"No, I'm not interested right now." or "It's not a priority for us" are just a few responses that no sales rep wants to receive. 

But if you're consistently hearing these from the majority of your prospects, then there are high chances that you’re not doing prospecting right. We get it. It’s not easy. 40% of sales reps say prospecting is the hardest part of the sales process. 

Starting conversations with the right prospects is even more important in B2B, given the complex nature of the products and the extra effort to build long-term relationships. 

In this article, we will take a comprehensive look at B2B prospecting methods and strategies and help you find the one that best suits your needs. Plus, we will share some prevalent use cases of AI in B2B sales prospecting. 

What is B2B sales prospecting?

B2B sales prospecting is the process of identifying potential buyers, reaching out, and maintaining conversations with them. The goal is to keep moving them down the funnel and, ultimately, closing the deal. 

In these initial conversations, providing relevant and helpful insights or solutions that address their needs and challenges is important to convert them into leads successfully. Now, you might be wondering how prospects are different from leads. Let’s get into that. 

Prospects vs. leads

While 'prospects' and 'leads' are often used interchangeably, they represent two different stages in the sales process. Let's break down the difference between the two:

• Prospects: They are in the early stages of the sales funnel and have shown some level of interest in your offering. They may have interacted with your brand in some way, such as visiting your website, downloading an eBook, or attending a webinar. Prospects have not yet been qualified as potential customers. 

• Leads: Leads are prospects qualified as potential customers based on specific criteria like engagement with 3+ marketing elements in the last 30 days or similar criteria defined by your sales and marketing teams. Leads show a higher level of interest and intent to purchase than prospects. The sales team usually nurtures leads and converts them into paying customers.

Effective B2B prospecting channels

Now, there are multiple ways to carry out B2B prospecting. We will look at a mix of conventional and modern techniques to do the same. 

1. Cold calling 

Cold calling is the most common way to reach out to the potential buyers in the market.  Sales reps usually call prospects directly without any existing interaction or relationship. Although it is one of the most effective B2B prospecting methods, sales reps may face many rejections.

To reduce rejection rates, reps must focus on studying their prospects thoroughly and tailoring their pitch to the needs and pain points of the buyer. Call timing and opening lines can also make a big difference.  

Pro-tip: Asking “How have you been?” can improve the success rate of cold calling by 6.6 times. 

2. Email outreach 

With an open rate of 23.9%, email is another popular B2B prospecting method. Like cold calling, sales reps can send cold emails to potential buyers, introducing the offering and highlighting how it can add value to their business processes. 

The perfect cold email campaign includes a clear subject line, pain-point-driven content, prominent CTAs, and regular follow-ups with prospects who show interest.

3. Referrals

A referral is a method that provides the maximum ROI in B2B prospecting. It includes using existing relationships and networks of current customers, partners, or industry connections to get introductions to potential buyers.

You must maintain good relationships with current customers to win successful referrals by consistently delivering value. You can also actively encourage referrals by building a referral program and offering incentives to current customers for successful referrals.

4. Social media  

77% of people find new products on social media. With social media becoming the next big thing in sales, it's more important than ever to scout for potential buyers on popular social platforms where your brand has a presence.

Sales reps can use social platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and X to find and connect with decision-makers, join relevant groups, engage in discussions, and share helpful content. This helps build trust, making it easier to begin conversations and move prospects through the sales funnel.

5. Content marketing

Content marketing is an indirect but highly effective way of B2B prospecting. It is a collaborative process between the marketing and sales teams. 

Marketers are responsible for creating and publishing content based on buyer pain points (such as blog posts, whitepapers, webinars, case studies, etc) which helps position your brand as a subject matter expert. Once prospects share their contact information in exchange for accessing your gated content, sales teams take over to nurture and follow up with these leads. 

While each of these B2B prospecting methods has pros and cons, a well-planned B2B prospecting strategy often combines multiple methods to reach and engage potential buyers.

Top 6 strategies for B2B prospecting to find the best prospect for your sales pipeline

Given the fierce market competition and many available choices for your customers, standing out in the industry is important. Now that we’ve looked at the most effective B2B prospecting channels, here are some strategies to help you get the best out of them.  

1. Host webinars 

Hybrid work has become the new normal replacing older ways of education for your audience. People have started choosing virtual webinars over in-person events. The average webinar lead conversion rate is a whopping 55% presenting an opportunity for businesses to attract potential customers. 

Hosting webinars lets you capture prospect details, share insights, offer solutions, and engage with them in real time. To maintain attendee interest, the aim is to showcase your unique value proposition without being too salesy and share engaging and interactive content—like stories, examples, polls, Q&A, and more.  

Keep the prospects engaged even after the webinar is completed by sharing useful resources such as the webinar recording, a summary of key points, or other guides/cheat sheets to move them along the sales funnel and urge them to take the next steps, like booking a demo. 

2. Identify where your prospects are available

Understand where your target audience spends their time and how they consume information. Identify the platforms, groups, forums, and channels where your prospects are active to ensure they are receptive to the content you’ve created for them.

This could include LinkedIn groups, Slack communities, or industry events. 63% of sales reps using social media for prospecting say LinkedIn is one of the most effective platforms. Being present on your prospects' platforms can improve your visibility, engage in discussions, and identify potential leads faster. 

3. Don’t forget you’re talking to a person

While prospecting, avoid being overly pushy or using generic, robotic language that often comes with automation. Instead, focus on building real connections by listening to their unique challenges and pain points. Offer solutions that are actually effective for them, and don’t just focus on your offering. 

