Professor Jéssica Amanda C.

Siqueira
Subject: Techniques for Reception and Customer Service

CLIENT PROSPECTING

Client prospecting is a step in the sales funnel that aims to

Objective: the attempt to contact potential clients. Only after the
lead passage through some filters, in a process called
Lead qualification means that one should prospect for clients.

Those who work in sales have certainly wondered about how

prospecting clients more efficiently. The problem is that there are businesses
which have unpredictable demand generation models, with
the Marketing teams taking on a passive role in the process. Little is
invests in prospecting actions and opportunities are expected
arrive on your own.
Understand what client prospecting is and how to seek it out.
certain consumers can help make this scenario more predictable. And,
although the way the seller conducts the prospecting process
clients vary according to the business model and the market of operation
In the company, it is possible to follow some general tips.
That's why we will learn what to do before reaching out, such as
choose the best form of prospecting and practical tips for you
prospect your clients more efficiently and, of course, sell
but.

What is client prospecting?

Prospecting clients involves reaching out to consumers in
potential. The salespeople make calls to the Leads they have.
more quality and closing potential, those who are more
ready to receive a commercial offer.
In companies that have this division, customer prospecting
usually falls under the responsibility of the area ofpre-salesthat hasSDRs, or
Sales Development Representatives.
How to prospect clients effectively? What to do before taking the plunge?
telephone
Client prospecting is not just about picking contacts from any list and
to connect without much planning to try to sell—this is, by the way, a
a less efficient way to make use of the team's time. The best thing is to do
this process with planning. That's why, before picking up the phone,
follow these tips:

1. Define what a potential client is for your area of work

Target audience - Defining yours is essential to know who they are
your potential clients. After all, you don't want to sell to everyone,
right?
So, before prospecting clients, define who your leads are.
interest is even more important, with what kind of Lead you do not want
to do business. This saves a lot of time in prospecting, as it prevents the
sellers contact peoplewithout the appropriate profile. Thus, you
saves time and energy.
There is no secret recipe for this definition. In general terms, it is necessary to
analyze the customers who have the most success after a sale and respond
to a series of questions, such as:

• What problem does your product/service solve?

• Who is the person that suffers from this problem?

• What is the impact of this problem on her daily life?

• The person who suffers from this problem is the one who makes the decision to
purchase?

• What does a person need to have to benefit from your

product/service?

It is very likely that you will make adjustments to these definitions as time goes by.
time, based on the company's evolution and even on observation
of sales results. It is important to have a direction to start the
work and improving the process.

2. Have an organized list of Leads to contact

The next step is to organize the Leads that should receive contacts. A
ideal list contains:
• Lead's name and phone number;
 • Useful information he has already provided in other contacts with the company,
such as your position, the city where you live, the segment of the company in which
deity.

• Relationship history, such as pages you visited on the site, if already

requested a quote, educational materials consumed.

Organize your list based on the characteristics that make the Lead more
prone to entering negotiations and closing a sale. It is best to avoid
that this contact takes a long time to receive a call, so that still
keep the information about your company fresh in your memory.

Thus, instead of connecting in alphabetical order,prioritize the Leadsin order of

entry and sales potential.

3Always research whenever possible

A golden tip is to research about the Leads before making the call.
commercial. In the case of B2B sales, it's worth a visit to the company's website.
to understand a little more about the business and raise some
needs that your product or service can meet.

This facilitates the first contact and even the evolution of the negotiation.
Research can also be a qualifying stage. During the
research, theSDRyou can discard the Lead if you realize that it does not meet the requirements
basic requirements to become a customer.

4. Have a client prospecting process

A process to prospect clients needs to include, at a minimum:

• Lead qualification criteria;

• What will be the main form of contact (phone, email, WhatsApp,

LinkedIn) e quais ferramentas serão utilizadas;

• How many attempts should the seller make?

• What questions need to be answered before passing the Lead to the

next level.

Similarly, define the prospecting goals and what

indicators will be monitored. The Marketing team's goals should
to be taken into account here, to ensure that the quantity is sent
appropriate Leads to be worked by Sales.
What are the ways to prospect clients?

Sure, now you already know that customer prospecting should not be done
suddenly: she requires planning to yield results. But, besides
Therefore, it is important to know that there is not just one way to prospect.
clients. To do this, it is possible to choose from various strategies,
the one that makes the most sense for your company. It is also possible to
combine various methods.

These are the most well-known customer prospecting methods:

• Outbound;

• Inbound;

• Channels;

• Indication;

Mist.

Outbound

TheOutboundit is the most traditional model and consists of prospecting clients

actively.

