All about: Sales prospecting tips

Prospecting is one of the major steps to successful selling. Obviously, making a sale starts with a good prospecting system. Hence, the process of selling should always begin with an in-depth discussion of sales prospecting. In this article, find all that you need to know on sales prospecting tips.

What exactly is a prospect?

Definition A prospect is someone who you think is able and willing to buy the products and services that you offer. Note that the words "able" and "willing" should co-exist in good prospects. A good prospect should be capable of purchasing the products and services that you sell. Similarly, s/he must also have a need or want for the particular product or service. A good prospect is not one who buys just for the sake of buying; rather one who buys because of a need or a want that should be filled. When looking for leads, it is necessary to look into the capability and the willingness of a person.

The importance of sales prospecting

The importance of prospecting and generating leads varies with the type of selling being discussed. For instance, retail salesperson doesn't necessarily need to do systematic prospecting tasks. On the other hand, seller and marketers of multilevel marketing (MLM) firms, online affiliate marketing, insurance sellers and housing and credit card agents greatly need a sound prospecting system. Efficiency and effectiveness
One of the major advantages of prospecting prior to selling is that it allows the salesman to be more efficient and effective. Through the process of prospecting, a smart salesman will eliminate unwilling or incapable leads and separate them from qualified leads. It gives salesmen more time to sell and prepare. Instead of wasting time on unwilling and incapable leads, a salesman who uses a sound prospecting system can spend that time on researching about the lives and interests of qualified leads.

Get the right sources and prospecting system

Using the right sources of prospects and employing a sound prospecting system are two of the main determinants of successful prospecting. As a salesman, you must know how people are connected. Salesmen should look for people who are centres of influence in a particular social circle and work from there. Salesmen can ask help from those people of influence or at least he/she can get names of willing and capable leads. Likewise, salesmen can also directly ask satisfied customers for referrals.