Prospecting for new business is an essential part of any sales process. It is the first step in the sales cycle, and it helps to establish a foundation for future success. Prospecting can be challenging at times, but there are many strategies that you can use to make the most out of your time spent prospecting. In this blog post, we will discuss how to prospect so that you have more success with your efforts!
How to prospect? Do you think that the sales of your company are not living up to expectations? Does it seem like your sales team is making less sales than they should be producing? Do you feel like there's a lack of interest in your products or services?
If any of these questions apply to you, then perhaps you are one of the many companies looking for ways to increase their sales. Other questions include: "what can I do differently?" or "how can I make things better?"
This article will teach you how to prospect and provide 12 prospecting tips for sales teams on how to prospect to start improving their own individual marketing efforts.
No two situations are exactly alike, so while some ideas may work for some more than others, every company will have its own unique strategic plan that should be tweaked and customized to reflect their own situation.
A prospecting method is a predetermined system used to identify new potential customers. In essence, it's a way to put certain actions in place that can lead you closer to identifying new sales opportunities.
Prospecting methods are typically set up by sales professionals who have good working knowledge of their industry and what types of activities help uncover new prospects. When they see little success from their existing efforts, they may look to change the way they approach this part of the process.
Since there are no laws or regulations surrounding how businesses find new people to sell their products or services too, there is an unlimited number of prospect methods available for use. In fact, most businesses use a combination of methods to find their best prospects.
The following are some of the more common prospecting methods:
1. Cold Calling: The act of calling potential customers who don't know you and haven't given you permission to contact them about your product or service. This is often seen as one of the more difficult prospecting methods, but can be very effective if done.
2. Networking: The process of attending events and/or meeting people in-person who may be able to introduce you to prospects that would be good for your business.
Most successful business owners see networking as a vital part of their routine, not only because it can bring new customers, but also because it's a great way to build relationships.
3. Social Media: The act of using Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn or other social media outlets to find possible customers who are already active on those networks.
It allows marketers and salespeople the opportunity to join conversations and interact with potential customers without having to cold call them first.
4. Prospect Lists: This is simply the process of creating lists of websites based on specific topics that consumers use or search for. These lists can then be used for targeted advertising or email campaigns.
5. Web Searches: The act of using search engines to find people who are searching for specific information that may be related to what you're selling. This can be done through paid advertising (such as Google AdWords) or organic search results.
6. Marketing Automation: The use of tools and software that allow you to automate certain marketing tasks, such as email marketing, social media campaigns, and lead capture. This can save marketers time and help them stay organized when prospecting.
7. Referrals: The process of getting customers or clients to refer others to your business. This can be done through incentives (such as discounts or free products/services) or simply by providing excellent customer service.
8. Trade Shows: The process of attending events where potential customers may be in attendance. This can be a great way to generate leads, but can also be expensive if not done correctly.
9. Advertising: The use of various forms of media (print, radio, TV, online) to get your message in front of potential customers. This is often seen as one of the more expensive prospecting methods, but can be very effective if done correctly.
10 Personal Selling: The act of meeting with potential customers in-person to discuss their needs and how your product or service can meet them. This is often seen as one of the most effective prospecting methods, but can also be the most time consuming.
As you can see, there are a variety of prospecting methods available for businesses to use. Which method(s) you choose will depend on your business, its products and services, and the target market you're trying to reach.
But, no matter which methods you choose, always remember that the key to success is persistence and a willingness to try new things.
There are many ways to prospect, but the most efficient and effective way is to use a list. In order to get that list you need to ask questions and do things that will make the person you are contacting feel comfortable.
The best way to do that is in person and face to face. This allows you to get your POI, build rapport quickly, and they feel like they are pitching to a potential investor not just cold calling them.
These can lead into personal information exchange or debt negotiations which both have huge benefits for the salesperson afterward when it comes time for closing the deal down on the list of people obtained.
There are important things you should be aware of when you are out prospecting. Repetition - make sure the person knows that if they talk to your entire list again it will cost them 10 dollars plus the time spent on their call.
You need to get this in front of their face when you contact them directly so they can't misunderstand what your intended message means without repeating it too many times and sounding like a fat-cat trying his luck in Vegas with free money he got from deceased CPA clients.
Most prospects will evaluate the pitch before they make a decision and most judges don't want to see you or hear your pitch more than less than twice.
It is bound to be remembered better if it isn't repeated and tweaked between 2-3 times as per's Repetition rule stated above, so come up with 3 different valid reasons for picking one of those three stat packages each week starting this weekend (the discount expires on Friday) and go through them with the prospect to confirm if they are real or exaggerated, along with being a valid reason for why you should have their attention.
