I had climbed halfway up Mount Mansfield in Vermont — elevation 4,393 feet — and already my heart was starting to beat faster. I was almost in the clouds, the wind was whipping, and I could feel the temperature dropping with each step.

But as much as I looked forward to reaching the summit, catching my breath, enjoying what promised to be a fantastic view and taking personal satisfaction in meeting this challenge, I was also excited about my first chance to participate in the new sport of geocaching.

Geocaching is like a treasure hunt that uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, the Internet and your powers of observation. A player logs on to www.geocaching.com, looks for caches (pronounced cash), writes down the satellite coordinates and then ventures out to find the hidden treasure.

On Mount Mansfield, I was looking for a cache hidden by my friend. She hid a $5 bill in a fake hollowed out pine cone. Very tricky! After finally locating the cache, I took the $5 bill and left a $5 gift certificate to McDonald’s for our next friend to find.

After I stored my newfound wealth in my backpack and resumed my trek to summit Mount Mansfield, I began to think of how similar geocaching is to hunting for vendors. As a professional leasing consultant, my mind is never far from leasing sales.

Prospecting to me is like hunting for buried treasure. We are searching for a vendor with whom we can establish a win-win relationship. It is so satisfying to hunt and find a vendor who appreciates the value of leasing, and who looks to us to enhance his business. In the best case scenario, we find the vendor, take an application and give the vendor cash for its equipment.

This is very comparable to geocaching. When you geocache, you are searching for a cache that holds something of value, and when you locate the cache you take something and leave something. When you take a trinket from the hidden treasure, you should leave something of equal value.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just go to a website, get the satellite coordinates for a deal, then just find the deal? How many reps would be shopping for GPS systems right now if prospecting was that easy?

Yet, in reality, how much different is geocaching from prospecting? You go on the Internet, find a vendor, qualify him and ask questions to see if you have a match.

Most salespeople dislike prospecting and put it off as long as possible. But if they change the way they look at prospecting and see it as a potential treasure hunt rather than an exercise in rejection, they increase their chances of success.

In geocaching, the GPS receiver is a giant feedback mechanism that lets you know if you are on track or not. When prospecting, as you question the prospective client and consider his answers, your emotions are a feedback mechanism that lets you know whether you are on track or not. Instead of worrying about being rejected, display enthusiasm, eagerness and positive expectations to the vendor. Make prospecting a game: visualize yourself finding the prospective vendor, giving the vendor your ideas on how you can improve his business and departing from the vendor with his signed agreement.

While you are meeting with the vendor, tell him about geocaching. This might raise your energy level and the vendor’s energy level. Put the fun back into your job and make it an adventure.

At your next sales meeting, discuss geocaching. Come up with some fun terminology that changes they way your sales force looks at prospecting.

For example, some geocaching terms that could apply to leasing are listed above.

Geocaching is like solving a good puzzle. So, I am challenging all the readers of the Monitor to solve a good puzzle. I have hidden a copy of my new book 366 Marketing Tips for Leasing Sales Professionals in the state of New Jersey at coordinates N 40 18.256 W 074 51.584 155 ft. (It’s in a park with the initials W.C.S.P.) When a lucky leasing geocacher finds it, e-mail me and I’ll post your adventure on my website.

Regard prospecting like solving a good puzzle — when you solve the puzzle and land the vendor, you can glow in your sense of accomplishment. I was glowing when I summited Mount Mansfield, just as I was glowing when I landed my best vendor. Have fun with leasing and make yourself glow.

Linda P. Kester is nationally recognized as an equipment leasing sales trainer and professional speaker. She has 20 years of experience in leasing sales and marketing management. Kester has been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Monitor, Leasing News and Selling Power Magazine. She has also produced several training CDs.

In 1996, Kester established The Institute for Personal Development after identifying the need for leasing sales professionals to shorten the sales cycle and improve morale. She is a member of the National Speakers Association and has presented to thousands of attendees. She can be reached at 856-489-6558, by e-mail at [email protected] or on her website at www.lindakester.com.