One of the most difficult steps of the sales process is prospecting. Prospecting is one of the most vital stages of successful selling. You can have the best product or service in the world but you will not consistently produce new business if you only have a few qualified prospects. The more qualified prospects in your sales pipeline, the more opportunities you will have to generate sales. The 7 keys to prospecting success are mentioned below.

1. Identify Your Target Market: identify market segment(s) where potential customers have a need or problem that can be successfully met by your product offerings. You must also have a deep understanding of your target market to build trust with your potential customers.

2. Identify Your Potential Prospects: develop a list of potential prospects within your target market. Personal contacts, lead lists, library resources, and the Internet are potential sources you can use.

3. Evaluate Your Potential Customers: screen your potential prospects based on having sufficient monetary resources, the authority to make a purchase decision, and a need for your product offering. During the first meeting, you may have to fully qualify your potential customers.

4. Prepare a Prospecting Script: develop a script to stay focused and consistent as you briefly illustrate how you can provide value by meeting the prospects‘ needs or situation. Also incorporate responses to common objections or rebuttals you expect to encounter.

5. Determine Initial Contact Preference: decide whether to utilize mail, personal connections, and/or referrals to transform your initial contact with potential customers from „cold“ to „warm“.

6. Contact Your Prospects: utilize your prospecting script to ask your potential customers for the sale by establishing meetings to present your product offering.

7. Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan: develop daily, weekly, and monthly prospecting goals and reserve time to meet these aspirations to ensure you keep a pipeline primed with qualified prospects.

You will create a solid foundation to an exciting, rewarding, and lucrative sales career by following the 7 steps to prospecting success.