Sales Prospecting Definition

Sales Prospecting Definition: A sales prospecting definition is the sales activity involved in profiling, engaging and nurturing prospects so they become paying customers.

Sales prospecting
is NOT about trying to find buyers in the market now to purchase your
particular product or service.  It’s not that easy!!

The end goal is to
eventually move prospects through the sales funnel until they convert
into revenue-generating customers. It is associated with a goal of
increasing the customer base of the company and generating new revenue
streams.  This definition can be customized to a particular business to
account for their ideal customer profile, market, products and business
model.

Without new
customers, a business will have limited potential to grow, while some
sales growth will come from existing customers, it is not sustainable
due to customer loss, churn and circumstances. This is why sales
prospecting is one of the most important sales activities any
salesperson can undertake. Prospecting is the first step in the sales
process and the key which unlocks future relationships with paying
customers. Unfortunately, too many companies still do not have their own
sales prospecting definition which can lead to an unstructured approach
to acquiring new customers.

Sales prospecting is now a multi-channel activity covering social selling, emails, cold calling and events. Tactics include sharing content, white papers, articles and case studies along with offering demos, free trials or invites to events. It should also be noted that effective prospecting is a process not an event, it begins with researching a potential prospect, their industry, their business, establishing criteria as to why they are a suitable prospect and then putting in place a plan to gradually nurture a relationship with them prior to any sales pitch.

Some people ask “what the difference between a sales lead and a prospect?”

Well, leads are potential customers where you have either profiled them or who have expressed interest in your company or services through behaviors like visiting your website, subscribing to a blog, or downloading an eBook. So, leads are where you have some contact details, a match against a buying profile or an expression of interest via inbound marketing (regardless of how loose) so that you can prospect to them.

Then, leads become prospects if they engage with a salesperson and the interactions mean they could become a potential customer set against some qualifying criteria (size, existing situation, budget etc), meaning that they align with the profile of your target buyer.   A prospect may also be classified as a potential customer who has limited or no interaction with your company, but they would not be considered a lead.