Every job inevitably has that one thing you dread doing but just have to get through. For many salespeople, that’s prospecting. Many sales reps feel like it’s an uphill battle to find and connect with potential buyers. The statistics back this up – 40% of salespeople agree that prospecting is the most challenging part of […]
Every job inevitably has that one thing you dread doing but just have to get through. For many salespeople, that’s prospecting.
Many sales reps feel like it’s an uphill battle to find and connect with potential buyers. The statistics back this up – 40% of salespeople agree that prospecting is the most challenging part of the sales process. And over half (54%) of sales pros say selling is even harder now than it was just a year ago.
So why exactly is prospecting such a tough nut to crack? And what can you do to make that first step a little easier? Those are big questions with a whole host of potential answers that just one blog couldn’t cover completely. But for the sake of brevity, let’s dive into some of the key reasons prospecting is so difficult – and explore some tips for smoothing out the process.
Why is prospecting so hard?
From inaccurate data to changes in buyer behavior, there are tons of obstacles that make prospecting feel like an endless slog. Here are some of the biggest reasons this part of the sales process is so difficult:
1. Lack of quality contact or account data
Having to sift through incomplete, inaccurate, or duplicate data is one of the major roadblocks in the way of successful, efficient prospecting. One study found that on average, a whopping 40% of business-to-business leads are basically useless – whether due to invalid info, missing details, or just being duplicates.
And it’s not just inbound leads – outbound has a data quality issue, too. According to G2, 90% of GTM teams feel that using a sales intelligence tool is essential to getting their job done. But a lot of those databases are full of bad data like incomplete profiles, HQ switchboards, and stale information. Case in point: 85% of sellers in 2020 say they lost or had to push back a deal due to a prospect being in a new role.
That means sales reps waste too much time chasing dead ends instead of viable prospects. And when the average cold response rate is just 1-5%, you can’t afford that kind of waste.
2. A dynamic market
Let’s dive more into that stale information piece.
People change jobs constantly – for example, 20 CEOs leave their jobs every half hour – and that means that your prospects or main points of contact for an account could be there one day and gone the next. Or a target company may be doing well one month, and hanging on by a thread the next with no budget to speak of.
So even when you actually have that complete, high-quality data, it’s only relevant for so long. And even after you’ve established a connection, that doesn’t mean things will be smooth sailing from that point onward.
Constant changes in the market mean that staying on top of your prospecting information is challenging, to say the least.
3. Clunky tech
Even when you have reasonably complete and accurate data, the wrong tools can hold you back. 70% of business intelligence users admit to having pretty limited tech skillsets, but many sales intelligence tools are anything but straightforward. Struggling with complex, clunky UX only slows down the prospecting process and makes it harder than it needs to be.
And that’s before you even consider integrations. Some tools have integrations that are complicated and difficult to navigate, adding a layer of complexity to your tech stack. Other integrations are unstable, so that your systems don’t communicate properly. Of course, that’s assuming there are integrations at all. If your most-needed tools don’t integrate with each other, that can mean more inefficient manual work to transfer data from one system to another.
4. Complex target markets
Gone are the days of focusing on a single buyer persona or ideal customer profile (ICP). Now sales teams have to juggle pursuing multiple distinct buyer personas across industries, company sizes, geographic regions, product/service niches, and more. With the average B2B purchase decision involving 5 decision-makers, finding just your one shiny ideal customer doesn’t cut it. And spraying a slew of cold contacts with the same generic pitch is a recipe for failure, too. But finding the time to personalize outreach to each and every target audience is time-consuming (not to mention tough to perfect).
5. Juggling multiple tools
Even when data is reasonably accurate, sales teams have to balance multiple different data providers, prospecting tools, and information sources. Even though just about every company provides its sellers with tools for prospecting, 42% of salespeople end up supplementing those company-provided data tools with their own personal accounts and subscriptions. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise, then, that 45% feel overwhelmed by having to manage so many different sales data sources and tools in their tech stack.
6. Managing a complicated legal landscape
DNC (Do Not Call) lists, opted-out prospects, and privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA are important for giving people more control over their data. But they also make prospecting just that much harder for sales reps. It’s not just that prospects are unreachable (which they are – 30% of sales reps struggle to get even just basic data on prospects to start a conversation in the first place). The bigger challenge is making sure that you’re following the latest regulations, something that can be pretty tough to manage. Unfortunately, many data providers leave the burden of compliance on salespeople, which can make it feel like you’re navigating a legal minefield while trying to contact prospects.
