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Broadly understood, prospecting is the process of defining, searching for, and acquiring new customers. A prospect is understood as someone who, on the basis of the salesperson’s selection criteria, is eligible to become a client. When business contact is first established, such a person knows either nothing or very little about the salesperson. Further, in accordance with the art of sales, the prospect is subjected to ‘processing,’ which in practice means that the salesperson gets to know the prospect through further contact and exchange of information which is valuable to both parties. As a result, the salesperson moves the prospect through the sales cycle from being ‘cold’ (someone we don’t know and with whom we don’t have a relationship), to ‘warm’ (we are getting to know each other) and finally hot, that is, ready to accept an offer and make a purchase.

Prospects and leads

The meaning of the word “prospecting” has changed in recent years. This phenomenon is associated with the increased importance of e-sales and e-marketing activities. In this area, a commonly applied concept - and the word most often used for new clients - is the ‘lead.’ In sales practice, this usually refers to contact details left by a potential customer by filling out an online form, for example by submitting their e-mail address for a newsletter or for an application allowing them to access certain content. The lead is introduced into the so-called ‘sales microwave,’ where - usually using automatically-generated messages - it is ‘heated’ and prepared for the final action - presentation of a commercial offer.

In the field of sales and in conjunction with the previously cited ‘lead’ concept, prospect means a person who meets sales criteria and expresses interest in the offer through bilateral communication with the salesperson¹.

Both ‘lead’ and ‘prospect’ refer to new opportunities which have not yet resulted in a sale. As traditional sales are increasingly intertwined with online sales and classic marketing activities are increasingly supported by automated processes (marketing automation), the distinction between the two concepts is no longer so obvious.

In order to better understand the issue at hand, three concepts are of interest to us:

• Prospecting - widely understood as the process of seeking new clients.
• Lead - a potential client who has initiated contact thus opening up the opportunity for future sales. A lead may be generated independently by the salesperson or obtained from external suppliers.
• Prospect - a selected potential customer who has already exchanged information with the salesperson, and whose attitude and behaviour has confirmed that they are open to and empowered for a potential sale.

Phases of prospecting in sales practice

Phase 1: Targeting

The first stage of prospecting is to determine who our client is. We used to be able to clarify this by asking: “who is our ideal client? To whom would we most like to make the sale?” Unfortunately, since sales has become so highly competitive, and since clients often know more about the offer than the salesperson themselves, defining the client is no longer so simple. As a result, a better solution is to adopt the attitude of a potential buyer and attempt to understand their needs, rather than acting solely on the basis of our own assumptions.