cavert Robert had a little saying: "You've got to circulate before you can percolate." How true that is! There's no denying that activity (making contact calls) in the world of sales is critical. Alert salespeople are constantly in the state of "awareness," with eyes and ears open for business. This doesn't necessarily mean they approach everybody at a social function or corner the people on the driving range or golf course; nor does it mean they approach every person at the post office or supermarket. The successful prospecting attitude does not mean however, that when great prospectors pick up the newspaper, there is sensitivity to local events or news stories that contain leads or prospects for the business. The successful prospecting attitude means tuning in to conversations that would directly or indirectly involve the use of the goods or services the salespeople offer.
  Becoming successful at finding buyers means knowing when a new business opens or a new family moves to the neighborhood, practicing good-neighborliness, and being a good citizen by welcoming them. Oftentimes business is born from such relationships. As the old saying goes, "You never trip over anything while you're seated."