How to make prospecting easier
While the truth is that prospecting may never be the most enjoyable part of the sales cycle, there are ways to make it at least a little more frictionless and productive. Here are some strategies leading companies are adopting:
1. Get a good data provider
Prospecting always comes back to the data. You need information to know who to reach out to (and how to reach out to them). And the quality of that data, how easy it is to get, and what you can do with it makes all the difference.
If you want your prospecting efforts to be smooth sailing, then your data provider needs to be your best friend. High quality data with direct contact information is a must, of course. But you need to consider more than just that when you’re looking for the right data provider:
- Compliance: considering the legal minefield we just discussed above, you want your data provider to be compliant with all the latest data privacy regulations and best practices. That way, you can trust that the data you get from them is safe to use.
- User experience: Clunky tools kill efficiency. The easier to use, the easier to prospect.
- Integrations: your sales intelligence solution should play nice with your other favorite sales tools (like your CRM, at the very least), to cut down on manual work.
- Actionable intel: sales signals and buyer intent pack the extra punch you need to prioritize and time your outreach.
2. Nail your timing
Sales isn’t a numbers game, it’s a timing game. Recent research says that only 15% of your target customers are in the market for your product/service at any given time. That means that once you find your ideal prospect, it still might not be a good time to get in touch.
Thankfully, you don’t just have to cross your fingers and hope your prospects are ready for a sales conversation. Make this part of prospecting easier by using buying signals like these:
- Intent data looks at a company’s behavior signals and scores them based on interest in a topic – a.k.a., their likeliness to buy. Using intent scoring, you can personalize messaging, prioritize leads, and time your outreach just right.
- Using a technology filter like Lusha’s will give you insight into what tools a company uses (or what they’re still missing). With this info, you can filter your list of prospects based on their tools, resulting in stronger targeting.
- Funding data shows you info about a company’s recent investment rounds. This gives you a peek at their potential budget and buying potential. Recent funding = higher likelihood of money they’re ready to spend.
3. Target with a laser focus – but stay flexible
Rather than blasting out generic, irrelevant pitches to any semi-warm contact, the most successful prospecting strategies involve hypersegmentation and razor-sharp targeting. The best reps identify specific industries, pain points, or other niches to focus on exclusively for a period.You’ll get more results for your efforts by using highly specific messaging to slice through the noise and hone in on an ultra-relevant prospect cluster.
Even better – use those buying signals we just talked about to prioritize which segment to focus on. After all, you want to spend your prospecting efforts on the contacts who are most likely to buy. The stronger those signals, the higher the chances that they want to talk to you.
And of course, keep in mind that your ICP should be dynamic and adjustable. Keep a finger on the pulse of what’s working for you and what isn’t, and be ready to shift.
4. Embrace automation and AI
Anything that reduces manual effort is going to help lighten the load of prospecting. Tools that work with information in bulk or help you automate sales processes like acquiring data and keeping information up to date will save you time and effort – always a win.
Sales pros who use AI and automation can save an average of two hours and seven minutes a day, according to Hubspot. And 63% of sales leaders agree that AI makes it easier to keep up with the competition.
The force-multiplying potential of artificial intelligence is a huge booster as teams juggle more data and targets than ever before.
5. Embrace Multithread Outreach
No one communication channel is enough to reliably break through the noise to snag a prospect’s attention these days. Instead, it’s you have to take a multifaceted approach that combines outreach via phone, email, social media, video prospecting tools, and/or any other tactics that make sense for your market. The key is being persistent and consistent – the first time you reach out, the prospect might miss it. So go ahead and try again. Use a mix of channels and touchpoints until you’re finally able to start a productive dialogue.
Prospecting takes effort, but it doesn’t be the worst part of your day
Ultimately, handling prospecting well still requires both relentless persistence and excellent timing. After all, it’s just prospecting, not alchemy– you simply won’t be able to magically convert every prospect instantly, even with the best tools at your disposal. But you can still maximize your chances of engaging with a steady stream of golden opportunities.
With the right tactics and tools, there’s no reason prospecting should be the worst part of your job.
Finding the right tools to make prospecting easier
As you figure out which prospecting strategies work for you, choose your tools wisely.
Make sure they have up-to-date compliance with evolving regulations like GDPR and CCPA so you can be confident that they aren’t opening your company up to potential legal risks and penalties. Using a data provider with fully compliant data that has been vigorously vetted for accuracy makes your efforts much more efficient and reliable.
Using Lusha, you can get access to verified prospects with direct contact information as well as data enrichment to keep your prospecting records up to date. And you won’t have to worry about compliance, either – we’re leaders in the industry, with 3rd-party verification of GDPR and CCPA compliance.
Once you get the right strategies and tools in place, prospecting can transition from being a draining grind to something more like the satisfying first step of an exciting new buyer journey. Start Lusha for free to take that step today.
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