What is B2B Prospecting? 10 Methods to Engage Prospects

B2B prospecting is a sales process where potential buyers (known as prospects) are identified, outreached to and converted into customers. Outreach is conducted via a number of different B2B sales and marketing activities, including cold calling, outbound email, content marketing and PPC.

This guide includes everything you need to know about prospecting for B2B sales, including strategies, methods, best practices and the latest tools to make prospecting easier.

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2. Build a prospect list

Objective: Create a targeted list of potential leads based on your ideal customer profile.

Key Actions:

• Use sales prospecting tools like Cognism or its competitors to generate lists of companies, company decision-makers and their contact details.
• Organise prospects into segmented lists (by industry, company size, etc.) to allow for more personalised outreach.

⚠️ Use Cognism to build lists of your potential clients and their contact info - take an interactive tour to see how it works 👇

3. Conduct research on prospects

Objective: Gather relevant information about each decision-maker to personalise outreach and understand their needs.

Key Actions:

• Research the prospect’s business model, recent news, pain points, and competitors.
• Look at their social media profiles, company websites, and industry reports to gain insights into their challenges and goals.

4. Initiate outreach

Objective: Make initial contact with prospects using the appropriate B2B prospecting techniques.

Key Actions:

• Cold emailing: Personalise your emails by referencing something specific about the potential prospect’s company or role. Address their pain points and suggest a solution.
• Cold calling: Make phone calls to high-value accounts or more urgent prospects. Keep the conversation short and focus on setting up a meeting rather than pitching immediately.
• LinkedIn prospecting: Send a connection request with a personalised message, followed by sharing relevant content or insights.

5. Follow up and nurture prospects

Objective: Build relationships and maintain contact with promising leads who haven’t responded or need more nurturing.

Key Actions:

• Use follow-up emails and calls based on the prospect’s engagement or previous conversations.
• Share valuable content like case studies, whitepapers, or industry news that addresses their specific challenges.
• Engage with prospects on social media platforms, commenting on their posts or sharing useful insights to stay on their radar.

6. Qualify the leads

Objective: Determine whether the prospect is a good fit and ready to move further in the sales process.

Key Actions:

• Use qualification frameworks like BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) or CHAMP (Challenges, Authority, Money, Prioritisation) to assess whether the prospective customer meets key criteria.
• Ask open-ended questions to uncover specific pain points, challenges, and business goals.
• Identify decision-makers and budget availability.

7. Schedule a discovery call or meeting

Objective: Move interested prospects to a deeper conversation. At this stage, you must further assess fit and present solutions.

Key Actions:

• Propose a meeting or discovery call to delve into their business challenges and how your solution can help.
• Prepare for the call by revisiting your research and aligning your solutions with the prospect’s identified needs.

8. Handle objections and build trust

Objective: Address any concerns or sales objections the prospect may have and solidify their trust in your solution.

Key Actions:

• Be prepared to answer questions about pricing, competitors, or product features.
• Use case studies, testimonials, or success stories to prove value and build credibility.
• Offer a trial or demo to let prospects experience the product firsthand.

9. Close or transition to your sales team

Objective: When ready, send your high-quality leads to your account executive team. This stage involves negotiation and deal closing.

Key Actions:

• If you’re a sales development rep (SDR), hand off the qualified lead to the account executive (AE) or sales team for closing.
• If you’re an AE, negotiate terms, present pricing, and finalise the deal.

10. Track and analyse performance

Objective: Continuously improve the prospecting process by measuring success and learning from data.

Key Actions:

• Use CRM or B2B sales tools to track prospecting activity, response rates, and conversions.
• Review your outreach efforts to determine what worked and what didn’t. Adjust your strategy based on your performance metrics.

Where to get B2B prospecting data from?

Data is vital to the success of B2B prospecting. It’s the bedrock upon which every sales and marketing prospecting activity is built.

