The Role of Prospecting in the Sales Process

Introduction

As we begin to examine the role of prospecting in sales, let’s take a look at the basic sales process. Before a person becomes a customer, and hopefully a repeat customer, they must first be a prospect. You will always have more prospects than customers, since not every person you contact will see the benefit in the product or service you are offering. Figure 1 shows the basic development of a prospect in the sales process.

The Changing Face of Prospecting

Like everything else about business, prospecting changes on a regular basis. The way that we reach prospects will naturally reflect changes in our methods of communication and our technologies. The history of prospecting over the last several decades has changed dramatically, but the most dramatic changes have come since the advent of the internet and web-based advertising. Plus, the trend towards globalization means that we have to consider ways of communicating with others who may have very different needs than the customers we have worked with before.

Prospects and customers have changed as well. Today, we as customers expect immediate, convenient, individualized service. If one organization doesn’t provide it, chances are we have another choice to turn to. So understanding your potential customers is vital to overcoming the competition and learning what it will take to help your prospect choose your product or service rather than the competition’s. In Figure 2 below, a comparison is made between traditional prospecting of the 1960s–1980s and modern prospecting. You’ll see how the way we work with prospects has been impacted by the changes in our modern environment and by customer expectations.

Let’s examine the information in Figure 2 in more detail. Whereas once it was enough to know the

product you were selling when looking for prospects, today you need to know more than the product. You need to know what your prospects are dealing with in their own businesses. You should be able to answer the following questions about your prospects:

• ·        What are their needs?
• ·        What are their challenges?
• ·        What do their own customers and partners need?
• ·        How can my product or service meet the prospect or the prospect’s customers’ needs or assist with the challenges that the prospect is facing?
• ·        How will my product or service make the prospect more competitive in their own marketplace?

If you don’t know the answer to these questions, you won’t be able to convert a prospect to a customer. However, you might not know all of this information when you first contact the prospect. Your first contact might involve some information-gathering with the prospect before you can know all of this information.

Next, Figure 2 tells us that the way that your offering will be judged by a prospect has changed. In the past, your prospect would have been interested in comparing your price to your competition’s and making a choice based solely on cost. But today, your prospects will want to know more about your company. They will decide on a provider based in part on non-financial aspects of your offering, such as your company’s values, ethics, social responsibility, environmental responsibility, and more.

What this means for the salesperson is that you will need to know more than just your product or service. You will need to be familiar with the aspects of your company that will be of interest to your prospects. You will have to present this information as part of your sales presentation so that the prospect knows what kind of company they are considering doing business with.  

This leads us to the next item in Figure 2 – that you may not be the only person in your organization that deals with the prospect. In giving the prospect the full picture of your organization, you may need to bring in other representatives of the organization to help you. Plus, once you’ve made initial contact, your prospect may be having conversations with others in your organization as part of their selection process. For example, the prospect may want to speak to your product’s technical team in order to review what changes would be necessary to their internal fulfillment systems if they choose your product. This means that in many cases, though you’ll be making the initial contact on your own, it will take your team’s effort to transform a prospect into an actual customer.

Finally, Figure 2 mentions the change in focus that organizations have for their sales teams. In traditional sales environments, the focus has been only on prospecting and acquiring new customers. Today, though prospecting is important, organizations now encourage salespeople to focus on retaining current customers and selling new products and services to them. This is because it is much easier and more cost effective to prospect amongst your existing customers.