Treat each prospect as a person, not just another number in your pipeline, and try to create a human-focused experience. Even if you have automation for your sales process, ensure it is hyper-personalized to meet individual buying preferences. 

4. Follow up wisely 

As you follow up with prospects, do it with care and strategy. Don't spam them with too many follow-ups. Instead, have a proper campaign planned that outlines which channels to use and the appropriate intervals between sending out a piece of communication. 

You must have a minimum of 5 follow-ups, waiting at least 3 days before each subsequent follow-up. Moreover, statistics say 80% of sales require at least five follow-up calls. 

In follow-ups, you may share insights or ask questions that showcase your understanding of their needs. Keep the follow-ups short and sweet and communicate benefits instead of pitching features. 

5. Use short videos to connect 

To stand out, you can create quick video messages introducing yourself, underlining key benefits of your offering, or sharing insights specific to the prospect's challenges. These videos can be embedded in email outreach or shared via social media, allowing you to establish a more human connection.

You can begin by creating industry-specific videos focused on typical challenges your product solves. If you cater to multiple industries, embedding such videos on specific landing pages can help grab prospects’ attention. 

6. Deploy tech 

Prospecting at scale is impossible without automation and the right technology, considering the unique needs of each prospect. 54% of sales reps say digital sales tools help them win over more prospects. 

Using a CRM is a must to manage all your prospects, leads, and customers. Consider using AI tools for lead generation, data enrichment, and personalized outreach. These can ease the process of identifying and connecting with high-potential prospects. 

You can also automate multiple aspects of your prospecting, like email follow ups by setting up triggers and rules to send emails based on prospects' actions or behaviors. AI lead scoring can also help in accurately gauging the potential of leads and taking the next steps accordingly. 

Why is B2B prospecting important

Prospecting is a fundamental aspect of growing any B2B business. It is the most effective way to increase sales and revenue. Actively prospecting can help with the following. 

• Pipeline growth: Prospecting empowers your reps to add quality leads to your pipeline consistently. This increases the chances of closing more deals and achieving sales quotas, adding to business growth. 

• Easily reach new markets:  After connecting with prospects in different industries, regions, or demographics, you will have the know-how to expand your customer base and tap into a more high-opportunity market. This makes you less reliant on a single demographic. 

• Shorter sales cycles: By targeting prospects who have already shown interest by engaging with your content or attending your webinars, you can cut the initial stages of the sales process and focus on addressing their specific pain points. This saves the time and effort required to educate prospects and helps you move them quickly through the funnel.

• Market-focused product roadmap: Actively prospecting and engaging with prospects (lost ones as well) can give you insights into market trends, customer needs, and industry challenges. By listening to their feedback and requirements, you can find out what your target market truly values and use that to guide you in planning your product roadmap.

How is AI changing B2B sales prospecting?

AI has gone big in most business functions, and sales is no exception. 61% of high-growth companies already use AI for sales prospecting. Let us look at different tasks AI can take over from your reps. 

1. Personalize pitches 

AI can help hyper-personalize sales pitches by analyzing prospects' communication styles and preferences based on frameworks like the DISC personality model. 

By understanding the prospect’s personality, you can get AI-powered suggestions on the messaging, tone, and talking points that resonate better with them. AI can also analyze past engagement, industry, company size, tech stack, and online behavior to identify each prospect's most receptive times, motivations, preferred channels, and pain points. 

2. Gather lead intelligence 

AI-powered tools can collect lead intelligence by going through large data sets from various sources, including social media profiles, company websites, and more. This gives you an inside view of prospects’ pain points, patterns, and tendencies so your sales approach can evolve alongside the lead. 

AI goes a step further and scores your leads based on their likeliness to purchase. This way, you can set better priorities for your sales teams.

3. Develop richer buyer personas 

Defining accurate buyer personas is the starting point of successful prospecting. AI can capture data from multiple sources and identify patterns and trends defining customer segments. 

Using a tool like Happysales, you can put AI to work to track different personas' specifics. It can identify over 100 triggers and signals to determine the distinct characteristics of these personas. This helps your reps significantly improve their targeting and messaging and narrow down on your ICP.

4. Continuous CRM data enrichment

32% of sales reps spend 7+ hours feeding new data into their CRM every week. Imagine the number of prospects they could reach out to using this time. 

AI tools can continuously clean and update prospect data by automatically scanning large databases and populating the CRM with the latest information, such as job changes, company updates, or shifts in pain points. It can also correct misspellings, eliminate duplicate records, and do more.

This allows your sales team to access the most up-to-date and relevant prospect information leading to highly personalized and effective prospecting.

Let Happysales do the heavy lifting for your reps

It’s your turn to execute. First, build a sales prospecting plan aligned with your chosen sales methodologies, experiment with different B2B sales prospecting techniques, and look for processes where AI can add value. Finally, choose an AI-powered platform to save your reps time and boost their conversion rates. 

Happysales is an AI-powered sales suite that makes your sales team more productive. It streamlines and optimizes various stages of the sales prospecting process. Here’s how. 

• AI coach and roleplay for reps to train quickly and get actionable feedback instantly
• AI-generated, personalized & relevant emails and icebreakers
• Identification of role-specific challenges for tailor-made product pitches
• Real-time insights and quick summaries of prospects and their companies
• DISC analysis for aligning communications with prospect personality

Wish to get your hands on this ultimate prospecting tool? Sign up and get started with Happysales for free.