Sales prospecting: remote or physical prospecting?

Remote or physical prospecting: which strategy to adopt?

To continue on the theme of the best commercial prospecting strategy to adopt, let’s talk about remote prospecting! While physical prospecting or cold call prospecting used to be the main prospecting approach, new techniques have recently emerged. In a crisis situation such as Covid-19, adopting remote prospecting techniques seems more than promising. The tools dedicated to approach techniques are varied, discover how these methods can help you achieve your objectives.

The following points will be covered in this article:

Differences between remote and physical prospecting
The basics of remote prospecting
The methods adopted for remote prospecting

Differences between remote prospecting and physical prospecting

Physical prospecting is a prospecting technique with which you are probably familiar. By using telephone calls or door-to-door canvassing, you approach your prospects. You can then convince them to make a purchase. However, as it is a cold approach, i.e. without prior contact with the person concerned, it is sometimes difficult to conclude. Teleprospecting, on the other hand, involves using different techniques and specific tools to target prospects. Thus, the steps taken are based on data collected beforehand.

Far from being in competition, these two techniques tend to be complementary. Although considered obsolete, telephone contact establishes a real dialogue, unlike e-mail. However, having a database considerably improves the prospecting process.

The basics of remote prospecting

The success of remote prospecting depends on a broad process carried out upstream, the objective being to avoid cold contact.

Know your target

Once your objectives have been defined, knowing your target allows you to adapt the strategy adopted for each buyer profile. To help you do this, draw up a buyer persona, which consists of grouping together all the characteristics of the target clientele (age, sex, geographical location, etc.). This can be based either on your own data, i.e. from sales you have already made, or on market research. By reading the article on the 5 most common errors in commercial prospecting, you will have a better idea of how to approach your target.

Offer interesting content

Providing content on social networks or on your company website is the best way to communicate with your prospects. Blog posts, forums, tutorials, etc., are all available to you. However, the proposal should be adapted to the target audience. In addition to the content, the choice of sharing platform contributes to the success of the marketing campaign. Networks such as LinkedIn or Facebook are among the most interesting, as they bring together professionals from all fields.

Follow-up

Marketing efforts generally tend to attract the attention of prospects. You can use follow-up techniques such as emails or phone calls.

Methods for remote prospecting

You can use different channels to ensure the success of your distance marketing campaign. The main techniques used are:

The e-mailing campaign: as the name suggests, this is a method based on sending e-mails. The success of this campaign depends on the right message being sent to the right person. To do this, it is necessary to have a quality database. This can be collected through the lead generation technique or through a form available on your page.
Inbound marketing: This technique is based on attracting visitors through a publication that is likely to interest your target audience. This means that instead of contacting them, you let the customers come to you. They then become prospects by filling in forms and interacting with your sales people. The advantage of the inbound marketing strategy is that it is inexpensive and offers good returns. However, as mentioned earlier, sometimes a follow-up is necessary to close a sale.

The success of remote prospecting thus depends on the delivery of a message adapted to the target audience. It is necessary to improve your brand image on the networks in order to build customer loyalty.

The final word

While physical prospecting used to be the only effective marketing strategy, it can now be supplemented by remote prospecting. Indeed, its main drawback lies in the fact that it is a cold approach. For remote prospecting, a database collected in advance is essential. This strategy makes it easier to make contact and to adapt the techniques to the target.

If you want to know more about the challenges of commercial prospecting, you can read “Adapting commercial prospecting in a crisis situation“.