Prospecting is the life blood of the selling profession and to be successful organisations and individuals need to understand this important activity needs their full attention.

 No salesperson can practice their craft unless they have the prospects to present their proposal and proceed to the sale.

It needs to be recognised also that despite market and economic conditions in the business you are operating the task of prospecting and looking for clients and new business should never stop or be cut back. 

To achieve a sustained prospecting programme, plans, budgets and resources are needed together with a well thoughtout plan assigning activities to individuals and others who will carry out the prospecting.

The monitoring of prospecting needs to be recorded to ensure the programme stays on track and is delivering the desired results because without this oversight the return on the investment could be wasted.

Prospecting for client’s requires a level of creative thinking to determine where your activity will be directed and avoid the trap of just adopting a me too approach and following your competition.

It needs to be recognised the quality of your prospecting is important as once contact has been made the opportunity to establish a long term relationship exists and you need to understand that business may not be immediate but will come in the future from continued contact.

The motivation to undertake prospecting varies from the individual to the organisation as it is at different times in the cycle of the selling process the need for prospecting may not seem as important, particularly if sales are healthy.

Individual salespeople and companies need to remember that despite the current market conditions the following five points are important the surviving any downturn;

1. Continue talking to customers.
2. Obtain new customers and sales.
3. Maintain marketing.
4. Improve marketing strategies.
5. Capitalise on increased market share opportunities.

The responsibility for prospecting is one of the major tasks in the sales effort and should be viewed as necessary to an organisations business as the accounts department and human resources.

The recognition of prospecting by all in the profession of selling is necessary if they are to be successful and develop a long term career with a consistent and stable income.