7 Sales Prospecting Techniques to Fill Your Funnel

Consider adding these seven sales prospecting techniques to your selling strategies and generate lead after lead.

Being able to repeatedly fill your sales funnel takes stamina and consistency. But even with a time-tested routine, there will be opportunities to add to your sales bag of tricks. Avoid complacency (and boredom) by adding to your usual sales prospecting techniques. Don’t be afraid to reach outside your comfort zone and experiment with new strategies or technologies, especially if it means your sales funnel stays full.

Sales prospecting techniques can be as simple as outsourcing a step of your typical sales process. Prospecting can also include researching what other companies are doing. Review your data and see if the new technique paid off. Here are seven sales prospecting techniques to consider adding to your arsenal. Pick one or two and stick with them for at least three months before analyzing your sales data.

1. Work with cold calling experts

Cold calling is one of the least favorite aspects of insurance sales. It gobbles up precious calendar time and drains an agent of most of their energy. Why not outsource your cold calling and leave it to the technology and insurance experts at HBW Leads. HBW Leads will find double-verified leads exclusively for you and your agency. Their proven sales prospecting techniques will help ensure your sales funnel stays full.

2. Social media outreach

Though it may not have been designed for sales, social media is a gold mine when it comes to sales prospecting techniques. Leverage your personal and professional social media profiles to earn you new and repeat customers. Make sure you post regularly and utilize tools like Hootsuite to schedule posts throughout the week. Don’t forget to engage with other people’s posts with likes, comments, and shares.

3. Referral network

Establishing a referral network and referral incentives is one of the best sales prospecting techniques. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. By offering an incentive for referrals, you are effectively deputizing past customers, friends, and colleagues to do your work for you. Think outside the box and target businesses in a similar industry to yours. For instance, if you sell home insurance, reach out to local realtors and mortgage brokers and let them know about your referral program.

4. Become an expert

Build your personal brand as an insurance expert. Take certification courses, webinars, and other training and arm yourself with data and information needed to show your expertise in insurance sales. Of all the sales prospecting techniques, education is one that never goes out of style. Educate your prospects by offering free consultations. Utilize social media and create Q & A video content that can be repurposed throughout various internet formats.

5. Automated marketing

If there’s one thing anyone learned from 90s infomercials, it’s the power of “set it and forget it.” Who doesn’t love the idea of passive lead generation? With a little bit of upfront effort, you can utilize customer relationship manager (CRM) software to automatically send emails or texts to prospects visiting your website. Automated drip email campaigns are one of the easiest sales prospecting techniques because once you have the structure in place, the system takes care of the rest. Periodic emails will be auto-generated and sent to your leads, nudging them toward the sales finish line.

6. Take advantage of scripts and talking points

It may sound like one of the more simple sales prospecting techniques, but using scripts and talking points works. For one thing, it keeps you focused during your phone calls. But the best part about using scripts and talking points is that it makes your sales process more predictable and repeatable. Record yourself using scripts and talking points to help you assess which scripts work best in certain situations. Keep revising and updating scripts over time and incorporate new data, information, and sales trends.

7. Study your competition

Of all the sales prospecting techniques this one is the most unusual. Studying your competitors is a fantastic strategy for filling your sales funnel. First off, it’s an opportunity to compare your own processes with the competition. This allows for self-reflection and analyzing areas for improvement. The second, and more important, aspect of checking out the competition is that you may learn a new technique, skill, or strategy and be able to replicate it in your own work. Be careful not to be a full-on copycat, especially with advertisements and written work. But look at your competitor’s strategy, who they are targeting, and where they are focusing their outreach.

Perfecting your sales prospecting techniques takes time and energy. Give yourself some extra time by contacting the insurance and sales experts at HBW Leads. Their team will deliver double-verified leads just for you and your agency.