You only do this once so get it perfect and make sure your POI knows what the stat packages mean that he is interested in from last week's Shuffleboard performance.
Now that you know what is the best way to prospect, let’s look at 12 strategies on how to prospect.
1. Know your target market: This is the first and most important step in any successful marketing campaign.
In order to successfully sell your product or service, you need to know who you are selling it to. Once you know your target market, you can start tailoring your sales pitch specifically to them.
2. Do your research: Learn as much as you can about your target market before beginning to prospect them. What are their likes and dislikes? What are their needs and wants? What are they buying from your competitors? Knowing the answers to these questions will give you a major advantage when trying to make a sale.
3. Make a list of potential customers: Once you know your target market, it's time to start making a list of potential customers. This can be done by doing a search for companies or individuals that match your target market criteria.
4. Reach out to potential customers: Once you have a list of potential customers, it's time to start reaching out to them. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as emailing them, calling them, or even meeting with them in person.
5. Use social media: Social media is one of the most effective ways to reach out to potential customers. Platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter make it easy to connect with potential buyers and create relationships that could lead to sales down the road.
6. Use a CRM: A CRM, or customer relationship management system, is a tool that can help you keep track of all your interactions with potential and current customers. This will help you keep track of leads, opportunities, and sales conversions, among other things.
7. Create a sales deck: A sales deck is a presentation that you can use to pitch your product or service to potential customers. This will help you sell them on the benefits of doing business with you.
8. Tailor your pitch: Don't just use a one-size-fits-all approach when pitching your product or service to potential customers. Instead, tailor your pitch specifically to each individual customer based on what you've learned about them.
9. Develop a strong pitch: Work on developing a pitch that can effectively sell your product or service to potential customers, while explaining why they should purchase from you instead of one of your competitors.
This becomes especially important when pitching to larger companies, who will expect more than just some basic information about what you're selling them.
10. Create social proof: There is nothing more powerful than having recommendations and testimonials from current customers in your sales pitch. If current customers are happy with the quality of your work, then potential customers are much more likely to be satisfied as well. Use Wisernotify to create social proof and FOMO.
11. Be persistent: Don't give up after just one attempt at making a sale! It often takes many attempts before an individual is ready to buy, so try to reach out several times over the course of several weeks or months before giving up.
12. Track your results: Like any other business activity, you should be tracking the results of your prospecting activities.
This will help you determine which methods are most effective and what changes need to be made along the way. However, don't become obsessed with constantly tweaking your strategy—you might actually be doing more harm than good!
Prospecting can be defined as 'the initial stage of identifying and preparing possible new customers or clients'. For sales professionals, this would mean getting in touch with potential customers and meeting with them to talk about their business.
There are many benefits associated with using a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system for prospecting. Depending on your industry and company size, there might be different reasons why you should use a CRM – regardless of that, here we highlight some:
1. Easily identify contacts' details before calling- Whether you're having trouble finding specific contact details or you simply want to know more about the person before calling, a good prospecting CRM will have all the information you need readily available.
This will save you time, as you can quickly gather all the details you need on a single screen, and avoid having to search through different sources.
2. Keep track of leads and their progress- A CRM can help you keep track of all your leads – not just those who are ready to buy right now.
You can then nurture these leads by setting reminders or tasks to follow up with them at specific times. This helps to ensure that no potential leads are forgotten about, and also allows for better tracking of the success of your prospecting campaigns.
3. Connect with potential customers more easily- With a CRM, you can easily connect with potential customers either by phone, email or even social media. This ensures that you're reaching out to them in the most convenient way possible, and also makes it easier for them to connect with you.
4. Get a better understanding of your target market- With a CRM, you can track what companies your leads are from, what their job titles are, and how much budget they have.
This information can help you to better tailor your sales pitches to meet the needs of your target market, and increase your chances of closing a sale.
5. Gather feedback more easily- A CRM can also help you to gather feedback from potential customers more easily. After meeting with a prospect, you can ask them to fill out a short feedback form within the CRM system.
This can help you to get feedback on your sales pitch, and determine whether or not the prospect is interested in your product or service.
6. Get a better understanding of your customer's buying cycle- A CRM can also help you to better understand your customer's buying cycle. This information can then be used to create targeted marketing campaigns that are more likely to result in a sale.
7. Automate tasks and save time- Finally, a good CRM will automate many of the tasks involved in prospecting, such as email campaigns, follow-up tasks and lead scoring. This will save you time and allow you to focus on other important tasks.
