How to organize your commercial prospecting in 2024?

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La prospecting Is part of the commercial strategy. Sales people are looking to pinpoint profiles corresponding to their proposal. Based on their needs And of their offering, they rely on various tools and sales techniques. The aim is to build and develop a commercial relationship trust with the consumer.

Commercial Prospecting: Definition and Objectives

La commercial prospecting has a single objective: to develop the company's turnover. To achieve this, salespeople must use various sales methods Who'sAdapt to the context and profile encountered.

What is commercial prospecting?

Commercial prospecting refers to the researching And theidentification potential new customers. It's about the first step of the sales cycle.

By directly interviewing the needs of consumers, salespeople will know how to make the right decisions and offer the optimal solution. The objective is to establish a first contact with the prospect and of the retain throughout the sales process until closing.

What is land prospecting?

In the digital age, the land prospecting continues to prove itself. This method of canvassing consists of meet The prospects in Face-to-face.

The aim is to present the offer to customer potential and to achieve the convince face to face. By winning this trust, the salesman gets his contact and seeks to expand a commercial relationship with him over the long term.

This strategy requires times And of theorganizing. Indeed, it includes a lot of displacements at the place of activity of each person.

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What is the objective of commercial prospecting?

Commercial prospecting has two main objectives.

One of the goals of this stage is to serve an interest. financier. The company seeks to increase sales, sound turnover and thus improve its growth. Prospecting allows him to feed his customer portfolio and develop its business opportunities.

The other objective is linked to thecustomer support. Prospecting meets a growing need for customers to benefit from a tracking And of tips during the sales process.

How to do a good commercial prospecting?

Good commercial prospecting is not based on quantity interactions, but on their quality.

The main challenge of this exercise is to recruit customer profiles Relevant. That is, prospects that correspond to the intended audience by the goods and services sold.

Every business can do the picks of the strategy that meets its needs. There are numerous tools and numerous wherewithal to contact prospects.

One outbound prospecting has the particularity of being Initiated By the commercial with a customer who does not yet know the proposal. La inbound prospecting, on the contrary, is solicitedAnd by the Prospect who is already showing interest in the offer.

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What are the prospecting techniques?

Commercial prospecting is a method that fits to the needs of the business. Depending on his Strength of proposal And of sound target audience, she will be able to change your approach. Each sales technique can be used successively or simultaneously of another.

Commercial prospecting by telephone call - Cold Calling

The Phoning, or Cold call, is a channel of contact by telephone with an interlocutor who is still foreign to the company.

In some situations, a call will be enough to trigger the sale. In more complex cases, the objective will rather be to draw attention to the offer, to retrieve the information and to schedule a meeting.

This sales technique is very useful for create a link with a prospect and understand your expectations quickly and effectively, even at a distance. The conversation is conducted in real time, often over a short period of time. The commercial must therefore be impacting and attentive because the prospect's responses are immediate. Before each call, prepare well and create vouchers Ice Breakers. One Icebreaker should be positive and exciting. It should make your prospect want to continue the conversation.

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Check out the 10 rules to get the best Icebreakers for free 👇

Commercial prospecting by email - Cold Emailing

The Cold-mailing consists of send Of cold emails to leads. To do this, the salesperson is launching email sequences, often via automation tools. It sends these messages to prospects, without necessarily prior contact.

Recipients are individuals identified suchlike opportunities through dedicated tools such as the CRM.

This canvassing is mostly used in B2B in order to generate new leads According to prospecting campaigns.

So the objective is to receive a response to the email andStart the conversation to continue the sales process. The cold emailing method allows you to reach a large audience previously identified with the same tool, all in very few times.

Business development and cold calling often go hand in hand, find out why!

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Commercial prospecting in the field

Direct canvassing in Face-to-face is a good way tointeract with the lead.

In B2B as in B2C, it is a meeting on place of activity.

Going to the site allows the Commercial land To make the discussion more Concrete and Human.

As the exchanges go on, the prospect learns to To know the commercial and its offer. The objective is to pass the presentation phase and try to convince the lead to accept a demonstration. The salesperson is looking for Meet the decision makers, either by an upcoming appointment, or by taking advantage of his presence on site at the same time.

