What Are Sales Prospecting Tools? Accelerate Sales with the Right Tactics and Powerful Tools

Introduction

Prospecting typically goes one of two ways. On the one hand, it can feel like a wild goose chase—full of time-wasting activities, rejection, and dead ends. On the other hand, it feels like a treasure hunt, where you discover great opportunities, build profitable relationships, and identify amazing deals along the way!

How you feel about it comes down to the tools you use, the data you access, and how efficient you are in your approach.

But it’s still challenging. With potentially endless new leads to pursue and only so many hours in the day, sales representatives often find themselves bogged down by the sheer volume of work.

Salesforce reports that prospecting and lead research account for an average of 21% of a sales representative’s time. This means that your sales team spends 1.5 to 2 hours each day navigating databases in search of potential prospects, many of which may not even lead to a sale. Fortunately, the best sales prospecting tools can streamline this process to just a few minutes, enabling representatives to focus on what truly matters—closing deals and driving revenue.

But we’ll get to that in a second.

In this article, we’ll explore sales prospecting, breaking down the process of generating great leads for your commercial services business. We’ll also discuss different sales prospecting tips and techniques and highlight tools that can really boost your sales efforts. By the end, you’ll have a solid grasp of how to sharpen your sales prospecting strategy and pick the right tools to accelerate revenue for your sales team.

What We Will Cover:

• What is Sales Prospecting?
• Why Having the Right Tools Matters
• How to Create an Efficient Sales Prospecting Process
• The Most Effective Sales Prospecting Techniques
• The Best Sales Prospecting Tools
• And Give Some Tips for Sales Reps to Prospect Faster and More Efficiently

So, let’s get started…

What is Sales Prospecting?

The Definition of Sales Prospecting and Its Importance to Your Sales Organization

Sales prospecting is the process of identifying and contacting “prospective” customers to generate opportunities for new business. Prospecting involves identifying a target avatar, researching those individuals, reaching out with a personalized pitch, and conducting discovery calls for further qualification.

The ultimate goal of sales prospecting is to move prospects through a sales funnel until they convert into “closed/won” deals and customers – thus generating revenue for your business.

A traditional sales funnel generally involves a few strategic steps.

The Sales Prospecting Process

An “Outbound Sales Funnel” is a step-by-step process that takes potential customers (prospects) through a series of stages until they convert into paying customers. This sales funnel aims to find, engage with, and qualify leads who are likely to convert into buyers of your products and services.

There are several methods for creating a sales funnel; not all require as many steps. However, generally speaking, you will be dealing with 4- 6 stages:

Step 1: Research

The research phase involves gathering critical information about potential prospects to understand their needs, challenges, and goals. This ensures a tailored approach that increases the likelihood of engagement and conversion to paying customers.

• Thoroughly research potential companies online.
• Utilize prospecting tools and B2B data providers like Convex to gather firmographic information, property intelligence data, contact information, intent data (“buying signals”), job titles, and more.
• Weed out leads that don’t fit your ideal customer profile.

Step 2: Outreach

The outreach phase involves crafting a compelling and personalized message to engage your prospects, encouraging them to respond and initiate a conversation about how your offerings can address their specific needs.

• Use discovery questions to learn about the prospect’s needs and pain points.
• Reach out via cold calling and emailing (something we’ll talk about in-depth later).
• Position your product as the solution to the prospect’s problems.

Step 3: Discovery Call

A discovery call is the first real opportunity to engage your prospects in a deeper conversation. This is where you’ll begin to gather a better understanding of the prospect’s needs and challenges, allowing you to tailor your solutions and further qualify them as potential customers.

• Conduct a preliminary conversation to understand the prospect’s goals, interests, and pain points.
• Demonstrate relevant knowledge and start building rapport.
• Ask thoughtful, articulate questions to establish trust and authority.