In general, in Outbound prospecting, the Lead is not expecting your

contact and probably does not know your company yet. This
client prospecting can be done both by phone and by
in-person way—the in-person conversation increases costs, but if
oROIto compensate, it might be an option.

The lists of potential clients can be obtained from various places,

like:
• Trade associations;

• Specialized catalogs of the segment;

• Research insocial mediaand by Google made by the seller himself.

Normally, prospecting clients via Outbound is recommended for businesses.

with a higher average ticket. The prospecting cost increases due to the
the salesperson's effort in the process, so there needs to be feedback
greater in sales to compensate.
The advantage is that it is an active process, that is: you can achieve
Leads that wouldn't reach you otherwise. The disadvantage is
outbound prospecting is less scalable, as the quantity of
Leads depend on the productivity and size of the sales team
dedicated to the task.

The most common Outbound actions are:

• Flyers;

• Direct bads;

• Active prospecting via telemarketing;

• Sponsorship and active prospectingin events;

• Active on-site prospecting in companies;

• TV, radio, billboard, and general advertisement propaganda.

In practice, the model works well for:

• B2B company with a high ticket and long sales cycle: thecost of
acquisitionthe Outbound strategy is generally greater, but with
a high ticket can be paid [Link] these
companies tend to be more specific and detailed, so one
Outbound strategy can make sense.
• B2C company with low ticket and fast sales cycle: the objective in this
case is volume. The most commonly used actions end up being prospecting.
through telemarketing and ads on TV and radio. The downside is
that, due to the high volume, many Leads will be 'burned' during the
Only those who truly have an interest will remain in the process.
immediate.

2. Inbound

TheInbound Marketing it's attraction marketing. Instead of prospecting

actively seeking clients, that is, looking for potential interested parties,
model generates offers that attract them. The idea is to capture a demand
that already exists in the market and just needs to be directed.

Leads sign up forLanding Pageswhether to request a contact,

consume educational material or even access information. From there
in front, they go through a process of nutrition and education about the company
and the offer.
Having done that, the marketing team selects those who have the most suitable profile.
appropriate and forwards for commercial approach.

The salespeople receive this list of potential clients and decide, with
base uscritérios acordados entre os times de Marketing e Vendas, which
will be addressed. The seller prospecting, therefore, Leads already interested
in the subject and with sales potential.

Compared to the Outbound method, Inbound requires an investment

smaller, as a large part of the process can be automated via
software, like theRD Station Marketing.

An offer that attracts your potential customer can also be promoted

in several places, reaching many more people than a pre-sale
could achieve in one day, through:

• Blog contents;

• Production of rich content in various formats: eBooks,

whitepapersinfographics, videos etc.;

• Promotion of Landing Pages focused on lead generation;

• Email Marketing

• Lead Management and strategiesandMarketing Automation.

In practice, the model works well for:

• B2B companies with low ticket and fast sales cycle: companies
those that work with subscriptions and recurring contracts tend to have
success with Inbound, due to needing a prospecting strategy
more predictable and scalable.

• B2C company with a low ticket and a fast sales cycle: these
companies usually work with a high volume of lead generation
it's a well-mapped sales cycle. The relationship strategies
are essential to convert the Lead to customer at the right moment.

• B2B company with high ticket and long sales cycle: on the contrary
Contrary to what many think, Inbound also applies tocompanies
in this [Link] content produced by Marketing helps a lot
in complex sales, promoting education and persuasion of the
Leads while negotiating.

3Indication
Another way to prospect new clients is through referrals.
customers who are already benefiting from your product—the famous word of mouth.
In general, this strategy is not predictable, but there are companies that still
they grow significantly based on referrals, withoDropboxeNetflix.

When we talk aboutcomplex sales, the role of the indication is to feed the
funnel with new opportunities.

To have good recommendations, you need satisfied and loyal customers.

A company that is not fulfilling what it promises, besides not having
recommendations, there will be detractors, people speaking negatively about your product/service.

It is also not enough to just wait for the referrals to come up.
Of course, it is possible to encourage them with small rewards for the
clients who bring new leads to the funnel.

However, the indications are unpredictable. It does not mean that you do not
may benefit from it, but have this as their main source of clients
it would depend a lot on luck, which, as we said, is not a good thing
strategy!

The most common actions to encourage referrals are:

• Discounts on the product or service;

• Exclusive content or courses;

• Participation in fairs or events;

• Gifts and free samples of new products or services.

In practice, any company can use this strategy. Mainly

companies at a more mature stage and that have an active user base
of clients.

