Top 5 Tips for Sales Prospecting

Name: Badger Maps
Address: 1 Sansome Street, Suite 3500, PMB #42821, San Francisco, California, 94104, US
Telephone: 415-592-5909

By Liz Kaczmarek

Posted in Sales Productivity, Sales Tips, Lead Generation

By Liz Kaczmarek

Posted in Sales Productivity, Sales Tips, Lead Generation

Figure out who you want to target
- This is an important first step when sales prospecting. Are you aiming your efforts at people that you know are in the market for a product like yours? Do you want to focus on people who know about the product you’re selling and the benefits it brings? Or do you want to raise awareness of your product among those who don’t know much about it or don’t know they need it (yet)? Determining your target audience before talking to potential clients will help to make sure you aren’t wasting your time or the time of someone who isn’t interested in your product. An easy way to determine this is to use sales prospecting software. This will help you to find leads more quickly and more easily.
Customize your pitch
- You shouldn’t pitch to a bike repairman and a CEO of a local startup the same way. Customize your pitch so that it relates directly to who you are speaking with. Make sure you are specific about how your product can immediately help them and their business. Making mockups and tailored collateral for each potential client will give them a concrete idea of what your product will look like if they choose to do business with you. They will also be impressed by the fact that you took an extra step to show them that their business is important to you.

Following up is important, but so is not being annoying
- You need to follow up with initial contacts. Bottom line. Life gets busy and more likely than not, your sales pitch is not going to be at the forefront of the potential client's brain at all times. It may slip their mind or they may have questions and doubts that are preventing them from making a choice and reaching out to you. It’s important to remind them that you and your product are still there, but you don’t want to seem overly pushy or it can backfire. Make sure they know you are still there and interested in doing business with them, but don’t put them off by being too forceful.
Optimize your time
- Arguably the worst part of sales pitching is the seemingly inevitable downtime between pitches when you’re on your way to your next location. Route mapping can be a huge help with this. Before leaving your office for the day, make sure you have a solid plan of which businesses you plan on stopping by and where these businesses are located. It helps to lay these locations out on a map, so you can visualize the most streamlined way to hit as many businesses as possible. Using a route mapping app is a quick and easy way to do this. Route mapping before you go can mean more pitches and more business for you at the end of the day.
Be friendly
- This probably seems like common sense, but it’s so important that it’s still worth noting. Think about how everyone hates telemarketers. They’re boring and cold and they get hung up on nine times out of 10.While it is crucial to stay professional, you also need to show potential clients that you are a smiling, breathing human with a great sense of humor and a stylish haircut. Let your personality shine through a little bit. Not only will they like you better and therefore be more likely to respond positively to your sales pitch, but if they feel as if they know you on a personal level, they may feel guilty about shooting you down immediately. You may be able to charm your way into open ears and even a sale.