Sales prospecting has always been a balancing act. You’re juggling lead lists, cold emails, call blocks, and follow-ups, all while chasing that ever-elusive next meeting.
Then came AI, pouring jet fuel on the process and amplifying everything: speed, scale, and of course, noise.
For sales reps and account executives seeking to boost conversion rates in an AI-dominated world, it’s clear that volume alone won’t win. Only by applying the latest sales prospecting best practices—a mix of the old school, tried-and-true principles and cutting-edge tech, you can gain that competitive edge.
So, what are some of the best practices in sales prospecting today? And why do they even matter?
Keep scrolling to find out.
What Are Sales Prospecting Best Practices?
One of the greatest challenges to sales prospecting is finding qualified leads. According to one survey, more than 50% of a sales team’s prospects are ultimately disqualified in the end (Sales Insight Lab).
Sales platforms like Seamless.AI are a great resource for finding quality leads. All you have to do is plug in your ideal customer profile firmographics (location, revenue, etc.) and technographics into our search engine, and Seamless.AI will find leads that fit your search criteria as well as their contact info.
Without solid prospecting strategies and a lead gen tool, your team is going to burn valuable time and energy on dead-end leads that aren’t going to go anywhere.
So, how do you run sales prospecting? In practice, sales prospecting often looks like:
- Researching accounts that match your ideal customer profile (ICP)
- Identifying decision-makers in those orgs
- Reaching out via email, phone, LinkedIn, or events
- Qualifying who’s worth a deeper conversation, and who isn’t
Sales prospecting is ultimately the first step in turning closed-won deals (a process that can be unpredictable for even the most seasoned reps) into scalable, repeatable wins.
And as with any repeatable process, best practices have emerged to refine the way sales teams prospect even further.
Why Best Practices Are Critical for Sales Success
We got an eye-opening stat for you…Interestingly, some 81% of B2B buyers end up unhappy with their chosen vendor (Forrester). Let that number sink in. More than 4 out of 5 businesses regret their B2B purchase!
This is great news for your business because you can distinguish your solution from the rest, and give your client that “perfect fit” product. But the key to getting there is sales prospecting.
Essentially, good prospecting cuts through the risk-aversion that often slows B2B sales, handing your ideal client everything they need to take the most logical offer—yours.
Related: Sales prospecting strategies
5 Sales Prospecting Best Practices to Follow
Consider these five best practices in sales prospecting to maximize the value of this essential stage.
1. Personalize outreach – As AI-generated content floods inboxes, personalization is becoming a key differentiator. If you want to stand out, you have to go beyond plugging in first names and company titles. Reference specific industry and/or persona-related pain points, recent company news, or shared connections.
2.Leverage automation wisely – While AI has to be heavily personalized to strike a chord, that doesn’t mean automation is a lost cause (automation is our bread and butter at Seamless.AI after all). So instead of ignoring automation entirely, automate the “busywork” (like scheduling emails, logging information, or researching prospect data), and free yourself up to make connections and nurture those relationships.
3. Refine ICPs regularly – Ask which prospects tend to turn into your best customers? Take time to routinely analyze your prospects, especially those who convert, and adjust your ICP criteria accordingly.
4. Build high-quality prospect lists – Reps spend a good portion of their working hours simply hunting down the ideal ICP. Building a quality list from the get-go with a platform like Seamless.AI empowers reps to focus on sales rather than searching high and low across the internet for data. Just set a default list on the platform and as you’re finding leads you’re interested in, add them to your list and auto-import into your CRM in a few clicks.
5. Be persistent with follow-ups – Of the 5 best practices for prospecting, persistence is probably the most important. Being purposeful and consistent with your follow-up is a key differentiator amongst competitors. It often takes five or more touches to convert a prospect, yet nearly half of reps give up after one (Invesp).
These practices turn prospecting from a scattered, disorderly activity into a scalable process, boosting conversion rates without burning out your reps (or your pipeline).
How to Personalize at Scale
Let’s dig into some of these best practices in greater detail, starting with personalization.
How can this be done at scale? Simply, automate the mechanics, but craft the content and add your personal touch.
To achieve this balance, try:
- Using AI assistants like Connect to draft outreach messages based on a prospect’s profile
- Leveraging dynamic templates or merge fields to insert personal details automatically
- Spending time on adding a “human fingerprint” to the final message
For example, an effective email or LinkedIn message template might be:
“Hi, [first name].
I noticed your team at [company] recently launched [product]. Congratulations! You know, we’ve worked with similar teams in [industry] to boost launch performance by [X]%.
Could we explore if this might help you, too?”
Short and pointed, yet warm and personalized.
Time Management and Workflow Optimization
In prospecting, time management is half the battle.
Ensure you make the most of your day with tools like calendar blockers and CRM-integrated task managers. Aim to batch similar tasks together (emails first, calls next, follow-ups last) and track time spent so you can identify your weak spots and improve them for better performance and results.
Overcoming Common Prospecting Challenges
As noted, reps face rejection left and right (having tough skin is not optional). But teams can do a lot to counteract this by:
- Rotating outreach responsibilities to prevent burnout
- Highlighting and celebrating small wins (replies or booked meetings). Those small wins give you the momentum to go after the big whales!
- Prioritizing AI-powered tools to minimize administrative friction
Maintaining streamlined operations on the backend is essential. Smoothing out broken systems frees reps to do what they do best: sell with confidence.
Tracking and Improving Prospecting Results
Measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) helps teams iterate and work smarter. Key KPIs to track might include:
- Response rate – How many prospects reply to your messages?
- Conversion rate – How many of those responses lead to meetings or opportunities?
- Follow-up efficiency – How many times do you follow up before making a sale (or cut)?
Turn Best Practices Into Revenue Growth with Seamless.AI
With AI becoming a part of teams’ everyday workflows, prospecting looks very different today than it did 10 years ago. The markets, regardless of the industry you’re in, are faster, noisier, and more competitive.
Today’s edge belongs to those who personalize at scale, measure what matters, and prospect with clear purpose.
By applying these best practices, you position yourself and your team for higher conversion rates and an outsized impact on your org.
Want to know the very best practice for sales orgs looking to scale? Adopt Seamless.AI today for free.
Seamless.AI removes the guesswork (and frustration) from prospecting with verified, real-time contact data when and where you need it. That means no more manual searching or stale lists. Just accurate intel that powers a predictable pipeline.
See how it works with a free demo today.
Sources:
- Sales Insight Lab. 23 Surprising New Sales Statistics for 2023. https://salesinsightslab.com/sales-research/?sfw=pass1764516200
- Forrester. To Master B2B Buying Mayhem, Providers Must Prioritize Buyers’ Needs. https://investor.forrester.com/news-releases/news-release-details/forrester-master-b2b-buying-mayhem-providers-must-prioritize
- Invesp. The Importance of Sale Follow-Ups – Statistics. https://www.invespcro.com/blog/sale-follow-ups/
