How to establish a prospecting plan in 7 steps?

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Sans véritable plan de prospection commerciale, il est généralement très dur de réaliser ses objectifs de vente. Prospecter en suivant un plan d’actions efficace, de concert avec des campagnes marketing, permet en effet d’atteindre ses clients cible et d’obtenir les résultats escomptés, à savoir la croissance de l’entreprise et de ses chiffres de vente. Cela fait donc partie des étapes clés de la stratégie à mettre en place par l’équipe commerciale. Chez Akimbo, l'externalisation de la prospection démarre toujours par un plan de prospection.

Qu’est-ce qu’un plan de prospection commerciale ?

Le plan de prospection commerciale est une liste d’étapes à suivre pour générer des leads et déterminer les prospects qui seront les plus susceptibles de devenir de potentiels clients. C’est donc un moment crucial du processus de vente. A ce stade, l’objectif n’est pas encore tout à fait de vendre, mais plutôt de comprendre quel est le prospect cible et quelle méthode doit être adopté pour l’approcher. 

C'est quoi un plan de prospection ?

Utilisé dans le cadre d’une vente BtoB ou BtoC, c’est un ensemble d’actions qui permet à la fois de trouver de nouveaux prospects, mais aussi de définir les moyens de les contacter en déterminant les canaux et les messages à privilégier.

Équipés d’outils CRM, les commerciaux doivent aussi rédiger un script de vente et choisir à la fois les techniques commerciales et le moment idéal pour approcher un prospect. Le but étant ainsi de créer une relation de confiance avec un lead pour tenter d’en faire un client dans un second temps.

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A quoi sert un plan de prospection commerciale ?

Ce plan d’actions permet d’identifier le client cible, autrement dit celui qui est vraiment intéressé par l’entreprise et ses produits, et qui signera très certainement une vente. C’est un process particulièrement important car il permet d’approcher le bon lead et de ne pas perdre de temps dans des cycles de ventes longs et vains. 

Aussi, même si certains clients ne sont pas intéressés à l’idée d’acheter dans l’immédiat, cela permet de collecter et conserver leurs données pour les recontacter dans le futur et se créer d’autres opportunités commerciales.

Comment faire une bonne prospection ?

Pour bien prospecter, il est important de faire des recherches sur les prospects que l’on souhaite targeter. Dans le cadre d’une prospection BtoB, on peut par exemple définir des critères en termes de budget, de taille de la structure, du secteur d’activité… 

La définition des objectifs de chiffre d’affaires passe aussi par le choix de méthodes commerciales et de canal d’approche (LinkedIn, cold emailing, cold calling etc) et par l’utilisation d’outils CRM pour échanger avec les potentiels clients et suivre les étapes des cycles de ventes. 

Enfin, une bonne prospection passe nécessairement par la rédaction d’un script commercial efficace : celui-ci doit contenir suffisamment d’informations pour convaincre le prospect d’acheter, tout en étant dynamique et concis.

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Comment faire un plan de prospection commerciale ?

Prospecter fait partie des actions indispensables au bon déroulement d’une campagne marketing car cela permet de récolter de nombreux leads. La prospection est chronophage et est donc souvent négligée. Pourtant, avec un bon planning et des techniques pertinentes, un commercial démarche facilement et rapidement. 

Voici les étapes nécessaires à la construction de plans de prospection efficaces.

Étape 1 : Déterminer ses objectifs de prospection

Dans un premier temps, il est nécessaire de définir ses objectifs car chaque entreprise souhaite atteindre des résultats différents - de ce fait, le client cible, les méthodes de prospection et la récurrence de l’action de démarcher vont différer. Chaque objectif doit être aligné avec la stratégie commerciale et être connu des commerciaux, car ce sont eux les premiers acteurs du processus de prospection. Pour être pertinent, les objectifs doivent être SMART : 

-       Simples, autrement dit clairs et facilement compréhensibles par le commercial

-       Mesurables, car on doit pouvoir aisément estimer s’ils ont été atteints dans les délais

-       Atteignables, puisqu’il peut être décourageant de ne jamais pouvoir les réaliser

-       Réalistes face aux moyens humains, technologiques et financiers de la structure

-       Temporels, c’est-à-dire déterminés dans un délai imparti pour en faciliter le suivi et l’analyse.

Les objectifs peuvent faire l’objet d’un travail d’équipe ou d’une performance individuelle, en fonction des entreprises.

Step 2: Determine your target - ICP & Buyer persona

La Definition of the target is crucial to ensure that you generate the right leads and find prospects who can really become potential customers. First of all, you must therefore ask yourself who you want to address during your marketing campaign.

To properly prospect, we can therefore first create the ICP, in other words the ideal customer of the company, by determining its geographical location, professional status and areas of interest, for example.

This will thus make it possible to better understand your needs and the problems he may encounter (in his personal life, in a B2C setting, or in his professional life, in a B2B setting).

We can thus set up an approach by 4 steps:

1. Identifying customer needs, through research, interviews, surveys, and active listening.

2. The reflection with the entire sales team around the needs identified in order to understand what techniques should be adopted to approach these customers

3. The creation of a commercial method adapted based on all the information collected and the ideas exchanged

4. Data collection and feedback to constantly improve the approach method and specify its ICP over time.

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Step 3: Create a file of prospects to contact

In order to approach prospects in the best possible way, it is important to carry out searches beforehand. This is what makes it possible to collect data crucial for adapting both its commercial methods and channels, but also its commercial pitch.

