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Searching for potential customers is a time-consuming process that requires diligence. Before you initiate contact, it's a good idea to check whether a particular company or person actually fits the profile of your ideal customer. With modern prospecting tools, you can easily reach out to those right people and companies that could be potential customers for your business.
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Prospecting, also known as customer acquisition, is the initial stage of the sales process, involving the active search for and selection of potential customers interested in the products or services offered. It is the process of building a database of contacts, from which later potential customers emerge with whom the company can establish business relationships.
This is an activity that requires constant attention and regularity. It is not enough to build a base of contacts at one time and rest on one's laurels. Salespeople realize that prospecting is a key part of maintaining a healthy sales process structure. Acquiring new customers, especially the right ones for a given offer, can be a challenge that often takes a lot of time and effort. Here are some effective methods to help you connect with prospective customers.
Moderation is important in prospecting activities. While the motto "the more, the better" may have some justification, it is worth remembering the balancing saying "what's too much is unhealthy." Overstepping the boundary of good taste can result in actions being perceived as too pushy by potential customers, which, instead of encouraging them to buy, can result in discouragement. Therefore, one should encourage, but not insist too strongly. Promoting a product should focus on its advantages, without crossing the line of pushiness. No customer will appreciate rude pushy spam or intrusive phone calls. In prospecting, it is important to find a balance between quantity and quality of activity. While intensive activity may seem impressive, without results it can be a waste of time. On the other hand, focusing solely on one client may lead to insufficient profits. Therefore, it is important to conduct activities that fall between these two extremes to achieve optimal results.
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A useful tool in successful prospecting is a properly functioning customer scoring system. What exactly is scoring? The name already indicates the essence - it involves scoring. What exactly is scoring? In general, scoring focuses on customer activity, covering such activities as:
The aforementioned actions bear a clear resemblance to the actions taken by salespeople in prospecting. They can be considered responses from potential customers to prospecting activities. By analyzing these responses from individual consumers, it is easy to determine which potential customers are most likely to become actual customers in the future. It is to this group that any prospecting activities should be directed first.
Reports of the end of the cold calling era are exaggerated. It is still an effective method of reaching potential customers. Nowadays, as we become more and more resistant to modern marketing techniques such as targeted ads and online banners, calling directly to potential customers allows you to cut through the online din and enable direct contact.
Ironically, although cold calling is one of the oldest customer acquisition techniques, the telephone provides the fastest and most precise feedback. It lets you know immediately whether further conversation with the person makes sense. The interactivity of the call allows you to ask questions, which enables you to better understand the potential customer's needs and tailor your offer. Undeniably, telephone contact gives you the opportunity to make a personal connection and build a relationship.
In a B2B relationship, a phone call can deliver tangible results, as long as you comply with privacy regulations, don't try to make a sale on the first contact, and listen more than you talk. Focus on the customer's needs and try to figure out what problems you need to solve so that you can deliver value in subsequent interactions.
The importance of social media in today's world can hardly be overstated. Billions of people around the globe use social media platforms to communicate with each other, and companies use them to build relationships with customers and better understand their needs. As a business tool, social media is at the forefront of technological advances. Increasingly, prospecting on business portals such as LinkedIn is becoming standard. This makes it possible to find people who are interested in our services or products, target precisely and connect with potential customers. Advanced targeting features make it easier to reach the right people in a crowd of users.
Email correspondence is a popular and effective method of prospecting that doesn't require special procedures. By sending emails, you can get your message directly to decision makers, who can respond at a time that is convenient for them. It is also highly scalable, thanks to the ability to send to multiple recipients simultaneously. Tools are available to create email sequences and send them in bulk, while maintaining personalization, making each message seem individually written. This saves a lot of time and effort. However, it's important to remember that while you can send hundreds of emails at a time, you shouldn't overdo it. Scalability does not mean bombarding thousands of potential customers, because then you cross the line between cold email and spam.
Despite its many advantages, emailing is becoming a victim of its own success. According to a 2017 study by The Radicati Group, each of us receives an average of 120 emails per day while working at a computer. So how do you stand out in this mass? The key is to personalize the message as much as possible, focus on message deliverability, and consistently use follow-ups and A/B testing to optimize results.
It is worth adopting the "less is more" principle. Instead of sending generic messages to a large number of people, it's better to choose a specific group of potential customers, ideally matching the profile of your target audience, or so-called "shopping personae." Then, when sending personalized emails to them, pay special attention to the content. This approach increases the chances of receiving a response, which paves the way for further sales conversations.
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In summary, prospecting is the process of finding potential customers with the goal of establishing a relationship. Use it to see if the solution you are offering meets the needs of the potential customer, and if the person you are contacting matches the profile of your ideal customer. You could say that prospecting is a bit like dating - the idea is to make a good first impression and build a foundation for further cooperation.
