In the last few decades, the explosion of the internet has revolutionized the way we buy and sell our goods and services. While such transactions used to take place in person or perhaps over the phone, an increasing percentage of deals are now conducted online. And not only has technology streamlined the sales process, but it has also given a significant boost to sales prospecting techniques.
First thing’s first, of course: if you’re not a veteran of the industry, you’re probably asking “What is sales prospecting?” right around now. Simply put, sales prospecting is a method of information gathering that lets you learn more about your ideal customer profile (ICP), allowing you to tailor your marketing to them and more easily add them to your sales funnel.
Traditionally, this involved analogue trial-and-error processes, such as knocking on doors, thumbing through phone directories and cold calling prospective customers. However, technology has advanced those techniques no end – and below are three of the more effective methods of sales prospecting in the 21st century.
Social media
Any salesperson worth their salt will know that striking up a rapport with your target market is crucial to inching closer to the signature on that dotted line. In the days before Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, forging such a relationship could have taken hours, days, weeks or even months as you struggle to find a time that’s convenient for them, then work out what makes them tick.
Social media has streamlined that entire process. For starters, many people openly display their likes and dislikes on their profile, giving you access to the information you desire without lifting a finger. What’s more, such sites are a great platform to engage with your audience by asking them questions, responding to their queries and building mutual trust between you both.
Big data
Today, it’s common practice for pretty much all websites and applications to collect cookies which monitor their visitors’ online activity. However, the value that this brings to a salesperson’s prospecting arsenal cannot be understated, since they are able to identify those people who are more likely to be a good fit for their product or service.
This not only facilitates the role of the marketing department, who can direct targeted ads towards the individual in question, but should also make all other parts of the sales process easier, as well. After all, if you have something that you know someone wants, it’s much simpler to sell it to them at a price which suits you both.
Webinars
Live events still represent a fantastic way to get your company’s name out there and learn more about your target market in the process. However, the gradual migration of operations into an online environment has not excluded conferences, talks and exhibitions, with webinars an increasingly popular method of sales prospecting.
In fact, recent research conducted by the KLA Group found that 78% of people had attended a webinar, but fewer than half had hosted one themselves. This represents a missed opportunity to turn in-person events into virtual ones and access new markets at a fraction of the cost and effort of traditional methods.
Technology has transformed all aspects of our daily lives. For companies which thrive on selling products or services to their customers, it’s been a massive boon in terms of prospecting capabilities, and these three innovations underline why.
