Prospecting: What it is and ways to carry it out

Would you like to increase your sales and get loyal and satisfied customers ? If the answer is yes, then you need to know about prospecting, a marketing technique that allows you to identify and attract the most suitable users for your business.

What is prospecting and what is it used for?

Prospecting is the process of finding, identifying andqualifying potential customers (also called prospects or leads) for your product or service.

It's about finding people who have a problem or need that your business can solve, and who also meet certain segmentation criteria, such as location, budget, purchasing authority, etc.

The objective of prospecting is to generate a database of qualified contacts, who have a high interest and a high probability of becoming real clients.

This optimizes the time and effort of marketing and sales teams , allowing them to focus on the most profitable opportunities with the greatest potential for customer loyalty.

Prospecting also has other advantages, such as:

• Increase brand recognition by reaching users who are in tune with your value proposition.
• Reduce acquisition costs by avoiding spending resources on users who are not your target audience.
• Improve customer satisfaction and retention by offering customized solutions tailored to their needs and expectations.

How to prospect effectively?

To carry out a successful prospecting strategy, it is necessary to follow a series of steps, which we detail below:

1. Know your buyer persona . The first step is to define the profile of your ideal customer , that is, the type of user who would benefit most from your product or service, and who also has the ability and willingness to buy it. To do this, you can do market research , analyze your competition, and create surveys or interviews with your current or potential customers. This way, you can obtain valuable information about their demographic characteristics, their consumption habits, their motivations, their problems, their preferences, etc.
2. Segment your market . The second step is to divide your market into homogeneous groups, according to the criteria you have previously established. For example, you can segment by age, gender, income, location, education level, etc. This will allow you to identify the most attractive and profitable market niches for your business, and adapt your message and your offer to each of them.
3. Find lead sources . The third step is to find the most appropriate channels and tools to locate and contact your prospects. There are different lead sources, such as social networks , search engines, databases, events, referrals, etc. The important thing is to choose the ones that best fit your type of business, your target audience, and your budget.
4. Qualify your prospects . The fourth step is to assess the level of interest and suitability of each prospect, to determine if it is worth investing time and resources in them. To do this, you can use different methods, such as BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing), CHAMP (Challenges, Authority, Money, Prioritization), or GPCT (Goals, Plans, Challenges, Timeline). These methods consist of asking your prospects a series of questions to find out their budget, their purchasing authority, their need, their urgency, their objectives, their plans, their challenges, etc.
5. Contact and personalize . The fifth step is to establish effective and personalized communication with your prospects, to generate trust, create value, and persuade them that your product or service is the best solution for them. To do this, you can use different media, such as email, telephone, chat, social networks, etc. The important thing is to adapt your tone, your style, and your content to each prospect, and offer them relevant, useful, and attractive information.

How to measure and optimize prospecting?

The final step is to measure and optimize the performance of your prospecting strategy to ensure that you are achieving your goals and making the most of your resources.

To do this, you can use different indicators, such as:

• The number of leads generated.
• The percentage of qualified prospects.
• The cost per prospect.
• The response time.
• The conversion rate.
• The return on investment.

These indicators will allow you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your strategy, and take the necessary corrective actions to improve it.

This way, you can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your prospecting, and get more and better clients for your business.

What tools are used for prospecting?

There are many tools that can help you prospect more efficiently and effectively. Some of the ones I recommend are:

• LinkedIn Sales Navigator : LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a tool that allows you to search, segment and contact your prospects in a personalized way. You can access detailed information about your prospects' profiles, their activities, their connections, etc. You can also create lists of potential clients, send personalized messages, and track your results.
• Xoxoday Plum : Plum is an incentive tool that allows you to motivate and reward your prospects for taking actions that interest you, such as signing up, downloading an ebook, requesting a demo, etc. You can offer them rewards such as gift cards, experiences, donations, etc. This way, you can increase engagement, conversion and loyalty of your prospects.
• Semrush : It is a market analysis tool that allows you to research your competition, find the best keywords, optimize your SEO, create quality content, etc. You can use it to identify opportunities and threats in your sector, and to create a marketing strategy that differentiates you and positions you as a valuable solution for your prospects.
• E-goi : It is a marketing automation tool that allows you to create and send email, SMS, push, voice, etc. campaigns. You can use it to communicate with your prospects in a personalized and timely manner, based on their behavior, interests, preferences, etc. You can also integrate it with other tools such as CRM, social networks, ecommerce, etc.

Written by Moises Hamui Abadi : I am an entrepreneur, founding partner of Viceversa and SoyMacho. After leading several digital businesses and advising several other businesses, I decided to form MHA Consulting, a digital marketing consultancy dedicated to growing and empowering digital businesses in more than 7 countries and generating more than 1,500 million pesos.