An effective sales strategy serves as a road map for business growth. The sales strategy is critical for future planning, problem solving, goal setting, and management. Implementing effective sales strategies can help with prospect identification and targeting, as well as enables customizing the approach for each client. This can help your team maximize their use of each sales opportunity and improve resource allocation. As a result, you could potentially be able to optimize the use of time, effort, and resources within your sales team. Increased efficiency can significantly improve your team’s ability to focus on high-potential deals. (Decker 2023, Sormunen 2023.)
Defining the prospecting strategy for business
The activity of identifying and contacting potential customers to generate new revenue is known as sales prospecting. Sales professionals prospect by locating and engaging with targets (qualified leads) to convert them into opportunities and then into customers (Cognism Limited 2023). Everything begins with the unique value proposition of the products or services offered to clients. In the context of sales, this refers to the positive business outcomes that your products or services can generate for your clients. This value represents the competitive advantage you have in the market.
Furthermore, it serves as a foundation for you to begin assessing the connection between your offerings and the potential influence they may have on the business performance of your potential customers. Value propositions specify which industry segment is most likely to purchase, which company of a certain size to approach, and which individual within those organizations to target. With this information, we can begin the process of creating an internal and external profile of our ideal customer. (Thull 2010, 96–97.)
A successful sales prospecting plan starts with understanding buyer personas to identify the best-fit customers. By understanding demographics, interests, and pain points, you can target sales prospecting to those most likely to buy. Reassessing and refining these personas help keep the plan relevant and effective. Focusing on the target industry and staying updated with market trends helps identify common issues and provide tailored solutions. (Iannarino 2009‒2023.)
To ensure a successful prospecting strategy, set realistic goals aligned with business goals and analyze company KPIs and sales cycles. Choose a diverse prospecting channel, such as email, social media, or phone calls, to engage prospects and satisfy different buyer personas. Prepare a compelling sales pitch, tailoring it to each buyer persona’s needs and pain points. Remember to customize your sales pitch and highlight the benefits and value of your product or service for each buyer persona. (Iannarino 2009‒2023.) And of course, the management of the organization must ensure the training and competence of key personnel (Sirkiä 2020.)
Authors
Hanna Sormunen is a student at the LAB university of Applied Sciences for a master’s degree in business administration and has many years of experience in b2b sales and sales process development.
Dr. Jukka Sirkiä is a Senior lecturer at the LAB University of Applied Sciences.
References
Iannarino, A. 2009‒2023. Fill Your Sales Pipeline: The Ultimate Guide to Prospecting Sales. Cited 28 Nov 2023. Available at https://www.thesalesblog.com/ultimate-guide-prospecting-sales
Cognism Limited. 2023. What is prospecting. Cited 28 Nov 2023. Available at https://www.cognism.com/what-is-prospecting
Decker, A. 2023. 22 Best Sales Strategies, Plans, & Initiatives for Success (Templates). HubSpot blog 17 October 2023. Cited 28 Nov 2023. Available at https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-strategy#what-is-a-sales-strategy
Kovalenko, O. 2023. How to Create a Sales Process That Actually Works [7 Steps]. Tidio blog 30 august 2023. Cited 28 Nov 2023. Available at https://www.tidio.com/blog/sales-process/
Mutabazi, P. 2022. Sales Prospecting Process. Cited 28 Nov 2023. Available at https://patrickzip20.medium.com/what-is-the-goal-of-sales-prospecting-and-why-is-it-a-big-deal-4041053fb1c4
Sirkiä, J. 2020. Leveraging digitalization opportunities to improve the business model. Lappeenranta: Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT. Cited 30 Nov 2023. Available at http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-335-560-6
Sormunen, H. 2023. Sales strategy for a non-profit organization. Case organization: JCI Havis Amanda. LAB University of Applied Sciences. Cited 30 Nov 2023. Available at https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023120634826
Thull, J. 2010. Mastering the Complex Sale: How to Compete and Win When the Stakes are High. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. e-books. Hoboken, New Jersey.
