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While client retention is important in terms of your company's main source of income, there's no doubt that keeping a steady stream of new prospects is essential.
Sales have changed drastically in recent years, and it's especially true in 2020. To succeed, you must use all of your resources to collect new leads and develop them into customers.
This sales prospecting guide will assist you in finding the most efficient techniques to do so.
Prospecting is the most difficult part of their job, according to more than 40% of salespeople (even more so than closing deals and qualifying leads).
But because at least 50 percent of your prospects aren’t going to turn into customers, it's critical that you're constantly trying to attract new ones.
There's a lot riding on finding the right sales prospecting guide for your business. So, what exactly is it all about?
Here's a sales prospecting guide to get you started, including the important skills you'll need to succeed.
Sales Prospecting: The Definition
Prospecting is any activity you take with the objective of discovering new potential consumers for your product or service.
It's also about locating the most qualified prospects, focusing on individuals and businesses who are likely to benefit and buy what you're offering.
It's no surprise, then, that so many salespeople cite prospecting as their main challenge. After all, until you prospect someone, you can't qualify a lead — nor can you finalize a transaction.
Lead vs. Qualified Lead vs. Prospect vs. Customer
As individuals move through the funnel, their status changes, as do the best ways to interact with them. While there are some similarities between the primary designations, here are a few of the most important distinctions between them.
A prospective customer starts as a lead, which is someone who has expressed an interest in your company's products or services and is therefore a potential client.
This can be done directly, such as by contacting you for more information, but it's more often accomplished indirectly, such as by surfing your blog, signing up for your email newsletter, or following you on social media.
A qualified lead is a consumer who has gone further in their expression of interest by, for example, signing up for a demo or engaging in a back-and-forth with your sales team.
They become a prospect if all goes well, which is the type of lead that is most likely to close. Prospects align with your customer persona and target audience, as well as being ready (or almost ready) to make a purchase.
A prospect might either become a client or someone who has gone on to seal the deal with a purchase. A customer, on the other hand, is still considered a prospect because they're a highly qualified lead who you may sell to again.
Sales Prospecting Guide: Ways to Qualify Leads
Qualifying leads is critical for prospecting since it aids in the selection of who to focus on. Consider what stage in the buyer's journey a person is at.
The majority of leads are located at the awareness stage, while more qualified leads are at the consideration stage. Prospects are in the decision-making process and just need to be nurtured before they decide to buy anything.
There are several qualifying characteristics to consider.
- Location
- Industry
- Designation
- Company size
- Company revenue
The more of these characteristics a lead has checked off, the more qualified it is. As a result, comparing a lead's demographics to existing buyer personas is always a good idea when determining whether or not they are likely to become prospects.
You may segment and tag your leads according to qualifying criteria using software like the Alore CRM to send more customized drip campaigns that will help them move through the funnel.
The Sales Prospecting Guide
Prospecting can be divided into two categories: outbound and inbound.
You, rather than the potential customer, are responsible for outbound sales; think of cold outreach, targeted marketing, and advertising, guest-written material, and other networking approaches.
Basically, it's all about casting as wide a net as possible to catch "fish," qualifying them if necessary, and nurturing them until they reach a sale.
Inbound leads are generated by people themselves, particularly those who have progressed beyond the awareness stage and are ready to be considered
or chosen.
Having outbound content that links back to your website and employs an SEO strategy that gets your site to appear in search results is critical for attracting inbound leads.
It's also essential that you offer high-quality material on your website; it shouldn't just contain a single piece of information.
In Conclusion
Sales prospecting is a combination of skills. It also requires that leads be correctly characterized before being pursued.
The more you practice, the easier it will get to identify who your best prospects are and, as a result, the easier it will be to achieve sales objectives.
