The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Over 13 million workers hold sales or sales-related positions in the United States. Any experienced sales professional knows that the key to generating leads is sales prospecting.

In sales, it's crucial to focus on potential customers that are likely to buy your product. Not only does prospecting generate more leads, but it also ensures that you're selling to someone interested in what you're selling.

Putting together a good lead generation system can be a daunting task, though. In this sales prospecting guide, we've covered everything you need to know to start finding qualified leads.

Do you ever wonder what it would take to become a Sales Superhero? What would it take to bag every target account on your list?

Bruce Wayne trained for 12 years to cross the globe and learn martial arts and forensics. Doctor Stephen Strange trained for 4 years, but he had the forces of Kamar-Taj in his favor!

The Center for Sales Strategy firmly believes that you have a few innate sales traits (best discovered through our Sales Talent Assessment). And the rest you can build upon training and resources we have within your reach.

Before choosing which prospects to target, it’s best to generate a long list of leads so you can narrow down to the best leads. Using the categories you’ve identified as a good fit your business, decide which sources on this list are right for you to generate your own list of leads.

When it comes to sales, you might feel as if there are many factors that are outside of your control. To an extent this is true, but when it comes down to it – you actually wield more influence over the situation than you think.

Once you realize what you can control, and what you can influence, you will feel more confident approaching prospects and delivering solutions and recommendations to your clients.

What is the best way is to start a conversation? Ask the other person a question. 

We learn by asking questions.

Smart business people never stop asking questions. Your prospect probably forms their opinion about you based more on what you ask them, than on what you tell them.

“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers” - Voltaire

The things you do are often more powerful than the things you say. 

New business prospects are more likely to increase their engagement level when they know a seller truly cares about them and their business. Think about your own buying habits—are you more likely to do business with someone who cares about you compared to a slick talking salesperson who only cares about making a sale? 

What do the best managers do to get their salespeople to pick the right prospects? They become the gatekeeper. No prospect should ever get on a salesperson’s Target list until it has been fully qualified against a set of objective criteria, a target business profile.

When helping a salesperson determine a high priority prospect, ask them the following questions using the following criteria: Dollar Potential, Access, and Fit.

Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Mark Cuban — all agree that one habit is a key ingredient to success.

Practicing good health habits by eating right and exercising each day is what these billionaires, and 21 others, agree helped create the foundation for their businesses and financial success. Your habits and routines determine your success and your future. In order to see the true benefits of any effort, you must be disciplined and consistent.

The same holds true when developing new business. It takes that same effort and discipline to consistently create a healthy sales pipeline.

Have you ever stopped and wondered how many other salespeople are trying to get a meeting with the same prospect as you?

It’s a pretty overwhelming number when you think about it. Day-in and day-out, decision makers are being bombarded with voicemails, emails, drop-ins, and various other methods your competition is using to gain access.

In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s tough to cut through the clutter. Leading with a compelling insight that you can turn into a valid business reason (VBR) is essential for your prospect to want to connect with you.