Think of it this way:

If you don’t have accurate direct dials or B2B emails, how will you ever reach the people you want to do business with?

The most reliable source of data for B2B prospecting is company and contact databases, which provide up-to-date phone numbers and email addresses for prospects.

Providers like Cognism can generate prospect lists in your target accounts using its advanced filters (seniority, job title, etc.).

Additionally, you can use intent data and sales event triggers to prioritise prospects who are ready to buy. Then, you can sync the lists to your CRM.

When UserEvidence started using Cognism’s data, its sales pipeline increased by 33%. CEO Evan Huck told us:

What are examples of B2B prospecting?

B2B prospecting involves identifying and connecting with potential business clients to generate leads and, ultimately, sales.

Here are the top B2B prospecting methods:

Cold calling

Cold calling isn’t dead!

Despite being considered old-fashioned, it’s still a highly effective sales prospecting method, especially when targeting a niche market.

Personalisation and researching the target company beforehand (plus having quality sales data at your fingertips!) can significantly improve results.

Cold email outreach

Cold emailing is a more scalable and less intrusive alternative to cold calling.

With proper research, segmentation, and personalisation, it’s an excellent way to initiate conversations with potential leads.

Using automation and cold email tools can help manage this process at scale.

LinkedIn prospecting

LinkedIn is one of the most powerful platforms for B2B prospecting.

Sales reps can use LinkedIn’s advanced search features to find decision-makers, send personalised connection requests, and engage in meaningful conversations.

⚠️ See how Cognism compares to LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

Content marketing

Publishing informative content such as blogs, whitepapers, eBooks, or case studies helps attract leads who are actively seeking solutions to their problems.

These prospects are often high-quality because they’ve already shown interest in what your company offers.

Referral programs

Asking for referrals from current customers, partners, or B2B business networks is an excellent way to get highly qualified leads.

Referral leads are often warmer because they come with a recommendation.

Networking events and conferences

Industry events, trade shows, and conferences offer great opportunities to meet potential clients face-to-face.

By attending relevant events, your sales team can make direct connections and follow up with these leads later.

Inbound lead qualification

Use inbound marketing techniques like SEO, PPC ads, and webinars to attract potential clients.

Then, use lead qualification processes to identify the most promising prospects for your sales agents to follow up with.

Social selling

The best sales professionals frequently engage with prospects on social platforms.

They comment on posts, share useful information, and engage in discussions relevant to their industry. This sales prospecting technique is good for nurturing relationships that lead to qualified opportunities.

CRM and marketing automation tools

Tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive help automate parts of the prospecting process, including managing customer data, sending cold outreach, and nurturing leads through the sales funnel.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

ABM focuses on targeting specific high-value accounts.

The sales and marketing teams work closely to create highly personalised campaigns for key accounts, which increases the likelihood of conversions.

⚠️ Check out Cognism’s guide to account-based marketing (ABM).

B2B prospecting FAQs

How to find B2B prospects?

Apart from the B2B prospecting methods we’ve already covered, the best way to find potential customers is to use technology.

But which tool is right for you?

Over 3,000 B2B companies trust Cognism to power their prospecting efforts. Here’s why:

• Call human-verified direct dials guaranteed to connect you with 87% of your list.
• Message notified and compliant B2B emails in NAM, EMEA, and APAC.
• Fully compliant with global data laws, including GDPR and CCPA compliance.
• Offers international coverage, including the best B2B data in EMEA.
• An AI Search feature that allows you to type (or speak!) your exact request, getting the results you need at lightning speed.
• Cognism Chrome Extension for easy access to B2B emails and mobile numbers on LinkedIn and company websites.
• Cognism Enrich for refreshing your CRM with high-quality B2B data.
• Includes consent-based intent data powered by industry leader Bombora.
• Includes sales trigger data for timely outreach.
• Easily integrates with sales intelligence tools and CRMs such as Salesforce, Outreach, HubSpot and Salesloft.
• Includes unrestricted access to person and company-level data. With Cognism, you never need to worry about credit limits, geographical limits or other data access restrictions.

