Without prospecting, lead gen is throwing darts with a blindfold on. What can hit the right mark? A reiteration of how prospecting differs from lead gen.
As lead generation efforts remain as linear as ever before, content alone isn’t enough. It sparks interest, but it doesn’t pinpoint if the account is the right fit. Here, even a wholehearted faith in tech adoption cannot hit the nail on the head. This solution is only about cutting corners.
The point isn’t getting a waterfall of leads, but a consistently healthy pipeline of high-quality accounts. Establishing this is where the real effort lies. With teams stretched thin in all directions, what can do the trick?
Well-timed and relevant outreach.
Lead generation without prospecting is an empty shell. 80% of buyers still want to hear from you during their decision-making process, irrespective of any self-research. But it’s only effective with the right timing and context.
Those who come out on top understand prospecting is an integral part of lead generation. Not siloed functions. Others? Their knowledge remains false.
Often used synonymously, prospecting and lead generation are two different funnel functions. And their flawless execution rests on underlining the foundational but vital differences between them.
The Need to Outline the Differences Between Lead Generation and Sales Prospecting
Businesses don’t buy, people do.
A glimpse into and a pivot to a very relational facet of B2B buying has altered a few perspectives. SDRs can’t just tout target accounts about how better, faster, and cheaper the solutions are.
Economic buyers don’t trust such selling.
Your buyers are all too aware of how the market works- they’re sellers and creators themselves. You’re presenting your solutions in an age of saturation, where your competitors can pull one over you and maybe do a better job at penetrating the cold exterior of your target accounts.
This is why taking the path to passive reactivity isn’t effective today. Especially in pursuing complex B2B SaaS sales.
When CEOs feel the business isn’t witnessing any activity on the TOFU, they demand more leads.
Where will the high-quality leads come from? Which team takes the brunt?
In the face of very few high-quality leads, marketing turns to quick peaks from performance metrics. And SDRs are expected to dial numbers for broad outreach. Without any substantial sales performance, these efforts are exhaustive. Siloed functions result in disasters-
Leads that end up going nowhere.
This is why lead generation and sales prospecting must work in tandem. The only stumbling block is amalgamating them as one. The more your business reaches into the account, the better it gets.
So, what can you do?
Implement different means that introduce layers to the lead acquisition and sifting process. There must be synchronicity and alignment to drive pipeline growth. To help your team penetrate the diverse sphere of influence, you should strike a strategic balance between lead generation and prospecting-
By primarily underscoring how they differ from one another.
Learning the Basics: Lead Generation v/s Sales Prospecting
Outreach means identifying and engaging the prospective buyers. That’s the most basic understanding. Whether it’s outbound or inbound, your teams are still researching who your promising accounts are and how you can engage them with the goal of converting them.
But at the bottom, it’s all about getting potential customers into the consideration set, helping them discover your brand at the right time- when they have the “need.” There has to be a rhythm and a process to increasing the receptivity of your messages.
But how?
We move beyond the best practices. The run after best practices has induced a sameness across the market, creating copycats after copycats. It isn’t what you wanted.
This is why it’s crucial to underscore why some businesses implement specific practices over others- where does prospecting reap benefits, and does lead generation ever work?
The methodological differences between lead generation and sales prospecting
1. Who’s Guiding the Processes?
Lead gen efforts are broadly marketing-driven. Because it’s about creating interest and awareness, and attracting new customers based on that. This necessitates a slow build-up and strategic storytelling that tells your brand story and establishes your value proposition.
Customers come to you, but only after you lay the road to your brand. And illustrate that you’re the bigger and better player in the market at the moment.
On the other hand, prospecting is a part of lead generation and sales-driven. Accounts passed on from lead generation efforts are assessed actively by SDRs to determine whether they’re the right fit.
So, you’re identifying those who fit your qualification criteria and then contact them to gauge if they truly are the right fit. And if the comms ascertain this, a meeting is scheduled for further negotiation and then conversion.
2. The End Goal
Lead generation is a one-sided effort by a brand to help relevant accounts take notice of what it can offer them. It all revolves around instilling brand awareness. You have to stand out in the crowded market to show the audience that there’s another player in town, and make an impression.
Meanwhile, prospecting creates a more open line of communication. And proves effective only when the target account is receptive to your interaction.
