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Sales prospecting is an essential process for all businesses, but manually identifying, connecting with, and engaging prospects is a time-consuming and resource-heavy process.
Luckily, there are now hundreds of prospecting tools you can use to do all the heavy lifting for you!
Using the right tools will help your prospecting be more efficient, more accurate, and more effective.
From improved targeting to gathering contact information, tracking customer interactions, and personalizing your outreach messaging across multiple channels, there is a tool for just about everything.
With so many options, finding the best tools for your needs can be challenging to say the least. And that is if you even know exactly what you’re looking for!
To make things simpler for you, we’ve evaluated dozens of different options, selected the best prospecting tools and put together this detailed review, including pros and cons, pricing, review site scores, and more.
We also cover the benefits of using prospecting tools, the main prospecting techniques to consider, and a few expert tips to make the most of your prospecting efforts!
For this review, we consulted the cold outreach experts behind Woodpecker, a leading cold email outreach platform, for their insights and some pro tips.
With access to the data behind thousands of successful outreach campaigns, they know exactly it takes to make loyal customers out of your prospects!
Ready?
Let’s jump right in!
Some of the most important advantages of using B2B prospecting tools include:
Some of the most commonly used sales prospecting techniques are:
Cold calling involves reaching out to potential customers via phone without any prior contact or relationship. While it can be challenging due to potential resistance from prospects, it remains a staple in sales prospecting.
The technique requires skilled salespeople who can quickly engage the prospect, address their pain points, and demonstrate the value of the product or service.
Personalization and a compelling pitch are crucial for success in cold calling, as well as the ability to handle objections effectively.
While cold calling might be seen as intrusive, when executed skillfully, it can result in valuable connections and conversions.
Email outreach involves sending targeted emails to potential clients. Successful email prospecting involves providing value, addressing pain points, and creating a clear call-to-action to guide the recipient’s next steps.
Crafting compelling subject lines and relevant content is vital to capture the recipient’s attention and encourage them to engage.
Cold email outreach tools can assist in managing email campaigns at scale while tracking open rates, click-through rates, and responses.
When we spoke to the outreach experts at Woodpecker, they stressed the importance of cold email warm-up and establishing your sender reputation before you start your outreach campaigns.
Prospecting usually comes before your fully-fledged cold email campaigns begin, and the prospecting phase is an ideal time to start getting your email tools, domains and addresses warmed up!
If you don’t do this properly, a large percentage of the emails you send will never reach the recipients inbox at all. Instead, they will be diverted to spam or not delivered at all.
Email warmup is essential for high deliverability, so this is a step in the process that you can’t afford to skip!
Check out this video by Woodpecker.co to learn more about email warm-up and building your sender reputation:
Social selling leverages social media platforms to identify, connect with, and engage potential customers.
You can use platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to build relationships, share valuable content, and establish credibility in your industry.
By commenting on relevant posts, sharing insightful articles, and initiating meaningful conversations, salespeople can gradually nurture prospects and position themselves as trusted advisors.
Social selling is about building a strong online presence and demonstrating expertise, which can lead to inbound inquiries and warmer leads.
It’s important to strike a balance between professional engagement and respecting the social nature of these platforms. Prospecting tools that double as social media marketing tools are essential for successful social media prospecting.
So, you’ve got a list of potential leads, but how do you know which ones are worth your time?
To help you filter out prospects that are most likely to convert, consider the following:
Systematically qualifying sales prospects using these criteria means you can optimize your efforts and focus on the prospects most likely to convert.
If you want to learn even more about sales prospecting qualification, check out this video by Patrick Dang:
Successful prospecting leads to sales outreach but which tools are the best when it comes to communicating with your now-qualified prospects?