Step 4: Educate and Evaluate

The education and evaluation phase is much like a two-way interview. The potential customer is asking themselves, “Does this product or service provider offer what I need?” and you’re asking, Does this prospect have the budget to make a purchase.” Sometimes prospects are problem aware, meaning that they’re aware they have a problem but don’t realize that you’re the solution- at other times, they’re solution aware, meaning that they’re aware of your solution but not sure if it will work for them specifically.

• Assess their readiness to make a purchase by asking about their timeline for buying and budget.
• Educate prospects on how your product can solve their specific pain points or problems.

Step 5: Address Objections

You’ll almost always face objections. This could be due to budget constraints, a lack of understanding of the product, or simply needing more time to think it over. Addressing their objections will greatly increase the likelihood of closing the deal.

• Ask probing questions to uncover any hesitations or concerns.
• Address any objections with relevant information and case studies demonstrating success in similar situations.

Step 6: Close

Finally, ask for the sale. You know what they say, “You won’t get what you don’t ask for!”

Closing the deal is the crucial final step, which is when you confirm the prospect’s decision to purchase and solidify the agreement, ideally ensuring a smooth transition into onboarding and account management.

• Use gathered information to convert the prospect into a customer.
• Track closing metrics to calculate your closing ratio.
• Choose between outbound and inbound prospecting or a combination of both.

So, now you have a “playbook” or process for effective prospecting, but how do you make it more efficient? After all, spending two hours a day prospecting seems far less beneficial than dedicating that time to closing deals—especially when there are tools that do it for you.

Sales Prospecting Techniques

Before we talk about the specific tools to use, let’s cover the broad strokes and some current sales prospecting techniques that sales reps use to identify leads and close deals.

Sales Intelligence, Property Intelligence, and Lead Generation Tools

Sales intelligence, property intelligence, and lead generation tools are key resources for sales reps. Think of these solutions like an automated Sales Development Representative (SDR) who gathers information on a prospect, learns what they need, scores their level of interest, and then passes them along to a salesperson to close the deal.

While it might not be a perfect analogy (since SDRs often make first contact with a prospect), these tools take care of the “grunt work,” helping sales teams spot and qualify high-potential leads. This makes prospecting easier, shows salespeople which opportunities are most likely to close, and helps increase conversions. These tools:

• Sales Intelligence Software: These tools provide comprehensive insights into potential customers, including contact details, property or company information, social media profiles, and even lead scores so your team knows which sales prospects to prioritize.

• Property Intelligence Platforms: Specifically designed for real estate professionals (gathering real estate intelligence data) or commercial services businesses (gathering data on ownership, tenants, permit history, and property management), solutions like CoStar and Convex use detailed public and private property data that can help identify leads with a high potential to convert.

• Lead Generation Tools: These tools automate the process of finding and qualifying leads, saving time and effort. Lead generation tools like Convex, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Cognism, and more have a wealth of information about the accounts that your team is looking to sell to, making the sales process simpler and more efficient.

Cold Calling

Cold calling is an old classic, but there are definitely more fun ways to generate leads. According to our internal research, it takes six calls for a decision-maker to convert into a sale. The challenge here is that most sales reps quit calling after two calls. But there are some great benefits:

• Cold calling is an effective way to get free real-time responses from prospects.

• It’s also a great way to build new customer relationships through personalized conversations.

• Finally, it skips easy-to-forget channels like social media platforms and email, meaning you can directly address the prospect’s pain points.

Cold Email

Cold emailing is a less intrusive and easier way to reach potential customers. But those factors can also make it a bit less effective than cold calling. A well-executed cold email strategy can kickstart great conversations with prospects… however, if it’s done poorly, your message may end up in a “spam” folder, potentially flagging your company’s domain and negatively impacting your ability to send emails. Here are some cold email best practices to help you skip the “spam box:”

