TL;DR
– Differentiate MQL and SQL qualified prospects to optimize conversion into real customers
– Convert leads into prospects through active engagement via forms, newsletters, or downloads
– Qualify prospects to determine potential customer transition and prioritize sales efforts
– Understand the basics of commercial prospecting to generate more qualified prospects effectively
– Optimize B2B digital prospecting by targeting prospects with high strategic conversion potential
When you want to do commercial prospecting, it’s important to understand the basics of how it works. As the name suggests, the stake of prospecting is to generate prospects.
What is the definition of a prospect? What is the difference between a prospect, a lead, and a customer? How to generate more prospects?
In this article, we will revisit the concept of a prospect and explain how to optimize your digital prospecting.
What is a prospect?
Definition: a prospect is an individual or company that could be interested in your products or services.
We often talk about a “potential customer” because a prospect is not yet your customer, but there is real potential for them to become one.
For a prospect to become a customer, they must first engage in an active process with your brand.
When you work in B2B, this could be filling out a form, subscribing to a newsletter, or downloading a document, for example.
Once a lead is converted into a prospect, it is then possible to qualify them and determine their objective of becoming a customer.
What are the different types of prospects?
There are different types of prospects depending on their degree of maturity. We talk about hot prospects and cold prospects.
Hot Prospect
A hot prospect is a qualified prospect who has already been contacted and has shown interest in your products or services.
This is the ideal type of prospect because they are already engaged in an active process, and you won’t have to convince them of the value of your offer.
Cold Prospect
A cold prospect, on the other hand, has never been contacted by your company. Therefore, they are not yet aware of your products or services and have no interest in them.
You will therefore need to make them aware of your offer before you can qualify them as a hot prospect.
At LaGrowthMachine, we have revolutionized cold prospecting through automation.
Our solution allows us to target as many leads as you want across multi-channel sequences (LinkedIn, Twitter, Email, etc.) before scoring them.
You can set up as many messages as you want to cover all eventualities, the goal being to target your lead with the right message, in the right place, at the right time, in the right format (a sales call, for example)!
Thanks to our variable system and our multiple actions, you can plan 100% natural campaigns and generate B2B prospects continuously.
Marketing Qualified Leads
MQLs are leads qualified by marketing teams. They have identified a need in the prospect and have successfully captured their attention.
They are then passed on to sales teams to be converted into customers.
Sales Qualified Leads
SQLs are leads qualified by sales teams. They have confirmed that there is real sales potential with the prospect and have been able to convert them into customers.
A lead can therefore be MQL or SQL, but not both at the same time.
Indeed, once a lead is identified as qualified by the marketing teams, it is passed on to the sales teams and is no longer considered an MQL.
The leads you generate with LaGrowthMachine are indeed Sales Leads: thanks to our tool, you skip the entire growth marketing part.
Salespeople can become completely independent in their outreach, by importing leads from any source (CSV, CRM, LinkedIn), and then create their campaigns autonomously.
Here is one of our results from a recent cold prospecting campaign:
More than one in two leads went from cold prospect to Sales Qualified Lead! And all of this automated.
What is the difference between a lead, a prospect, and a customer?
Now that we’ve covered what a prospect is, let’s look in more detail at the difference between a lead, a prospect, and a customer.
Lead
A lead is a contact who has been identified as potentially interested in your company’s offer.
As seen above, this can be an MQL or an SQL.
A lead has therefore been identified as potentially interested, but their interest is not yet confirmed.
Prospect
A prospect is a lead who has been confirmed as being interested in your company’s offer.
This means that, following contact from the sales team, the prospect has shown a genuine interest in your offer and is therefore likely to become a customer.
Customer
A customer is a person or company that has purchased your products or services.
This is the ultimate stage of the commercial relationship, and it is important to support your customers well so they are not tempted to switch to the competition: this is known as customer retention.
How to generate prospects?
This is the question we all ask ourselves! Commercial prospecting is an integral part of businesses, which invest in skills and tools to try to improve their growth.
Depending on whether you are in B2B or B2C, the approach is not the same.
B2C
In B2C, companies often rely on advertising and content marketing, such as publishing regular LinkedIn posts, to generate prospects.
Advertising attracts the attention of the largest audience by highlighting the company’s commercial offer.
Content marketing, on the other hand, aims to make internet users aware of the needs they may have and to guide them through their purchasing journey.
This is referred to as “inbound sales” or “content marketing,” methods that can also be used in B2B.
B2B
In B2B, companies generally use methods like telephone prospecting to generate prospects.
This is a much more “old school” approach but can be very effective for targeting a specific and qualified clientele.
Emailing campaigns are also a widely used method in B2B.
In all cases, unlike B2C, B2B prospecting often requires support from a salesperson or an expert in the field.
Whether in B2B or B2C, there are many channels you can use to generate prospects:
- SEO
- SEA
- Social media
- Emailing
- Affiliation
- Events
- etc…
… But if you really want to take your prospect generation to the next level, we highly recommend using LaGrowthMachine.
Our B2B lead generation solution is fully automated, which will allow you to improve your ROI and significantly increase the number of qualified prospects you can work with.
Conclusion
The most important thing is to find the right approach based on your company, your objectives, and your target audience. Once you have generated prospects, it is important to nurture them to convert them into customers. This involves good lead management and a well-oiled sales cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, a prospect can also be called an opportunity in the commercial and marketing context. In many organizations, the term “opportunity” is used to refer to a prospect who has been qualified and shows real potential to become a customer. This distinction is often used in sales and marketing processes to identify and prioritize the most promising leads or prospects in terms of conversion probability into customers.
Anyone who has shown interest in a product or service and matches the company’s target profile becomes a prospect. This person is distinguished by their potential to become a customer, having the means and authority to make a purchase. Prospect qualification is often done through their initial engagement, such as responding to a marketing campaign or requesting information. This indicates not only interest but also a real possibility of conversion into a customer.
The four main types of prospects are:
– Cold Prospect: This person has little to no knowledge of your company and products. Communication is initial, and they have not yet shown active interest.
– Warm Prospect: This prospect is slightly familiar with your company. They may have interacted with your content or responded to a marketing campaign but are not yet fully engaged.
– Hot Prospect: This prospect has shown clear interest in your products or services and may have already interacted directly with your company, such as requesting more information or participating in a trial.
– Qualified Prospect: This is a prospect who has been evaluated and deemed suitable to become a potential customer, often through a qualification process like BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) or other specific criteria. This prospect is ready for a more direct sales approach.