Chapter 3WHAT IS PROSPECTING?

Important statistics to remember: 92 percent of C-level executives never respond to e-mail blasts or cold calls, but 84 percent of prospects do respond when referred by coworkers or customers.

The word prospecting is short business slang to describe the act of searching for prospective customers. It is an essential component of the selling process, for without prospects, there would be no customers.

Not everyone engaged in selling is required to engage in cold-call prospecting, a process in which the seller has to identify a potential buyer, make contact, and, the hope is, get the buyer to engage in a discussion. Some of the people engaged in selling, most notably retail store salespeople or inside salespeople, are ...

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