Here are 4 outreach tools we recommend:
Bonus: Best Tools for Prospecting Outreach | Why Choose This Tool? | Our P2P Rating |
Woodpecker Best for Cold Email Outreach | Woodpecker is a leading cold email outreach solution, and one of the best tools for B2B cold email outreach. It offers everything from automated domain and email warm-up to personalization, triggered email sequences, and detailed reporting and analytics for your cold email outreach. Specifically engineered for cold emails and follow-ups, Woodpecker seamlessly integrates with Gmail, Office 365, and Exchange accounts, as well as tools like Zapier and Salesforce. Woodpecker is one of the few cold email outreach solutions that encompasses all aspects of your campaigns, from the technical and practical things ensuring high deliverability, to the creative things like advanced personalization with adaptable snippet-based conditions for swift customization. | |
SocialPilot Best for Social Selling & Inbound Prospecting | SocialPilot is a 360-degree social media marketing tool that you can use to schedule your social media posts, leverage real-time updates to optimize your content, and invite team members to collaborate. SocialPilot integrates with hundreds of apps, including all social media platforms, Canva, Zapier, and Slack. You can customize your social media posts, monitor performance with robust tracking and analytics, and create customized reports. | |
Pipedrive Best for Cold Calling | Pipedrive is a leading CRM tool and web-based cold calling software that is designed with sales prospecting in mind. It offers excellent integrations, keeps detailed records of all your calls and prospect interaction on other channels. You can create online forms to gather leads, collaborate with team members, set reminders, and make notes for each prospect so that you never miss an opportunity to connect, or an opportunity to provide a highly customized experience for your prospects. Pipedrive offers useful lead segmentation features that make your prospecting efforts easier. You can filter and sort your leads to create customized lists for personalized communications. | |
LinkedHelper Best for LinkedIn Outreach | LinkedHelper is for B2B sales prospecting and lead generation on LinkedIn. It automates sending connection requests to prospects, allowing you to rapidly expand your network. Message sequences let you engage with connections via automated follow-ups. It offers data extraction, making it easier to gather contact information from LinkedIn, and data enrichment to give you more details for personalized communication. |
Right, let’s get into the full reviews of the best B2C and B2B prospecting tools:
Whether you’re looking for sales prospecting tools for lead generation, B2B prospecting tools, or tools for B2C and D2C prospecting, the perfect tool for your needs is on this list:
Struggling to find promising prospects in these challenging times? Imagine a tool that simplifies your work with just one click. That’s AeroLeads for you, a platform designed to boost your business growth.
AeroLeads empowers you to collect valuable lead information, from phone numbers to email addresses. And the best part? You can pull prospects directly from LinkedIn!
It’s a great B2B prospecting tool that seamlessly integrates with Salesforce, Mailchimp, Zoho CRM, and more, offering a curated CSV file for easy use.
Pros
Cons
Website: AeroLeads .com
Cognism is a goldmine of global B2B information, and is one of the best sales prospecting tools for lead generation.
Imagine having access to a rich database filled with company and contact details, including B2B emails and highly accurate mobile phone numbers. With Cognism, reaching the right prospects at the perfect time becomes a reality.
With its user-friendly filters and intent data, Cognism Prospector offers insights that align with your sales triggers. But that’s not all! It integrates seamlessly with major CRMs and sales engagement tools like Salesforce, Outreach, and HubSpot, erasing the tedious manual work involved in data exporting.
Plus, its handy Chrome extension works in harmony with LinkedIn, enriching your prospect lists.
Pros
Cons
Website: cognism.com
Introducing LinkedIn Sales Navigator, a game-changer in the realm of sales prospecting. It’s more than a tool; it’s your personal guide to building and nurturing relationships with prospects, even without their contact information.
Imagine staying in the loop, always connected, and focusing your energy on the right prospects.
That’s what LinkedIn Sales Navigator brings to the table. It’s not just LinkedIn; it’s LinkedIn on steroids, designed specifically for salespeople.
Pros
Cons
Website: business.linkedin.com
Welcome to Ring.io, where communication meets innovation. If you’re looking to supercharge your reps’ productivity, then Ring.io might be the key you’ve been searching for.
With its standout Salesforce Dialer, it’s not just about making calls; it’s about making connections that count.
Integrate Ring.io with major CRM platforms, and suddenly mundane tasks become exciting. Click-to-call, automatic activity logging, and voicemail automation become part of your daily workflow.
And the best part? You can visualize the conversion ratios in percentages, putting the power of data at your fingertips.
Pros
Cons
Website: Ring.io
If you’ve been yearning for a CRM that speaks your language, then meet Close, a multichannel platform designed with the scaling sales team in mind. Forget the labyrinthine systems and embrace the future of CRM, where every touchpoint is a stepping stone towards closing the deal.
Close isn’t just a name; it’s a mission. With automatically tracked touchpoints on a visual timeline and productivity tools like task reminders, it’s all about getting you closer to that handshake or celebratory “deal closed” notification.
Pros
Cons
Website: close.com
Welcome to the era of smart LinkedIn prospecting, where automation meets sophistication, sales research tools are at your finger tips, and where Dripify takes center stage.
Are you a LinkedIn aficionado seeking to supercharge your lead generation? Look no further; Dripify is here to redefine your LinkedIn outreach.