This prospecting method However, requires a lot of times (travel, hotels etc...). In addition, individuals are often Reluctant to the impromptu visitors.

Commercial prospecting by SMS-MMS

Less well known than traditional marketing tools, the modern prospecting methods Like the SMS are, however, extremely effective.

This canvassing technique makes it possible toreach a large number of contacts and communicate easily with them.

Doing a prospecting campaign by SMS-MMS is unsophisticated, swift to set up and economic. In a few minutes, the salesman Schedule the shipment of his messages via one of the many platforms existing (Smsfactor, Primotexto) and only has to Wait for answers.

In order to avoid an overload of spam, this method is still framed by some business rules. Thus, salespeople can only reach customers who appear in their databases prerequisites. They cannot contact them at any time of the day and individuals can easily To oppose to these shipments.

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Social selling

Les social networks Have a influences And a stave very important. Today, most individuals have accounts on various platforms online. The main professional network for B2B sales is Linkedin.

The Social Selling is a method of canvassing where it is easy to find your contacts and Send a message directly on the platform.

The salesperson must pinpoint the profile that interests him and work on his message in a way clear and concise. If his approach is Personalized and Impactful, he may receive a response positive announcing the continuation of the interview.

What is the best prospecting technique?

He Does not exist Of prospecting technique basically better than another. It all depends on preferences Of the commercial, of the Prospect profile, of his habits And tools available. These factors will make it possible to determine the best prospecting method depending on the situation.

In reality, the right way to approach will be the one that will allow the company toexplore new markets, of growing influence And the repute of the company and of understand expectations and needs of the customer.

The salesperson needs to find the best way to reach these economic goals while bringing a human relationship. The tool and the prospecting channel chosen will make it possible to highlight its commercial qualities And of Differentiate competitors.

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‍What are the steps of commercial prospecting?

Commercial prospecting is far from being a speech spontaneous. The salesperson must draw up a plan of readiness and work it. The objective is to reach its business goals and keep a high conversion rate. For this, there are several steps.

Step 1: Define the objective of my customer prospecting

There is no magic recipe. Each company has its own goals commercial prospecting. It is therefore important that the commercial Define upstream Her profile target customer, the desired results And theOrganization of canvassing.

Each objective should be aligned with the commercial strategy. That is to say, they have to be SMART (Simple - Measurable - Achievable - Realistic - Timely).

Each step is thought out to scale individual suchlike Collective so that the prospecting process takes place in the most efficient way fluid and efficient possible.

Step 2: Identifying the ICP or Buyer Persona

Prospecting is in vain if the contact is not made Thoughtful. It would be a shame if the commercial Invest time and money for Start a profile that does not correspond at all to the proposal.

So you have to pinpoint the profile ofthe target customer. It is a job to determine the type of individual who would be interested by the products or services offered. Thus, the salesperson has a better chance oflead to a sale if there is a compatibility between the lead and the offer.

He must therefore adjust its sales methods and give priority to some marketing tools depending on the context.

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Step 3: Create a prospecting file

It is a long but necessary work. After having identified The ideal customer profile, you have to build a prospecting base with the people to contact.

The salesperson has a job of researching, in particular via Linkedin and others CRM tools, to find the potential prospects filling out the criteria given. It then gathers this information into a file.

For the rest of his mission, he will be able to recover these contacts. The challenge will be to optimize the commercial techniques to Generater the maximum of Leads.

Step 4: Create a specific sales pitch

Once prospects have been identified, a way must be found to Interpell. The first contact is always the most significant. The salesperson must therefore perfect his approach tactic.

The message should be clear, concise and personalized, the lead must feel that we Speaks to him And to his interests. Thanks to CRM And to informations that he could share online, the salesperson already benefits from a first vision of His personality. For Start the conversation, the interlocutor should already have an idea of his needs And of his expectations. This preparation provides a greater effect vocational and impacting.

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Step 5: Contact and start prospecting

On D-Day, the salesperson must be ready, but still be pliable. Depending on the profile and context of the meeting, he will surely be led to change your approach.

