Prospecting for new business is not just about filling your pipeline with company names and direct contacts from your CRM or your company’s client database.

It’s about what you do with that information once you have it to qualify and cultivate these prospects and turn them into active customers.

Following-up with a prospect who said, "call me back in 6 months" and now hearing him say, "too bad you didn't call me a month ago", can be pretty devastating.    Unfortunately, it happens all too often.

According to a study by Google and CEB (now Gartner) titled The Digital Evolution in B2B Marketing, many buyers are nearly 60% through their “buying process” before needing to speak with a sales rep. Really?

Here’s how to get a better grasp of what’s involved in getting yourself organized, up and running, and ready to compete.

Begin by answering these questions:

1. Define what you do
2. What are the titles of people you want to contact?
3. What do you say to them?     

• People don’t usually like rejection or rude responses
• Some are not that good at it or don’t think it works
• Others feel they’re better at:
       - Making Presentations / Negotiating Prices / Closing deals

And knowing what to say to people you’ve never met or spoken with before can be quite daunting.