➡️ Not convinced? Then see Cognism’s list of the best B2B prospecting tools.

➡️ Read enough? Head straight to booking your demo.

How to build a B2B prospect list?

To build an effective prospecting list with accurate names and contact details, you’ll need a contact data provider like Cognism or ZoomInfo. 

When ResponseiQ switched from ZoomInfo to Cognism, the company’s sales process improved massively. Scott Lee, Founder & CEO, said:

What are B2B prospects?

A B2B prospect is any person or organisation that fits your ideal customer profile (ICP) but hasn’t yet expressed an interest in your company.

It’s sales and marketing’s job to make B2B prospects aware of products or services and convert them into satisfied customers.

Why is B2B prospecting important?

It’s fundamental to the success of a business. Efficient B2B prospecting ensures:

• A consistently filled pipeline.
• An accelerated sales cycle.
• Better communication between sales and marketing.
• Improved outreach attracting quality leads.
• Optimised outreach and campaigns.
• More incoming revenue.

What types of B2B prospects are there?

There are two types of B2B prospects:

1. Sales prospects

Sales prospects are people or organisations who match your ICP and are deemed suitable for prospecting.

This group includes:

• B2B buyers who are contacted by phone, AKA cold calling. 
• A list of prospective leads contacted via outbound email.
• Prospects who sales reps connect with on social media.
• Prospects who are contacted via a combination of these methods (also known as a sales cadence).

2. Marketing prospects

Marketing prospects are those people or organisations who have expressed an interest in your company by engaging with content produced by your B2B marketing team.

For example:

• Registering for a demo via a CTA on your company’s blog.
• Filling out a form on your company’s website.
• Downloading a piece of content that your company has produced.

Who conducts B2B prospecting?

B2B prospecting is a process managed by sales and marketing professionals. They may work alone but more usually in teams.

The B2B prospecting process is most effective when sales and marketing are closely aligned. Sometimes, combining the two creates a larger, more successful revenue team.

1. Sales

A sales team focused on B2B prospecting is often split into two groups. These groups perform separate tasks as part of the broader sales strategy.

The two groups are:

• Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) - this group is responsible for identifying prospects, engaging with them and booking meetings. They use tools for prospecting on LinkedIn and B2B data providers.
• Account Executives (AEs) - this group is responsible for conducting sales demos, closing deals and generating revenue for the business.

This approach has several benefits:

• It creates a robust and repeatable B2B prospecting pipeline - the SDRs develop opportunities for the AEs to action.
• It empowers each employee to focus solely on one responsibility - meaning that they quickly become experts in their roles.
• It builds a roadmap for career development and progression - if an SDR consistently hits their sales targets, they become eligible for promotion to an AE.

2. Marketing

In general, three categories of marketers manage B2B prospecting. The categories are:

• Performance marketers - this group is responsible for acquisition channels across paid search and paid social. Optimising new channels for growth and testing are some of their main tasks.
• Content marketers - this group is tasked with planning and creating authoritative and actionable content. Their mission is to publish content that leads the industry conversation and delivers ROI.
• Campaign marketers - this group executes multi-channel marketing activities, implementing campaigns that drive customer acquisition across various lead source channels.

What links these groups together is the belief that data and performance should be at the heart of decision-making. They demonstrate a capacity to use innovative strategies to drive growth and engagement.

What is the most essential tool for B2B prospecting?

Cognism is one of the best tools for finding qualified prospects. We’re the choice for you if:

• You work in B2B - our data isn’t for B2C businesses.
• You work in a sales, marketing or RevOps team - our data isn’t for sole traders.
• You want to connect with other businesses - our data can’t help you connect with freelancers.
• You want to target EMEA, DACH or the USA - our data is best in these regions.
• You’re concerned about compliance - we’re a fully compliant B2B prospecting tool.