He has to show up gracious and empathetic. But it must above all be persevering and reachable.

Prospecting is not one-sided. It's not just about talking but also aboutListen to your prospect. The salesperson must succeed in finding the right one poise Between sound presentation time And his exchange time. It is necessary Questioning The lead, invite him to talk about his needs and of its cravings.

The aim is to arouse interest and create a relationship of trust between the two parties.

Step 6: Prospecting follow-up

In commercial prospecting, the seller must succeed in giving priority to quality To the quantity.

Not all prospects will become patrons. It is therefore important that the salesperson succeeds in distinguish the relevant profiles in order to focus your times And his silver On these opportunities.

In order to maintain a good relationship with these, he must continue tointeract with them. Les CRM tools and meetings are the best way to move the process forward. By responding to questions And showing up disponible, the commercial stands out of competition and Perfect its sales techniques.

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BtoB vs BtoC commercial prospecting

Whether you are in a market B2B or B2C, or both, will drastically transform the approach to be adopted. This nuance can completely change the way in which the salesperson must approach the prospecting of his customers. Depending on the context, he must succeed in recognize the strategy to adopt and be ready to change your actions.

What is the difference between BtoB and BtoC customer prospecting?

Between the Business to Consumer And the Business to Business, the target profiles And the marketing techniques Can completely differ.

The main difference is the public. The customers of B2C businesses are individuals. These consumers represent the most important part of the market but also a average shopping cart plus weak. B2B customers are professionals. More experts, however, they are Fewer, but their Unit value is often more High.

As such, salespeople will have to adjust their way of prospecting. Les goods and services requested, the contents And the nature ofthe commercial relationship depend on the B2B or B2C situation.

The main points of attention in BtoB

• The target

In B2B, the consumer is an individual who intervenes within the framework of his Occupation. His areas of interest are here linked to needs of his business And of Its activity. They are generally fine Informed on the offer intended to enable them to reach their objectives.

• The reason for buying

B2B customers rely a lot on others decision makers and others external factors at their will. The buying cycle Is more long and intricate Because of all the middlemen.

These leads are looking for a trusted contact person With whom to establish a partnership long (contract) if the sale is satisfactory.

• The commercial relationship

Sales representatives should promote a expert vocabulary in order to allow the interlocutors toidentify the offer and to put more trust in the repute of the company.

The main points of attention in BtoC

• The target

In B2C, the customer is a humane Who generally consumes for his personal pleasure. In the purchase, he seeks to satisfy a need Or a longing. He is trying to be rational in its decisions but often lacksexpertise on the subject.

• The reason for buying

Here, the consumer is often single to make this choice, but Get informed more. So the process is generally more short.

• The commercial relationship

The tone adopted should be more reachable and gracious. The salesperson must Addressing emotions of the prospect. The customer is not looking for a business relationship, so the salesperson must convince him to keep in touch.

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What are the best prospecting tools?

• The CRM

Its field of action is very wide (marketing, follow-up, customer management...). This organization tool allows you to retain in the same place all of its data. Thus, the salesperson can easily find his lead contacts and see theevolution ofthe sales process.

• Social networks

Social networks are an easy way to use. Most potential prospects are already connected on these platforms. Sites such as LinkedIn allow salespeople to obtain public information easily. It is also an effective way toengage the conversation. Often, the salesperson builds his nears On a common point Or a center of interest noticed on his profile.

• The telephone

With the democratization of Means of communication, the telephone is becoming an essential tool. It allows a Time saver and Of silver consistent. Each salesperson can generate several leads in a short period of time. Making contact is simple butSpam effect can make the task complex. Prospects are often Reluctant to take the call.

• Prospecting software

These platforms are designed exclusively for the smooth running of commercial prospecting. Ses functionalities include all canvassing actions. The aim is to simplify the work of the salesperson. He can Contact more leads and ensure a quality follow-up. It has access to commercial pipeline In order toAnticipate reminders. Les activity statistics are updated gradually in order to maintain a relevant strategy.

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