• Personalize Your Emails: Tailoring your message to address the prospect’s specific needs, interests, or pain points can significantly increase engagement. Use their name and reference their business or industry challenges to demonstrate that you’ve done your research. Convex’s
• Create a Compelling Subject Line: The subject line is your first impression, so make it count. Ensure it is concise and enticing, providing a glimpse of the value your email offers. Aim for brevity while maintaining clarity.
• Offer Value Upfront: Rather than diving directly into a sales pitch, offer something of value in your initial outreach—such as insights, resources, or a quick tip that resonates with their current situation. This establishes credibility and positions you as a helpful resource.
• Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Every cold email should conclude with a clear and specific CTA that prompts the prospect to take the next step, whether it’s scheduling a call, replying to the email, or accessing additional resources.
• Follow-up: Don’t hesitate to follow up if you don’t receive a response. A well-timed follow-up can remind prospects of your initial outreach and increase the chances of engagement. Be persistent but respectful, spacing out your follow-up attempts appropriately.

Convex’s Generative AI can create high-converting personalized outreach messages in seconds. Our system is trained on sales intelligence, property intelligence, and contact data to make messaging relevant and timely.

Referrals

Referrals are the most powerful, warmest, and least expensive (aka, “FREE”) way to generate leads. With a simple question like, “Who do you know that probably needs this service as well?” you can leverage the trust and credibility of existing customers to introduce you to potential customers who have a significantly higher likelihood to buy.

• Ask existing customers to refer mutual connections, leave ratings, or make testimonial videos for you.

• Use questions like the one above to streamline your prospecting process and reach warmer leads who are more likely to trust you based on the social capital you’ve created.

Networking

Networking plays a vital role in long-term lead generation- but it’s definitely not a “get rich quick” strategy. Networking allows sales professionals to build relationships, exchange valuable information, and tap into personal connections that can facilitate warm introductions to potential clients. If done correctly, this is also a warm source of leads, but it requires consistent effort.

• Build relationships through in-person events, webinars, or social media interactions.

• Use LinkedIn to expand your network and share valuable content to your audience.

• Attend industry events and conferences to connect with your potential buyers and customers.

Now that you have the techniques down, let’s talk about the tools themselves.

Sales Prospecting Tools

For sales prospecting tools to really work, they need to do one important thing: save you time! In this section, let’s discuss your “front-line” sales prospecting tools. These tools enable you to identify, prioritize, and engage with potential customers who are highly likely to convert into sales.

Convex

Convex is the only sales prospecting tool designed specifically for commercial services sales teams targeting properties. It provides a comprehensive suite of features to identify leads, check buying signals, create tailored outreach, and access valuable property intelligence data to improve sales strategies and conversions.

With tools like Atlas and Engage, Convex helps teams understand property characteristics, ownership details, and tenant information. It uses best-in-class data collected from multiple public and private sources to train our Generative AI for personalized outreach to potential customers.

With Convex, prospecting and outreach are streamlined to just 3-5 minutes, requiring only four simple steps:

1. Find the Property, Contact, or Account that best suits your products and services—this could be anything from a property address and a First and Last Name to a hospital or airport in your area.
2. Check the Signals category to see who’s in-market and ready to buy.
3. With just two clicks, you can use Generative AI trained on their buying signals to send them an email or draft a phone call script.
4. Finally, set up an automated follow-up or reminder or add it to your pipeline.

Atlas and Engage are tailored for commercial services sales teams. They streamline prospecting and sales workflows to help them generate more deals.

Cognism

Cognism is another great sales prospecting tool that also harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to provide high-quality contact data. It enables businesses to discover leads from a global database enriched with rich insights and contact information.

With tools for lead generation, compliance checks, and outreach capabilities, Cognism helps sales teams save time while ensuring they remain compliant with data privacy regulations.

The platform’s unique selling proposition lies in its intent data, allowing users to identify and reach out to prospects who are actively searching for similar solutions. This targeted approach makes Cognism an invaluable resource for teams looking to enhance their sales effectiveness, especially in countries requiring GDPR compliance.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is one of the most complete databases of names. This tool provides advanced search capabilities, lead recommendations, and insights into extended networks, helping users identify the right prospects quickly.

