Sales prospecting techniques are changing—but not in the ways you might think. Due to expanded connectivity and widely available information, informed customers have more power than ever before. That's why the customer experience is the most important aspect of any deal.
Fifty-one percent of sales leaders are focused on increasing customer retention through deeper relationships.
Sales leaders are nearly as focused on customer retention as sales prospecting (56% focused on growing leads/new customers).
Likewise, top sales teams care just as much about creating long-lasting customers through memorable experiences as they do about making the sale.
Our top 3 B2B sales prospecting techniques
Knowing this, what are some of the best sales prospecting techniques for landing strong prospects? We outlined our top 3 sales prospecting tactics and how best to implement them into your sales strategy.
1. Quality over quantity leads
A bunch of leads might sound great, but if they aren't going anywhere, what do you really have? That's why a few high-quality sales prospects who are engaged and passionate about the industry are stronger.
Developing quality leads takes a lot of time and effort, but your sales team will see the value of choosing quality over quantity, especially when they see a surge in their close rate.
Weeding out low-quality leads will increase productivity, speed up completion of your sales cycle and reduce inefficiencies within your sales pipeline—all of which improves your bottom line.
When your sales reps are able to recognize that quality leads are more lucrative, they will start to trust the sales pipeline process and focus increasingly on sales-ready prospects.
2. Take an advantage of marketing automation when prospecting
Marketing automation is the seller’s answer to the new buyer’s journey. Complementing any solid sales prospecting technique or strategy are automation tools to create prospects and share thought-leadership.
Tools that link content distribution, customer relationship management (CRM) and social are critical to getting the right message at the right time to the right people.
These tools, combined with your website, help to convert stragglers into sales.
Prospects coming through customized sales campaigns tend to have faster pipeline velocity (a way to measure exactly how you are succeeding in getting your prospects from one end of the funnel to the other)—typically when they accumulate a high lead-score.
As a result, without marketing automation, you are shooting without an aim. Close ratios tend to be higher for leads that are nurtured over time and when you are viewed as a thought leader.
3. Use incentives, recognition and love
Whether they come from your vice president or yourself, be sure to reward yourself for this hard work.
We already know that incentives and recognition can impact all types of behavior modifications and use them regularly: Rewards for number of leads closed, pipeline velocity, getting prospects to visit headquarters, posts/blogs/publishing, attending conferences, etc.
Sales is mostly made of rejection and embarrassment—and as leaders, they need to provide empathy. So, a sales leader that has put in their own prospecting hours will lead the best results when prospecting.
Be there for your team members for recognition, encouragement and motivation after a long week of strike outs, just as you would a strong week of success. Great leaders are able to show the path out of any valley.
In conclusion
Even though sales prospecting techniques are experiencing some changes, there are still solid tactics that can be implemented today to attract prospects and boost your sales. Follow the tips above to help your sales team get the most out of their prospecting time.
In the end, sales prospecting will likely never be complete. However, if you take anything away from this article, always give your team access to appropriate and effective resources, be open to answering questions, and create an environment where learning is recognized.
Taking advantage of different tools such as CRM’s, sales commission tracking software and communication tools can increase productivity and help them save time and increase the productivity numbers.
Blitz is the best sales commission tracking software in the market. It goes beyond simple automation of the commission tracking process through dashboards and reports about your sales team’s goal achievement, all in real-time. Blitz adapts as your sales commission plan changes and your company evolves.