What Prospecting Is and Why It Matters
The job of finding new potential customers, and how this course is organised.
8 min
Activities: 0 of 2
Prospecting is the work of finding and contacting people and organisations who might buy from you, before they have contacted you. Lead generation is the wider activity of producing those first contacts, through sales outreach, marketing, events and referrals.
Every sale starts as a first conversation. If nobody is starting new conversations today, there will be no sales in a few months. Prospecting is how a salesperson makes sure there is always a next customer to talk to.
How the course is organised
- 1
Module 1
Prospecting Basics
Words, numbers and simple lead checks.
- 2
Module 2
Targeting
Who to approach, research, your records and data protection.
- 3
Module 3
Outbound Channels
Calls, email, social selling, inbound, referrals and cadences.
- 4
Module 4
Conversations That Lead to Meetings
Openings, questions, booking meetings and passing leads on.
- 5
Module 5
Managing Prospecting
Rejection, routine, planning your week and your numbers.
- 6
Module 6
Putting It into Practice
Practice cases, common mistakes and a 30-day plan.
Worked example: the busy quarter
Hassan sells office equipment. In January and February he was busy with three large orders and made no new calls. In April, those orders were delivered and he had nobody new to talk to. His sales for May and June were very low. The problem was created in January, but he only saw it in April.
Worked example: the steady routine
His colleague Mariam spends one hour every morning, Sunday to Thursday, on new contacts, even when she is busy. Her sales are more even across the year, because there is always a new group of potential customers moving towards a decision.
What is prospecting?