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In many companies, there is a perception, among both management and sales teams, that customer acquisition is just about calling different numbers or sending emails without much of a plan or commitment. However, successful customer acquisition takes time, work and a well thought-out strategy. Good prospecting is not just about performing certain activities, but also using different methods to help reach the right people with the message they are interested in.
The prospecting process is delicate and sensitive to every detail. Even subtle elements, such as the tone of voice during a conversation, can affect the effectiveness of the customer acquisition process. Using an overly pushy sales tone can scare away potential customers. It is worth understanding that the effectiveness of prospecting depends on attention to every aspect of the process.
Despite the apparent simplicity of activities, customer acquisition requires careful planning and execution. These activities should not be reduced to just routine calling or emailing, but should be undertaken based on analyzed strategies and thoughtful actions.
Procrastination, or postponement, is another point that relates to customer acquisition. If I don't take action on customer acquisition today or this week, the consequences may not show up until a few weeks or even longer.
Often, my sales schedule is currently filled with customers, which makes it easy for me to put off looking for new ones. However, if I stop the process of looking for new customers, at some point I notice that I have no new leads in content and find myself in a hole. That's when I start to stress and try to catch up, but it's often too late to regain a steady flow of customers throughout the year.
Whenever we get good results, I get even more involved in prospecting to keep the customer flow going. I understand that it is easy to neglect the difficult and time-consuming process of customer acquisition when things are going well.
It is difficult to find a business model where a short interruption in availability has immediate negative consequences. In sales, even if we are not available 24/7 to customers, a response within an hour is usually sufficient. You don't have to love prospecting, it's important that you just do it.
This is a continuation of point one, which emphasized the need for effort over process. Without a well-thought-out customer acquisition process, new sales staff will be forced to reinvent the wheel. Creating and developing a process is key. It ensures that customer acquisition will be successful and that new team members will not have to start from scratch.
Another aspect is experimenting with the process. Two approaches can be seen in the trade: the first is sticking to the old, tried-and-true method, with a fear of change; the second is an approach that is open to new ideas and constantly testing different customer acquisition strategies.
It's worth experimenting with different customer acquisition techniques and testing hypotheses. We may have ten different assumptions about what might work. After writing them down, we choose the one that seems most promising and proceed to test it.
Systematic testing, verification of hypotheses and selection of experiments is the key to order and efficiency. It's not a matter of chaotic actions, but rather of precisely selecting the actions that are most likely to succeed. We test new ideas, put them into practice and analyze their effects, especially during phone calls with potential customers. Understanding that in the field of customer acquisition and sales, the only certainty is constant change, allows us to stay one step ahead of the competition.
I have seen many cases where companies focus on only one method of acquiring customers. It's like putting all your money on one card - risky. It's better to have a few different methods in reserve, in case one of them suddenly stops working.
If you use a variety of strategies, the risk is dispersed. If one method stops producing the expected results, you can still rely on the others. It's like with an investment portfolio - it's better to have diversified assets.
You get the best results when you combine different methods. Cold mailing, relationship building, social selling, social media presence, customer meetings - to name a few. Test and experiment by also using third-party tools, such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
Avoiding stereotypical approaches in attracting new customers is of great importance. If I use established patterns, my effectiveness decreases significantly. Creating unconventional action strategies that stand out from the rest requires a fair amount of work. It is worth ensuring that our messages are original and memorable to potential customers, which can be a challenge because we are competing not only for their attention, but also with their internal filters, which automatically detect typical sales messages. Therefore, a key principle is to avoid triviality and ensure that our messages translate into real interest in our products or services.
In Poland, when it comes to B2B sales, segmentation is only in the early stages of development. It is easy to get answers from customers on who they would like to sell to. However, when it comes to selecting specific target segments and excluding those we don't want to work with - for example, due to lengthy processes, low efficiency or lack of attractiveness - the situation becomes more complicated. It is at this stage that prospecting becomes extremely delicate. We need to show that we have a good understanding of our market and can effectively attract customers. It is crucial to clearly define our target audience, identify the problems we are solving, and explain why our offer is relevant.
In prospecting, details are key. Our value as a consulting firm lies mainly in our ability to collect and transfer these small details between business partners. We analyze companies' operations to gain valuable market research information, which we then pass on to clients to help them improve their processes and finalize offers. Focusing on the details is key - it's worth paying close attention to them and sharing this knowledge with business partners to jointly improve customer acquisition skills.