See, the objective is to schedule meetings, and if the person on the other end of the line isn’t open to hearing you out, it’s the end. Here, you find another pathway or try a hand at warm prospecting (warm follow-ups).
Your sales team researches, finds out the right-fit accounts, and then makes contact with them. Unlike lead generation, it’s more direct and proactive. It offers your team control over lead generation, offering a basis for further nurturing.
3. Communication => Qualification
Lead generation is indirect and a one-to-many strategy. You’re not diving into your TAM to churn out leads and call them right away. Instead, it’s about building multiple bridges to your brand- whether it’s content marketing, SEO ads, lead magnets, or event marketing.
As the accounts interact with these channels, it becomes apparent which ones have purchasing propensity. This is what lead generation is pinpointing- right-fit accounts that require a solution like yours. And then creating awareness like, “Hey, we can help you with your problem!”
Lead gen is about making your brand discoverable.
Whereas sales prospecting dives in deep. This one-to-one strategy works wonders for small businesses, startups, and even B2C customers. Could it navigate the complexities of a diverse B2B buying committee?
It could also prove beneficial to build a connection with at least one POC. Digital transformation can transform prospecting. It’s no longer working with blind folds on. SDRs now hold more information on who they’re calling up or sending emails to. This already gives a sense of whether they’re the right fit.
And helps your sales team avoid intrusive contacting, wasting your and the executive’s time. Because today, people are more strategic about who they give their time to. This is why prospecting cannot be dialing numbers; it must be intuitive.
4. The Approach
Modern lead gen techniques aren’t about generating leads. It includes the nurturing process, i.e., you build deeper and more sustainable relationships with your target accounts. This is why an omnichannel strategy has become a modern B2B marketing prerequisite, especially targeting different stakeholders across a single account.
This way, you’re offering them value that directly relates to their pain points and builds trust for the long term.
But prospecting is about initiating contact with an account you deem the right fit. And further conversation decodes its potential as a prospective buyer-
- Who are they?
- Do they have the need?
- Does this POC have the authority to make the decision?
- Do they want to take the conversation further?
Because this is a first contact, prospecting comprises engaging with cold or new accounts, ones with the highest potential for conversion. Your SDRs take a step forward, whereas in lead generation, the interested accounts come to you, and you capture interest.
However-
Prospecting and lead gen, although different, don’t operate in silos.
Almost no marketing campaign or strategy has ever had an immediate effect. But that’s what most marketers trail- immediate, tangible outcomes in a bid to justify their marketing and advertising spend. In this hope, they start prioritizing performance metrics over a sweet balance with brand consistency, which can get them a higher ROI.
The quick peaks have made them delirious. This illusion that numbers drive the business had created a disconnect with sales before. SDRs had one concern- they didn’t trust the leads that marketing sent their way. Often, in an urgency to fill the pipeline, the quality turns out disappointing. This led SDRs to conduct their own set of prospecting. Technically, this is what you do if what marketing gives you is junk.
But that’s not the long-term solution.
Your best quality leads should come from marketing, given that inbound is done correctly. And each lead generated should be followed up by focused prospecting. This is vital to the extremely long sales cycle.
At the first interaction, prospecting offers an overview of market challenges and gaps. Talking to different accounts opens avenues that other channels can’t. You can dive into the mindset of your TAM and address pain points from the nucleus.
Prospecting in lead generation is your most valuable battle card.
That’s how an integrated approach should work. Your leads are already aware of the brand and are serious about a purchase. This allows for little disconnect.
The truth is, you cannot take a one-way ticket to mediocre campaigns. That’s not how modern marketing operates.
When a B2B buyer is searching for solutions, there’s only one scenario here. They come across solutions that sound the same, look the same, and messages that feel the same. In this sea, the B2B buyer’s focus then falls onto the brand’s market positioning and pricing points. None of the brands actually end up making a sale or, for that matter, breakout growth.
Falling into old habits always feels a tad less risky, it’s true, but not sustainable.
This is why a holistic approach is the way forward for all of marketing. No function can operate in a silo. And if they do, you know why your sales pipeline is facing a persistent drought. This sales-marketing misalignment is a rupture for businesses.
And the only way forward is ensuring they align and overlap to build seamless campaigns that focus on the facet that matters most: customers.