By using CRM tools, a salesperson can gather this information and learn more about their prospects: about their professional situation, about their position and about the needs of their business using the example of a B2B exchange.

The more data collected, the more equipped salespeople are to engage in a conversation with a potential customer and succeed in convincing them of the benefits of the product or service to be sold.

This prospects file is also essential for follow the different cycles and their progress, and to avoid wasting time. It allows you to remember the content of the exchanges in order to build a solid relationship with the customer while ruling out an uninterested or uninteresting lead.

Step 4: Choose which prospecting channels to choose

When you know who is the target customer and what are his areas of interest, it is necessary to determine the best wherewithal to approach him. To do this, you must choose one or more prospecting channels which you will have to go through to start the conversation.

There are many such as emails, social networks, advertisements, newsletters, newsletters, events, blogs, calls... The list is long and it will be necessary to do several tests before finding the ones that will best suit the marketing strategy that we want to set up.

In general, you will always have to combine several to reach your different types of prospects. For example, you can send a newsletter to give more information about the product or service you are selling, but also use social networks to create quality content and develop a good online presence. The advertising will also allow users to be redirected directly to the company's website.

Step 5: Create the sales pitch

The script must necessarily be adjusted to the stage at which the prospect is located in the sales funnel. Whether you are making a very first contact with a lead or talking to a customer who is about to make a purchase, you need to find the argument that will best suit them to convince them that the product meets their specific needs.

To do this, you have to write a pitch that contains commercial arguments adapted to all situations. The latter must therefore:

- Present the main strengths of the product or service and respond to doubts and potential objections

- Encouraging exchangee and avoid closed-ended questions or contradictions that could cut short the discussion

- Be based onActive listening and put the prospect and their needs at the center of the conversation

- To be clear and relatively concise, to avoid annoying the interlocutor

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Step 6: Confront prospects and adjust the sales pitch

After defining the channels, the message and the tools the most relevant to get in touch with the prospect, it is time to approach them. Discussing their problems, needs, motivations and doubts is a good way to approach them to identify their expectations right from the start.

In fact, you have to make sure that the product or service you want to sell to him is a solution that is adapted to them, in order to then present it to him and convince him of its benefits.

At this stage, it is therefore appropriate to ask him some questions to better understand its Pain points : for example, we can ask him what are the obstacles he encounters on a daily basis, and how much time or money this costs him. This allows you to adapt your pitch and to be able to deal with any objections.

According to the responses of potential customers, it is necessary to personalize your approach and to listen carefully to his doubts and fears in order to know how to reassure him and respond appropriately. Asking him when he would be ready to buy, how much is his budget and whether he has any hierarchical constraints is also useful for avoid cycles that last for a long time.

Step 7: Updating the process and monitoring the prospecting

Take a step back and analyze its performance can be difficult, but it is nevertheless essential in the success of a marketing campaign.

You must therefore be able to measure your efforts and be able toDetermine if a goal has been achieved or not. It also allows you to know adjust both his method, its schedule and its budget prospecting for future campaigns.

So there are a few elements that you can follow regularly to assess your performance:

- Website traffic, using Google Analytics or other tools to monitor the click rate, impression rate, and conversion rate. It is also useful for defining the channel that brings in the most visitors

- Lead generation, in numerical terms, according to each channel. This is a good way to know if you should focus on direct or indirect prospecting or focus on both.

- The quality of exchanges and the feedback received from customers. Complete CRM software allows them to be analyzed quite easily and provides valuable advice for adapting approach methods.

- The ROI, the most important measure, to ensure that the time and money invested in the current process are sufficiently profitable.

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Prospecting plan FAQ

How to make a B2B prospecting plan?

There are no one-size-fits-all prospecting plans that work perfectly for all businesses. Each structure must of course adapt its methods En according to his budget And of sound Scheduling, because it is a process that takes time and energy.

On the other hand, there is indeed a set of actions that everyone must respect in order to prospect effectively: first, by defining your target customer, by researching it and collecting data.

This will allow him to contact him in a second step and toAdjust your speech according to the needs of each prospect.

Finally, take care of your customer relationship, evaluate its performance and reviewing your methods to optimize them is also essential to achieve your goals.

How to make a telephone prospecting plan?

La telephone prospecting is, even today, a good way to approach prospects to present them with a product or service.

Very direct, this method requires a certain amount of preparation: before contacting a lead, you must find out about their position and professional situation. LinkedIn is very useful to get this kind ofinformations quickly.

Also, you have to Choosing the right time to call the prospect and be sure to have their undivided attention.

Finally, the pitch should be all the more short and dynamic : the first seconds are the most important to interest your interlocutor.

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How do you write a convincing commercial offer?

To increase its chances of convincing a lead to make a purchase, the personalization of exchanges is absolutely necessary. Calling him by his first name and remaining friendly and caring allows you to create a relationship of trust, making him more likely to listen to your suggestions.

Identify your needs and Pain points relatively early in the discussion also allowsAdapt your speech and to offer him a perfect solution to the problems he may encounter in his daily life.

Also, by testing different channels and different types of messages, we can observe the results to determine which ones we should focus on in order to be ever more effective and profitable.

What commercial prospecting technique should you use in your plan?

Whether we prefer to use direct or indirect methods, there are several ways to reach new customers:

- Emails and calls

- Social networks and the LinkedIn approach

- The creation of qualitative content on social networks

- Business events and forums

- Face-to-face meetings and door-to-door meetings...

Do not hesitate to Try several to determine which one is best for your marketing strategy and to your financial, human and technological resources.

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