Successful sales prospecting is a major challenge, crucial to any business development strategy. It is the key activity for sustaining your company’s business and increasing your market value.
Sales prospecting involves turning leads into prospects then converting them into customers, through the efficiency of your sales tunnel. Generating new business strengthens your competitive position and counteracts the attrition rate.
With the rise of digitisation, sales prospecting has undergone a profound transformation. An overview of its main challenges to help you develop your company’s business.
Sales prospecting to offset customer attrition
The attrition rate, or churn rate, is an indicator for measuring customer loss over a given period. It varies depending on the business sector and it is not uncommon for a company to post a churn rateof 10 to 20% per year.
In the digital age, customers are increasingly informed and able to find information for themselves. Seeking customer opinions, they no longer hesitate to ask for the services they think are right.
Unwavering loyalty to a brand or company is a thing of the past. One of the functions of sales prospecting is to compensate for this loss of customers by converting new prospects.
Sales prospecting, generating new business
Sales prospecting is essential to maintaining and developing turnover. To do this, sales teams must constantly generate new, qualified leads for new business opportunities.
By expressing their interest in your solutions, leads can be converted into prospects using an effective marketing strategy via:
- Inbound marketing: 80% of buyers find out about and buy their services online. Delivering relevant information through a tailored content marketing strategy boosts your leads and sales.
- Outbound marketing: traditional canvassing must be finely targeted and personalised, otherwise it is intrusive and inefficient.
- Nurturing: advancing the lead in the purchasing process by strengthening the business relationship and trust between the lead and the brand.
When properly managed, prospecting can be a tremendous growth lever for your company.
Sales prospecting to stand out from the competition
An effective prospecting strategy gives your company visibility and sets it apart from your competitors by making it stand out from the multitude of existing offers.
Targeted, customised prospecting increases your company’s reputation by leveraging its brand image.
Prospects are very sensitive to relationships and the user experience is fundamental to the success of your marketing strategy. Sales prospecting must convey a relevant message, providing a real solution for customers.
