Prospecting Leads: An Overview

A Prospect is defined as a potential buyer of your product or service. A Mailing List is a list of potential prospects. Prospecting Leads is a process where Prospects are identified. It is the next step after generating a lead.

One of the major questions that come with anyone who wishes to target a product or service is "Who are my prospects?" A very simplistic answer to this question may be- everyone. Of course that is an approach which is highly optimistic. However in reality everyone is not a prospect. A more realistic approach is required to determine who is a prospect.

As a first step ask yourself the question "Who is your ideal prospect?" After you have identified the particular segment or geographical area with which you wish to work with create a sales plan to get to the prospects. Untiring and relentless efforts, innovative approaches and a will to succeed are all essential ingredients towards identifying your prospect. In case you are in competition with another company selling you product, then remember that approaching an already qualified prospect is a very good idea.

Investigating leads and screening out those which are most likely to buy helps eliminate the costs associated with cold calls. Cold Calls are usually carried out on a hunch or on some information which usually cannot be relied upon. It can result in a lot of frustration and demoralization of a sales force. A qualified list can have information on who is the decision-maker. When you have a list of qualified prospects it becomes a easier for the sales force to focus their attention and make calls.

Needless to say, the sales force should stay in touch with the prospects on a regular basis.

One novel method of prospecting leads is using an affiliate program. An affiliate is quite simply an agency with whom you tie-up using an affiliate program. As per the program the affiliate undertakes to prospect your lead or market your product for you. You pay them a percentage of what they sell. The better your commission structures are the better affiliates you can associate with. Besides regular commission, awards and incentives go a long way in motivating affiliates.

To remove any ambiguity about what is an effective lead a Universal Lead Document should be created. The ULD defines the characteristics of an effective lead. This approach removes any miscommunication between marketing and sales. The characteristics of a ULD will never be constant. They will change. Marketing and sales should meet on a regular basis in order to review the accuracy of the ULD.

Adequate provisions for prospecting should be made in marketing budgets. Prospecting Leads is an exercise which can be handled in-house or outsourced.