B2B prospecting is an essential lever for any company wishing to develop its customer portfolio. But in an ultra-competitive environment, how do you go about effective B2B prospecting? In this article, we give you the keys to identifying the right contacts, making contact at the right time, and generating truly qualified leads.
- What is B2B prospecting?
B2B (Business to Business) prospecting involves identifying and contacting companies likely to be interested in your products or services. Unlike B2C prospecting, sales cycles are generally longer, the amounts involved are higher, and there are multiple interlocutors (decision-makers, buyers, users, etc.).
The aim is to build lasting business relationships and close high-value-added sales.
- Define your ideal customer (ICP) and buyer personas
Effective B2B prospecting starts with a highly precise target:
- Sector of activity
- Company size (sales, number of employees, etc.)
- Position of decision-maker (CEO, CMO, HR, CTO…)
- Problems encountered
Creating your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and buyer personas enables you to personalize every contact.
- Building a quality database
The success of your prospecting depends heavily on the quality of your contact base. You can :
- Use tools such as Apollo.io, Kaspr, Dropcontact, Lusha, Hunter.io
- Extracting data from LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- Buy qualified files from specialized service providers
Make sure your data is up-to-date, complete and RGPD-compliant (General Data Protection Regulation).
- Choosing the right B2B prospecting channels
The channels to focus on in B2B are :
- Telemarketing: enables direct contact, ideal for qualifying needs
- Personalized emailing: an effective way to start a relationship
- LinkedIn: a must for reaching decision-makers and creating links
- Webinars, events, inbound content: to generate inbound leads and nurture cold contacts
Combining these levers in a coherent multi-channel strategy, like the one proposed by Reetch, allows you to maximize your response rate.
- Write high-impact prospecting messages
Each message (email, LinkedIn message, call script) must :
- Be personalized: use the company’s name, sector or current events
- Straight to the point: decision-makers have no time to waste
- Highlight a concrete benefit (save time, reduce costs, generate more customers…)
- Use automated sequences and reminders
Prospecting isn’t about a single message. It takes an average of 5 to 7 points of contact before a prospect’s attention is captured.
- Qualify and track your prospects
Once contact has been established, ask the right questions to qualify the lead:
- What does it need?
- Does it have a budget?
- Is he the decision-maker?
- What’s the timing?
- Analyze and optimize your performance
To improve your B2B prospecting, follow these key indicators:
- Open rate (email)
- Response rate
- Appointment conversion rate
- Cost of acquiring a lead
Test different approaches, email objects, scripts, channels… A/B testing is your best ally.
Conclusion: best practices for successful B2B prospecting
To succeed in B2B prospecting, you need to combine strategy, tools and consistency:
Define a clear target, build a qualified database, multiply your channels (telephone, email, LinkedIn), personalize your messages, automate your sequences, analyze and continuously improve; effective B2B prospecting can’t be improvised: it has to be built with method and perseverance.
At Reetch, we make it easy for you to acquire new leads, we develop and deploy powerful lead acquisition strategies, and we guarantee appointments regardless of the subscription package you choose. Your insurance is that you’ll earn more than we cost, so call on us.
