A Comprehensive Guide On Sales Prospecting

What is sales prospecting and how can it help raise your sales? In this article, XANT will give you a guide on sales prospecting, its benefits, and sales prospecting strategies you can utilize to maximize its benefits.

Sales Prospecting 101

 1. Sales Prospecting for the Pros

If you’re looking to have more conversations with the right people, persistence is key. Data shows that most sales reps today stop at sending an email or placing one phone call. The best sales professionals will not give up so fast. They create a sales cadence with multiple touch points, including a variety of sales communication channels: calls, texts, email, social media, voicemail, event direct mail, and video.

Gabe Larsen, VP of Growth for XANT, and Michael Pedone, founder and CEO of SalesBuzz, are going to show you the winning formula for sales prospecting. Click to read Sales Prospecting for the Pros.

2. Sales Prospecting For the Pros: 5 Secrets to Build a Winning Cadence

Prospecting is grueling work, and most sales reps fail due to lack of trying. Data from XANT Labs shows that the most utilized sales cadence is one single email when trying to contact leads. It’s an appalling number, given that most prospects need around six touches to respond. We’ve teamed up with Michael Pedone, CEO of SalesBuzz, to see what makes a winning sales cadence and a great sales conversation. Click to read 5 Secrets to Build a Winning Cadence.

3. Inside Sales Prospecting Tip: Match Your Phone Pitch to the Needs/Interests of Your Prospect

Wait, don’t pick up that phone! At least don’t start dialing before considering who you’re calling and where they fall on the benefits pyramid. Knowing where a prospect fits on this pyramid can make all the difference as to whether or not you get your toe in the door. Click to read Inside Sales Prospecting Tip.

4. 9 Common Yet Avoidable Mistakes in Sales Prospecting Emails

Writing is such an important part of sales in this modern age, and it’s essential we do it right. In the past, you may have been talking to clients face-to-face or over the phone. Today we live in the age of writing content, letters and, most importantly, emails.

When writing sales emails, in many cases it will be the first interaction that you have with a potential customer. If you get it wrong or make a mistake, it could be a customer lost forever.

Let’s explore nine of the most common sales prospecting email mistakes that you need to avoid in order to maximize your opportunities for success. Click to read Common Yet Avoidable Mistakes in Sales Prospecting Emails.

5. Art Sobczak, Telephone Sales Prospecting Legend, to Speak at Sales Acceleration Summit

XANT is delighted to announce the addition of Art Sobczak, one of the world’s leading authorities on telephone sales prospecting, to the lineup of speakers at this year’s Sales Acceleration Summit.

A 31-year industry veteran, Sobczak has authored five books that help salespeople generate revenue by saying and doing the right things on the phone.

If your sales strategy utilizes a phone in any way, shape or form, Sobczak has relevant information to help your business. Click to read Art Sobczak, Telephone Sales Prospecting Legend.

6. 4 Common Myths About Sales Prospecting, Destroyed

Still under the impression that cold calling is dead, or that buyers don’t really read your content? Don’t believe a word you hear, because you will be missing out on solid opportunities. A recent RAIN group study of 489 sellers shows some common myths about sales prospecting and debunks them with hard data. Click to read 4 Common Myths About Sales Prospecting.

RELATED: Cold Calling vs Digital Prospecting – Let the Battle Begin!

7. [Live Webinar] Data-Driven Sales Prospecting

Within the last few years, there has been a shift in the way salespeople are conducting sales. Not only is the majority of sales done remotely over the phone (the inside sales model), but the way lead research and data append are performed has become the new frontier of sales.

To further educate the inside sales industry on the best practices to achieving growth with targeted lists and an inside sales team, ZoomInfo and XANT have come together to present a webinar, “Data-Driven Sales Prospecting.” Click to read Data-Driven Sales Prospecting.

8. 4 Sales Prospecting Tips to Surge Ahead With Power Hours

Running is one of my passions, both for the exercise and the challenge of pushing my body to its limits.

A few years ago, I was on a training run with a friend who is an Ironman triathlete. He’s the real deal – sub-three-hour marathon and in the top 30% of Ironman triathletes.

At the end of our run, we were pushing hard the last half-mile. I was maxing out my pace and giving it all the juice I had. I noticed that he would surge, then back off a little, then surge again. After our run I asked what he was doing, and he explained that you can actually run faster if you surge and then take short “breaks” in your pace throughout the race, especially at the end.

If you’re leading a sales team, here are four tips to follow when organizing “Power Hours.” Click to read 4 Sales Prospecting Tips.

9. Cold Calling and Sales Prospecting: A Day in the Life

Are your sales reps spending their time wisely?

CSO Insights reports that the average sales rep only spends two days a week effectively selling.

The rest of the time, your reps are probably looking for someone to call, writing emails, leaving voicemails and logging call notes.

Cold calling and sales prospecting teams often make these common mistakes that kill productivity. Click to read Cold Calling and Sales Prospecting.

10. Prospecting To CEOs | Skills You Need According To Matt Conway

Sales prospecting is one of the foundations of business, but sales reps often do not receive training on how to approach senior-level executives. In this post, we hear from sales expert Matt Conway as he shares his insights on why this happens and the skills needed to get the attention of C-level prospects, such as CEOs. Click to read How Sales Reps Can Skip Mid-level People and Close Deals with CEOs.

11. Prospecting At Scale To Grow Sales

Scaling your prospecting efforts becomes easier when you focus on these four vital components. Click to read Prospecting | Scale It Right with These Outbound Sales Components.

12. 4 Sales Tips for Making Contact and Avoiding “Prospect Badgering”

One of sales reps’ most common questions is, “How many dials does it really take to make contact with a decision-maker, and how do I know when I’ve reached my limit of “pleasant persistence” and am now merely angering the prospect?” Click to read How to Avoid “Prospect Badgering.

13. How We Built $700K in Sales Pipeline Using One Simple Strategy

Sales pipeline growth strategies are always a top business priority, as research shows time and again. So how do you approach your leads in a way that guarantees success? A winning strategy for building sales pipeline doesn’t have to be overly complicated or time-consuming. Joey Wood, Field Enterprise Sales Director at XANT, shared an incredible account-based sales tactic that got him $700K in pipeline and took just two weeks to put together. Click to read How We Built $700K in Sales Pipeline Using One Simple Strategy.

Properly utilizing sales prospecting strategies can help a business boost sales and reach their sales goals in no time. We hope this article helped you in understanding this concept better and figuring out how to better use it in your organization.

What sales prospecting strategies can you share? Share them with us in the comments section below!

Up Next: Definition of a Qualified Prospect and the Curse of the “Slow No”

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on October 31, 2018, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.