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If you don’t have a solid strategy in place, whatever campaign you decide to run simply isn’t going to work. The “it’ll be fine” crowd might get the occasional project to have an initial or short-term impact by sheer luck rather than judgment, but if you want any sales lead generation campaign to work then you need to ensure that you’ve done your homework and put a solid plan-of-action in place before you start. One of the most common excuses made by salespeople and marketers when a campaign fails is that they simply don’t have the time to develop a lead generation strategy. Instead, they are going to implement the same approach they’ve used for the last few months - even years of finding a short-term fix that achieves an immediate goal with a low success or conversion rate, or they get no success from it at all. So what do you do? Start prospecting, that’s what. If you’re not aware of what prospecting is then we’ve already written a helpful article that should tell you all you need to know to get up to speed with the process; but if you are aware of it - why aren’t you already doing it?

Why you need to prospect to succeed in lead generation

Everyone goes into a marketing or sales campaign with a set of objectives that you need to hit, and prospecting is the first step along the way. It lays the foundations that your whole sales lead generation strategy is built upon, and here’s why it needs to be right at the top of your list of priorities ahead of your next big campaign:

• Data gathering and research
  

A data-led approach is always more effective than a scattergun tactic. You can base your whole campaign on statistics that can inform what you do, when you do it and who you target meaning you have plenty of information to call upon and direct you. 

As with all campaigns, data can be the key to the magic door. It can open up a whole new world of opportunities and sales lead possibilities all because you took the time to analyse the information that is freely available to you before going after any and every lead you can find. 

When armed with accurate data captured over a period of time you can unearth new sales leads as well as the optimum time to contact them, and even the best time to drop them an email - all by looking at the data from your previous campaigns. You can then establish what has worked before, what could have been improved and what you need to achieve this time around.

• Qualification of leads
  

Prospecting also enables you to qualify the leads that you have. You don’t want to contact every single person you have on your database because it might be that they’re not the right target audience for this particular campaign, but if you do your prospecting correctly you can work out who you definitely do want to be speaking to.

When you start prospecting you’ll look for all kinds of information and people. You’ll look at where they are in the world, who they work for, the services that company can provide, even the amount of revenue they are generating in some cases. All of this helps you to qualify your sales leads so that you’re not wasting your time contacting people who are unlikely to have any interest in your product or service, so you can focus on those who do meet your criteria.

• Generate more customers
  

So you’ve got the all-important data you need in relation to your campaign and when you’re going to make your calls and send your emails, and you also have a list of qualified sales prospects that match your campaign criteria and seem likely to (at least) show an interest in your services. Now what? 

It’s time to start generating some more customers. When you’ve done your homework and compiled a list of sales prospects who are interested in what you have to offer you immediately ramp up the possibility of converting these leads into customers - which is your ultimate goal. 

• Increase revenue
  

Last, but by no means least, you can then start to increase your company revenue. More customers means more money coming into the business - which is what every manager wants - and that has a knock-on effect for all employees in the business. 

Whenever you sell a product or subscription to one of your prospects you are bringing revenue into the company which allows you to invest more into your next campaign or even bring in more staff to help keep things progressing. 

All of this is down to the fact that you started prospecting at the START of your sales lead generation strategy, and not a few weeks in when you’ve already lost contacts or you’ve found yourself struggling to hit your target before the deadline. 

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Prospecting is something which, as we’ve mentioned, is regularly overlooked but it can have a monumental impact on the success of your next sales campaign.