Sales may be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of lead generation, but prospecting is the essential prequel that creates positive outcomes. Prospecting is important not only because it identifies and qualifies your leads, but also because it sets the foundation for your lead generation strategy.

Dedicate Time

It is essential to set aside some time each day to focus on prospecting. Since it is the initial step of lead generation, you need to ensure that you are capable of starting relationships on a positive note. You may not get a sale from every conversation, but you can use every interaction as a learning experience. Over time, you will gain invaluable experience that will help you tailor your strategy to be as effective as possible. Whether it is turning around a “no” or making the most of a “yes”, your dedication to results will allow you to create strong connections and make prospecting more enjoyable.

Try Everything

There are many outreach platforms available to assist with prospecting. Instead of limiting yourself to one medium, why not try out several? Your trail-and-error process will help you determine which platforms you deem most successful. Every company and every customer is different, which means you may need to do some research to determine where you need to be active. Although you may be most comfortable with phone calls, your most profitable leads may be more likely to interact via social media. Knowing where to find your leads and how to best interact on that platform will help you experience the most positive results.

Create Templates

Once you have tried out several platforms and learned from your experiences, you can create a results-oriented template. This template can include everything from a strong introduction to an enticing value proposition to streamline your prospecting efforts. You can take the template process a step further by tailoring it to each medium you utilize. Instead of handling phone calls and social media conversations in the same manner, you can narrow your original template to adjust for differences. Although this will require work in the beginning, you will experience the results later on through great conversations, reduced effort and increased sales.

Keep Track

An essential aspect of prospecting is monitoring. You not only need to monitor your individual efforts, but you also need to consider the actions your leads have taken after the contact you had with them. For example, you may notice that a certain thing you mentioned in conversations did in fact increase sales. Without proper analysis, you may not be able to fully optimize your prospecting strategy. There are several analytical tools and software you can utilize to help you adjust and be successful over the long-run.

Because prospecting sets the foundation for lead generation, it requires a significant amount of dedication in the beginning. Once you have established a strong foundation, you can optimize your prospecting tactics to create a lead generation strategy that is both profitable and successful.