Sales Navigator also allows for direct engagement through InMail messages, which can be particularly effective given LinkedIn’s professional focus. Users can create targeted lists, monitor key accounts, and build meaningful relationships through shared connections and content engagement.

Leveraging LinkedIn’s vast user base can greatly amplify a team’s lead-generation efforts by tapping into existing business relationships and enhancing visibility within target markets.

Apollo.io

Apollo.io is a versatile sales prospecting and engagement platform that combines a comprehensive B2B database with powerful engagement tools. It allows users to access millions of contacts with detailed profiles, making finding decision-makers and suitable leads easier. The platform offers robust search filters to narrow down prospects based on industry, company size, and specific needs.

Additionally, Apollo.io provides email tracking and analytics features, enabling sales teams to measure the success of their outreach efforts. Its integration capabilities with CRM systems further streamline the sales process, enhancing workflows and boosting productivity.

HubSpot Sales

HubSpot Sales is part of the broader HubSpot ecosystem known for its user-friendly interface and powerful CRM functionality. The Sales Hub offers tools for email tracking, templates, and scheduling to facilitate seamless communication with prospects. It also includes lead scoring and sales pipeline management features, which help sales teams prioritize their efforts based on potential deal value and likelihood of closing.

HubSpot’s extensive integration with various tools and platforms allows teams to collect and leverage valuable customer data, ultimately driving more effective sales strategies.

Close

Close is a CRM specifically designed for sales teams that prioritize direct outreach. Its core functionality empowers users to interact with leads through phone calls and emails efficiently. Close features built-in calling capabilities, allowing for seamless communication without the need for additional software. Its smart features, like automated follow-ups and customizable lead statuses, help sales professionals manage their pipelines effectively, ensuring no potential lead falls through the cracks. The user-friendly interface and robust reporting tools make Close an excellent choice for teams aiming to enhance their outreach and conversion rates.

By employing a combination of these tools, sales teams can optimize their prospecting efforts, increase efficiency, and ultimately drive more sales conversions. Each tool offers unique features, allowing businesses to tailor their approach based on specific needs and objectives.

Outreach

Outreach is designed to manage communication workflows and automate repetitive tasks, freeing up sales teams to focus on engaging prospects. With features like email sequencing and task management, Outreach helps ensure that no lead falls through the cracks. The platform’s analytics capabilities also provide insights into sales activities and engagement levels, allowing sales professionals to adjust their strategies based on performance data. Outreach allows the centralization of communication and tracks interactions, enhancing the overall prospecting process and increasing conversion rates.

Sales Prospecting Tech Stack

Many sales prospecting tools really shine when you integrate them with other tools. If you’re looking to strike a balance between your inbound and outbound sales prospecting strategies so they work well together, consider adding email finders, website viewer identification tools, live chat software, marketing automation tools, and, most importantly, a CRM to your prospecting workflow.

For example, adding Hubspot’s CRM to Convex’s property intelligence solution keeps your contact info fresh and up-to-date (known as data enrichment). Plus, it offers more chances to add prospects to your nurture cadences and other valuable resources like surveys, downloadable case studies, and white papers.

Why Having the Right Sales Prospecting Tools Matters

Hopefully, by now, you see the value of using the right sales prospecting tools for your team. Whether you’re a startup, a small business, a franchise, or an enterprise-level organization, the right tools can make all the difference in your sales success.

Let’s revisit that “1.5- 2 hour” prospecting process as an example of the competitive edge these tools can give you. Convex can perform the same process in 3- 5 minutes, and that’s only one of the benefits.

