Prospecting: What it is and ways to carry it out

I believe that at a certain level of knowledge of marketing, many of us know that the essence of the success of a sale consists of knowing the weak points or needs of the user, in order to offer a solution, not a product or service.

With this in mind, there is the term prospecting, another anglicism that refers to the attraction of potential customers (leads) to a specific website. To achieve this, the perspective or possibility that these users enter to see your products/services and buy from you must be based on data and the creation of functional scenarios for this objective.

By offering a solution in the format that you should already know about your buyer persona , prospecting offers an opportunity to connect with the interests and daily needs, which makes them likely to be loyal customers and promoters of your brand (the dream of all company).

Advantages of prospecting

When done properly, prospecting is capable of:

• Get quality leads. Those users who have a legitimate interest in what is offered.
• Acquire loyal and recurring customers.
• It uses different channels and formats to reach the user.
• Increase sales significantly .
• Reduce marketing costs by knowing which audience to focus on.
• Improve brand recognition, since users are related to what you offer.

Difference between prospecting and lead

It is important to differentiate between lead and prospecting.

On the one hand, let's define that a lead is that user who comes to your website showing interest and then signing up for your newsletter, contacting you by WhatsApp or calling you.

On the other hand, prospecting is those users who come to your website but as a result of an in-depth analysis and investigation of their interests, knowing how to communicate with them and thus making their arrival much more valuable.

Despite the differences, a lead can undoubtedly become a loyal customer. This, if it is possible to create an effective nutrition strategy and understanding of your journey .

How to carry out a prospecting strategy?

In order to execute prospecting successfully, the following steps can be followed:

Know the users and their industry

Before any step, you have to know our buyer persona. To do this, we can make use of platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook or even Ads , since by seeing the type of publications and interactions, we can create segments and classify them according to the degree of affinity with our product or service.

Prioritize leads and stages

As we already mentioned, it is necessary to know the key users and be able to classify them according to the degree of interest they contain. Likewise, it is necessary to know the most important stages of the funnel or where there is a greater possibility of success or failure and work on it with quality.

This is where the concept oflead score enters the scene and its importance is vital so as not to waste efforts on non-viable users.

Contact and personalization

Considering prospects as a number is a practice that should no longer exist. Now, personalizing messages and talking about interests creates links with are highly profitable in the long run.

To get to know your prospect, go to their profiles and find out what they post, what they like, their needs; and with that information, create tailored messages.

It is also possible to create a map or path of objections that the user can present and thus be prepared in the convincing process.

When contact occurs via email or phone, you need to give the prospect space and make sure you're not selling a product, but a solution. It can help to offer invitations to webinars, blog posts, podcasts, and other resources that help the prospect understand why you're the right fit.

Realize and sell more

If the above has worked, the prospect becomes a client and at that moment, it is possible to carry out upselling and crossselling strategies, but always remembering the reference point: offer solutions.

Apply these recommendations, I assure you that with these changes you will make your emails have a better impact. For more information on this topic, at MHA you will find the solution you need .