It is common for companies to encourage referrals in three stages of

customer relationship:

• Moment of purchase: the key moment for the seller to ask for a referral
and present the company's referral policy. The client has just closed the
product/service and is motivated with that solution.

• First results: at the moment the client starts to have the first
results with the solution you bought. It is when he feels that the decision
it was truly worth it!
Maturity with the product or service: after a few months, the customer is already
more mature and specialized in that solution. Generally, it is at this stage in
that the customer starts to indicate constantly.

4. Channels

In the channel model, those who do the prospecting, and even the sale, is a
partner of your company. The main advantage of prospecting through channels
it is the decrease in acquisition cost, as this burden is passed on to
partner.

There is also a gain in capillarity, conquering new territories without

the cost of opening branches and starting new operations in other locations.

Resultados Digitais, for example, is a partner of severalagencies that provide

digital marketing services using RD Station Marketing. The partner
consegue agregar mais serviços ao portfólio dele, e a RD ganha clientes
that perhaps would not be reached directly!

This type of channel is known as a value-added partner, because

in addition to selling its product, it adds an extra service that generates a lot
more value for the customer.

In practice, it is necessary to test and evaluate the impacts of a strategy.

channels for your business. There are several interesting examples of
partnerships in this regard:

• Photographers who team up with catering services, pastry shops, and beauty salons to
offer complete packages for weddings and 15th birthday parties;

• Doctors of complementary specialties who associate in the same

clinic;

• Companies like aNetshoese and Elo7, which are marketplaces for other stores.
minors, who can now sell to the whole country without needing to invest
in a complete website and online store structure.

Thinking more broadly:

B2B companies with complex solutions: it is generally an option with a

much lower acquisition cost for the company and with a potential of
greater retention, since there is an additional value to your product/service.

Scalable B2B companies: it is common for companies that have a model

of scalable business, how is itm SaaS, work with other companies that
they have complementary solutions. With this, the company reduces the cost
half acquisition, working in pairs in active prospecting.

B2B or B2C companies with non-complex solutions: the resale model

The affiliates fit well, especially for solutions of this type.

5. Misto

Many companies choose not for one, but for multiple strategies of
customer acquisition and prospecting.
The definition of a mixed model depends on many factors,
mainly:

• Profile of your client;

• Purchase journey;

• Average ticket;

• Team structure.

It is possible, for example, to work on an Inbound model for generation.

constant and demand, with punctual insertions of Outbound to
complement the results and gain traction in the short term. In parallel,
develop a partner program with new acquisition channels and
encourage customer referrals with benefits.

In practice: 4 tips to help with your client prospecting

After planning and choosing the best method for your business, it is
time to get to work. See 4 tips that will help you
client prospecting

Try several times, but without being intrusive.

Many people give up easily on prospecting, discarding the Lead after a

call not answered or that did not go as the seller would like. But
remember: it is important to insist, always, of course, without being intrusive or
inconvenience. This means that, if the contact made it clear that they do not have
if you are interested in talking, it's best to accept your decision.

The idea is for the seller to alternate attempts by phone and by email.
By conducting tests, it is possible to notice a pattern of attempts that
really brings results for your company.
2. Use email templates to gain scale

The intelligence of processes and automation are the best friends of

an efficient customer prospecting strategy. Using a CRM
how the RD Station CRM, you can access email templates and send them
directly to the Leads you are prospecting.

Using a template, however, does not mean that the message does not have
that can be personalized. You can customize according to the data that
has for each Lead, such as name, name of the company in which they work, the
history of interactions etc.

In the same way, you can include Leads in an automation flow,

with a tool like theRD Station Marketing. It is possible to program the
software to send an email one day after the call, reminding the
Leads to evaluate the proposal submitted, for example.

All of this provides scalability for the work, saves time and
generate data that can be measured and quantified to evaluate the
health of the operation.

3. Be quick and have cadence in prospecting

If you call the Lead one day, then after 5 days you send an email and
just get in touch again next week, it's likely that the Lead
you might have forgotten the conversation you had.

The tip here is to optimize theresponse time,

contacting as soon as the
Lead will provide you with their phone number. Using a CRM
with a virtual phone it becomes even easier, as the seller receives the Lead
in the CRM and already makes the call through the same platform. After the call,
schedule emails and upcoming dates to check the progress of
negotiations. This keeps the sales cycle stable and prevents that
the process takes longer than necessary.

4. When you decide to give up, inform the contact

After all the planned attempts, if there is no success in

contact, send an email informing that you are giving up on trying
talk to the Lead and that, if he wishes, he can contact you in the future. This
giving up creates a feeling of 'whoa, I'm losing something', which is the
that often makes people respond! This type of email has
high response rates, inclusive.