Here are some of the other key benefits of sales prospecting solutions:

• Efficiency and Time-saving: Advanced search capabilities and automation features in prospecting tools enable sales teams to quickly identify and engage potential leads, eliminating time wasted on manual research that adds unnecessary tasks.
• Targeted Approach: By leveraging intent data, buying signals, and other targeting features, these tools help pinpoint prospects more likely to convert, increasing success rates and conserving resources.
• Higher Conversions from Outreach: Tools like Generative AI for outreach enable top sales prospecting tools to use data from your preferred accounts, predicting which leads are most receptive and creating targeted messaging to engage them.
• Better Organization and Tracking: Managing multiple tools can complicate tracking prospect interactions. Sales prospecting tools centralize this information, streamlining communication and engagement tracking for more efficient follow-ups and better pipeline understanding.
• Improved Lead Quality: With detailed property data and contact information, such as job titles and company data, sales teams can focus on high-quality leads, boosting confidence in their outreach efforts.
• Streamlined Communication: Many sales prospecting tools offer features like email templates, scheduling, and automated follow-ups, helping sales teams stay organized and responsive.
• Data-driven Strategies: By monitoring engagement levels and performance metrics, these tools provide insights into the effectiveness of various prospecting techniques, allowing teams to refine their strategies for better results.

As you can see, using top prospecting tools has many benefits. But if you’re a business owner, franchisor, or sales rep manager, you may be wondering, “Do sales reps actually use these tools?” Or are they just another expense that ends up on the list of systems nobody ever uses?

Integrating Sales Prospecting Tools into Your Sales Workflows

First, ensure that your team is adequately trained on how to leverage these tools effectively to get full utilization. Regular training sessions and workshops can help your sales representatives understand each tool’s functionalities and best practices.

Next, integration should focus on creating a seamless flow of information between different systems, such as your CRM, email marketing tools, and sales engagement platforms. This integration can minimize data silos and enhance collaboration among team members, ensuring everyone has access to the most current and relevant information.

Additionally, adopting a phased approach to integration—starting with one or two tools and progressively adding more—can help avoid overwhelming your team and allow them to adapt to the new processes gradually.

Finally, establishing clear KPIs to evaluate the effectiveness of each tool within your workflow will provide insights into their performance and return on investment (ROI). Regularly reviewing these metrics will also allow your team to pivot strategies and tools as necessary, ensuring that your prospecting efforts remain effective and aligned with your sales goals.

Inbound Lead Generation vs. Outbound Sales Prospecting

Before we close, let’s discuss striking a balance between inbound and outbound tactics, so you have a complete strategy. While inbound lead generation involves attracting potential customers to your brand through content marketing, SEO, and other initiatives, outbound sales prospecting is more proactive, reaching out to prospects directly.

Inbound Lead Generation

Inbound lead generation is using someone’s own interest or desire to find solutions to attract them to your website in the hopes that they’ll find what they need and convert. Inbound leads tend to be more qualified leads because they’ve already shown interest in what you offer!

Think of using marketing activities like SEO, social media, and content marketing to draw in leads for your business. Once they’ve visited your website, you can switch to outbound tactics to stay connected with them.

Outbound Sales Prospecting

Generates leads through manual outreach via cold calling, cold emailing, and other direct methods. But you can also use ads. Ads allow you to target people who’ve visited your site so that you can offer your help no matter where they happen to be looking for answers.

Outbound prospecting allows for a more proactive approach, targeting specific potential customers.

We recommend a mix of inbound and outbound sales prospecting methods, but it really comes down to your sales strategy and what you want to achieve. Inbound methods are great for attracting leads who are already interested, while outbound methods let you actively pursue specific prospects.

Conclusion

Either way, sales prospecting is a core function of any highly effective sales team. Creating a defined sales prospecting process, leveraging the right techniques, and utilizing the right tools can streamline your sales prospecting efforts to achieve better results.

Remember to define your target market, create an ideal customer profile, and choose the tools that best fit your sales team’s needs and company growth goals. With a strategic approach to sales prospecting, you can increase conversion rates, improve lead quality, and ultimately drive more success for your business.

Ready to transform your sales prospecting strategy? Schedule a demo of Convex today and see how our tools can help you find the right person and reach out to them at the right time with the right message.