Maximize prospecting opportunities to boost your sales

Prospect using traditional methods and social selling.
Prospecting is about using all the tools available (social media AND the telephone).

Establish industry sections in your CRM system.
Identify key outcomes and benefits customers gain by industry and customer type and monitor buying behavior via industry or channel.

Actively monitor the sales leads you generate.
Look at the leads you currently have. Where do they come from? Track each sale you make and how it was closed.

Work collaboratively with the marketing function.
Focus on developing relationships between sales and marketing, then partner to create materials and lead sources.

Track Customer-Facing Time (CFT) – the amount of time you spend interacting with customers in-person, via telephone, and by email.
Differentiate between existing customers and leads/prospects. Spend at least 15% of your total customer-facing time on your prospects.

Optimize your sales pipeline by ensuring each opportunity belongs there
Ask the following key questions for each opportunity in your pipeline and decide whether it belongs there:
 - What firm evidence do I have that this opportunity is moving forward in a timely manner?
 - Is the opportunity sizable enough to warrant my time?
 - Do I know the barriers I need to remove in order to close this opportunity?
 - Is this an opportunity that will generate sales for me at a later date?
- Do I have a plan to maximize this opportunity without negatively impacting other opportunities that offer greater potential?