Sales prospecting is the initial stage of any sales process. Ask any rookie (including me!) in the fraternity where they spend most of their time and “voila” you’ll have your answer.
More than 40% of salespeople say this is the most challenging part of the sales process, followed by closing (36%) and qualifying (22%).
While Sales prospecting is part of every sales process, most salespeople tend to find this inescapable part of the process the most difficult part of their job!
Sales prospecting although of utmost importance, can be the most complex and tiresome process for a salesperson. But if done effectively, it will help you be more efficient and productive in the nascent stages itself, thereby reducing the amount of time you spend in nurturing each of your target accounts!
A simple sales process will typically go through these sales stages.
- Search
- Outreach
- Engage
- Nurture
- Close
These 5 sales prospecting tips will help you move through the typical B2B sales journey in a more streamlined manner and with more ease:
1- Always ask yourself-> What is your ICP and Buyer Persona?
According to Terminus, “An ideal customer profile is a description of the company — not the individual buyer or end user — that’s a perfect fit for your solution.””
Similarly, a buyer persona is an individual within the ICP who holds the decision making prowess, or the influencing authority.
Most BDRs and SDRs miss making a list of their ICP, thereby missing the whole point of targeting those who would actually benefit from the solution they are selling!
Key Takeaway: The first step of any successful sales prospecting strategy involves creating a target list and then identifying the right buyer personas within the ICP.
Brandon Bornancin, CEO and Founder of Seamless.Ai recently spoke to us about the importance of list building in this recent podcast episode, have a listen to grab some interesting tips!
Read More: What Makes A Good Sales Prospecting Email GREAT?
2- Focus on How you Craft your Email Outreach & How Personalized Every Outreach is!
According to statistics, your prospect still prefers emails as a mode of communication as opposed to a cold call.
Although, a cold email which looks robotic wouldn’t be your gateway pass compared to a well-executed cold call, this is where personalization plays an important role.
A dash of a personalized human touch in your outreach cadence will work wonders and get you the much-desired 2 minutes of attention that you need from your prospect to help you move along the sales journey at a faster pace.
A well thought and personalized email which a person can relate to can pave the way to a successful deal, there have been numerous surveys and studies to support this.
Add to it, the use of videos in your outreach can help you create that added impact.
Salespeople are spoilt for choice when it comes to technologies to help them support the use of videos in their everyday outreach. The most common ones used by technology sales professionals are Drift, OneMob, Covideo.
Read more: Videos For Sales Outreach? Yes, Please!
3- Make Better use of your Social Media!
Unless you are living under a rock, you can’t stay away from LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media platforms. Any modern day salesperson stands to benefit largely from having a strong social media presence.
Social Media gives you a platform to express your views and opinions while also allowing you the chance to share your thoughts on trending industry updates with your prospects in a more informal manner.
Besides which, social media allows you to establish credibility for yourself amongst your peers in the fraternity by allowing you to share articles of interest, informative subject matter blogs and lots more.
Establishing credibility over social media puts you in a better light and distinguishes you from the herd, in turn giving you a front row seat to get that initial conversation started. Prospects are more likely to give you their time if they know you and they trust your level of knowledge!
Moreover, social media research also helps you know your prospects better and use some of their personal experiences or knowledge to your best while initiating sales conversations.
4- Warm Calls & Referrals Help
While cold calls determine your authenticity as a salesperson, warm calls go a long way to getting you the required attention from your prospect. A prior email talking about their status/job change that you identified on their LinkedIn profile (for instance) would help establish that required connection.
You ought to do your homework correctly and that shows well over warm calls!
A referral from a colleague or someone holding a position of authority would get more eyeballs as they know they can trust you.
5- Choose the Right Sales Prospecting Tools
Technology is bound to make your life simpler and unless you are living in the old GlenGarry Glen Ross days of selling, you should be using technology for sales prospecting.
Tools like Sales Navigator, Seamless.IO, Owler, Lead411, ZoomInfo, Prospect.IO exist to make your job easier and make you more efficient so that you can cover all stages of the sales cycle with relative ease.
Read more: Looking For The Perfect SalesTech Stack?
Sales is an art and you don’t stick to the same old rules. A mix and match of old and new tricks do help in the long run.
You just need to understand what works for you and what doesn’t.
You never know the change you bring about now might be a revolution in the industry!