PROSPECTING New CUSTOMERS VS New CUSTOMER´S LEADS
Khalid Hasan
CLP PANAMA PROVIDES WIDE RANGE OF CONSULTANCIES SERVICES: Market entry estudies and data analysis, Competitive positioniing studies, process optimization and sales trainning. Comercial transformation and strategy review
In my long carrer in Sales, I spent most of the time prospecting customers in order to get new business. I my last "formal sales job" in General Electric, I was suprised to see the basis for getting new business was "customers leads", almost nil prospecting.
What is the difference about both systems and when to apply it ?
PROSPECTING is proactive, looking for the customers at an very early stage so we can influence the purchase process in our favor.
LEADS or referrals are reactive, the customer call us and then, it triggers the sales process. With LEADS, wea re not selling to customers....they are buying from us.
Which one is better ?, it depends on the product you are selling and the company brand image. I was told in GE once: Nobody dares to buy a gas turbine without calling GE.
How we can get the "best of both worlds" ?: strong Marketing Understanding, and superb Sales Management....but a real one ( Software alone is not enough like Sales force )
Check in your company, how many new customers comes from referrals and how many comes from a Prospecting approach.