For a long time, prospecting has become a time-honored approach to gaining access to decision-makers. Prospecting turns out to be a waste of time, however, because the sales day is finite. Your salespeople have only eight hours a day to prospect for new business while, at the same time, trying to serve their current customers.

A more accurate description of prospecting would be searching for someone to sell to. Unfortunately, most companies don't start prospecting until sales are low and business is down. A more effective way of gaining access to new business would be a constant effort to establish relationships with all potential and desirable customers in all markets – all the time, even when business is good.

Another reason prospecting could be considered a waste of time is the low return on the time and effort invested in prospecting. No matter how much time your executives spend chasing down sales leads and making cold calls, they know their odds of actually getting through to somebody are slim, at best.

A better way to get the attention of potential customers is to use a combination of permission marketing, database management, and tele-contacting activity.

Note that I refer to the activity of using the phone to develop new business as tele-contacting, not telemarketing. Telemarketing is another approach to business development that produces neither consistent nor predictable results. Tele-contacting, on the other hand, is the method of qualifying prospective customers by compiling a detailed profile of their company and its current and future need for your products or services.

Once you have profiled an account and qualified the opportunity as a prospect, you should consider launching an automated process of maintaining contact with those decision-makers. There are many software products currently available that can maintain top-of-mind awareness with potential customers, on a regularly scheduled basis, through emails or letters.

Once you eliminate the need for salespeople to prospect, your organization will begin to benefit in many ways. First, morale will improve dramatically. Second, the combination of consistent tele-contacting activity and database profiling will provide your company with a very powerful and strategic weapon – the ability to compete for business opportunities as the "playing field" changes.

Look at the amount of time your salespeople spend prospecting and calculate how much every hour of sales time is worth, not only to them but also to your entire organization. Once you've determined the value of their selling time, the cost of traditional prospecting will be obvious – it is expensive and ineffectual. Despite the fact that it hasn't changed much in more than 120 years, prospecting is vital to any business. And, while its importance should not be underestimated, your salespeople still need to spend their days in more valuable and productive ways than prospecting. Regardless of what happens to our local and national economies, success in these changing times depends on predictable sales and profitable results. Either in-house or outsourced, perpetually obtaining and maintaining top-of-mind awareness with all desirable decision-makers is the first step toward ensuring that success.