If we can transform our operating methods into modern tools, we achieve leverage. Automation not only saves our time, but also facilitates many processes in customer acquisition. There are many tools on the market that support this activity, and you can find some of them on our blog, should you wish to take a moment to explore them.
As for the open workshop, I would like to mention it briefly. If you feel that your sales team or yourself as a sales representative could improve your prospecting, then sending them to our open workshop could be a great idea. Even if you are an independent sales rep, it's worth asking your supervisor about the budget for attending this event. This meeting is dedicated to anyone who wants to systematize their prospecting process, learn about different methods and explore the details of the effectiveness of today's customer acquisition.
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There are a wide range of tools and resources that can support you in acquiring B2B customers. Here are some of them:
Marketing automation tools allow you to automate and scale your customer acquisition efforts. They can help manage email marketing campaigns, track customer interactions, analyze activity results, and many other functions.
CRM systems are indispensable for managing customer relationships and monitoring acquisition activities. They allow you to track customer interactions, analyze the results of activities, plan future activities and much more.
Analytical tools help you understand your target audience, analyze the results of your activities and make accurate decisions. They allow you to identify potential customers, understand their needs and preferences, assess reactions to marketing activities, and much more.
The Prospect.io platform is a comprehensive prospecting automation tool designed for modern sales teams looking to streamline their sales process. It includes a wide range of features, from verifying emails to running email campaigns to monitoring their effectiveness. With Prospect.io, the sales team can take advantage of smart features that are crucial for effective work.
It is an excellent lead generation tool that helps you easily find and verify emails as part of your prospecting efforts. It is possible to quickly find prospect data, such as email addresses, phone numbers, or positions, using the Chrome extension on websites or social media profiles. In addition, the tool allows you to search domains and find websites and people, making the search process much easier.
Prospect.io also offers email sending, campaign tracking and synchronization features, making it an all-in-one solution for companies looking to effectively drive customer acquisition and automate their sales efforts.
Findthatlead.com is a tool with incredible ease of use that offers two key functions: “verifier” and ”finder.” The Verifier allows you to verify an email address from a list of potential customers thanks to an advanced algorithm. The Finder, on the other hand, allows you to search for email addresses, site domains, phone numbers, etc. of potential customers based on available information, such as name.
Findthatlead is distinguished by its special search technique, which includes three main steps: Segmenting, Adding Information and Getting Prospects. First, you select specific segments to search for prospects, such as industry, location or job title. Next, you add detailed information about these segments, such as specifying specific locations. Finally, based on these criteria, Findthatlead displays a list of results that you can use.
The biggest advantage of using Findthatlead is its clear dashboard. It allows you to manage multiple tasks from one place, such as prospect management, domain search, prospecting, customer acquisition and CSV file upload.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator is an indispensable tool for B2B sales professionals and business owners. It is a paid and enhanced version of the LinkedIn platform, providing additional features and capabilities. With Sales Navigator, you can find and generate leads on LinkedIn in an efficient and effective way.
The main advantage of Sales Navigator is its powerful Advanced Search tool, which allows you to browse as many as 1,000 prospects in a single search. In addition, the platform offers additional benefits such as 20 InMail credits per month. However, Sales Navigator's real strength is its comprehensive search tool, which allows you to specify precise search criteria, such as position, industry or company seniority.
With Sales Navigator, you can determine exactly who you want to reach, which is an invaluable aid in the process of acquiring customers and building business relationships on LinkedIn.
Leadfeeder is a tool designed to discover new potential customers by monitoring businesses that visit your website, even if they don't leave any contact information. With Leadfeeder, you can track user activity on your site using a simple Leadfeeder Tracker script and a Google Analytics account connection. This allows you to better understand visitor behavior and develop personalized strategies to reach and engage potential customers. In addition, Leadfeeder allows you to identify new business prospects that may be of interest to you. In addition, the tool assists in finding the contact information of company employees visiting your site, facilitating quick contact with decision makers.
Hunter, formerly known as Email Hunter, is a simple tool in the form of a Google Chrome browser extension that searches for all related email addresses from a given domain. What's more, it tells you the estimated probability of a response to a given email address. Even if you don't manage to find a specific email address of a potential customer, Hunter provides a typical pattern of email addresses associated with a given domain, allowing you to make an effective guess at your customer's contacts. With the Google Sheets add-on, the tool also allows you to collect e-mail addresses in bulk, finding all related e-mails to a domain and automatically copying them to a Google spreadsheet.
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Prospecting is the process of finding and identifying potential customers for products or services offered by a company. The goal is to make contact with potential customers and convince them to buy or use the services.
There are many prospecting strategies, but the three most popular are:
Customer acquisition can be done in many ways, including through:
Gaining customers requires a systematic approach and a variety of activities. A few effective methods include:
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