This isn’t just another tool; it’s an ecosystem where LinkedIn prospecting becomes a well-choreographed dance. With Dripify, you can build customized drip campaigns, import leads, and create sequences with triggers and delays that resonate with your audience.
Pros
Cons
Website: dripify.com
In an era where data-driven decisions are the linchpin of successful marketing and sales strategies, Lusha stands out as a beacon of quality and precision in your prospecting toolkit.
Lusha is not just a tool; it’s a partner in your go-to-market journey, offering fresh and dynamic insights that cut through the noise and connect you to the right people at the right time.
But beyond features and functions, Lusha is about trust.
In an age where privacy and security are paramount, Lusha’s commitment to compliance sets it apart. Whether it’s GDPR, CCPA, or the highest international privacy standards, Lusha ensures that your operations are not just effective but ethical.
Pros
Cons
Website: lusha.com
Meet G2, the behemoth of the B2B tech marketplace, and a trusted haven for software reviews. With a staggering 80 million people flocking to G2.com annually, it’s not just a platform; it’s a vibrant community where software and services come to life.
Whether you’re looking to establish your market presence, drive awareness, or engage with in-market buyers, G2 offers a stage to spotlight your brand, all based on authentic user reviews and valuable social proof.
Pros
Cons
Website: G2.com
As businesses strive to scale and understand the driving forces behind their sales, tools like CallTrackingMetrics (CTM) become essential.
CTM isn’t just another tracking tool; it’s a conversation analytics provider that empowers marketers with the data they need to make informed strategy decisions.
With an impressive clientele that includes names like The Washington Post and Verizon Connect, CTM has made its mark as an industry leader, recognized by top software publications like G2 and Capterra.
Pros
Cons
Website: calltrackingmetrics.com
The platform’s strength lies in its adaptability. Whether it’s building a custom pipeline to suit the unique contours of your business or fostering genuine connections with customers, SalesLoft gives you the tools to craft a sales experience that resonates.
Data-driven insights guide every step of the way, providing a roadmap to success. With SalesLoft, you’re not merely guessing; you’re making informed decisions bolstered by actionable intelligence.
Pros
Cons
Website: salesloft.com
In the crowded field of sales prospecting tools for lead generation, ActiveCampaign emerges as a robust platform tailored for small and medium-sized businesses.
This versatile tool focuses on enhancing customer relationships by employing the power of automation. It doesn’t just stop at sending emails; it orchestrates a symphony of communication across multiple channels, making it one of the best prospecting tools we have seen.
ActiveCampaign’s appeal lies in its ability to create custom email marketing sequences that resonate with the target audience. From building newsletters to triggering specific campaigns, it offers a broad spectrum of possibilities for engaging leads.
With a focus on sales research tools, the platform integrates effortlessly with over 300 platforms, reflecting its commitment to seamless functionality.
Pros
Cons
Website: activecampaign.com
Chorus by ZoomInfo stands out as a Conversation Intelligence platform that leverages AI to unlock insights and take control of the sales process.
As a B2B prospecting tool free from manual limitations, Chorus is designed to serve both large corporations and small businesses.
So, Chorus brings the power of AI to the sales table, offering a fresh perspective on customer engagement.
From tracking sales cycles to automating note-taking, CRM population, and more, Chorus opens up avenues of efficiency and effectiveness, making it one of the best prospecting tools of 2024.
Pros
Cons
Website: zoominfo.com
DocSend, a tool designed for sharing and managing documents, has emerged as a crucial asset for businesses aiming to grow through efficiency and security.
It’s not just about sharing; it’s about sharing with control and intelligence, giving you the ability to steer your content to the right destination.
The need for secure and efficient document sharing is common across various industries, including finance, fundraising, sales, marketing, business development, and recruiting. In a world where information flows at breakneck speed, DocSend offers a reliable and robust platform for managing this flow.
Pros
Cons
Website: docsend.com
Engagebay, the world’s #1 affordable all-in-one marketing, sales, and support CRM software, has become an essential tool for over 29,500 growing companies globally.
Its aim is to help businesses acquire, engage, nurture web visitors, and convert them into satisfied customers, ultimately growing businesses exponentially.
The platform is designed with small to medium-sized businesses in mind, offering a myriad of features, including marketing automation, email marketing, free live chat software, powerful helpdesk software, landing pages, and much more.
Engagebay stands out as a simple, affordable solution that integrates every facet of customer engagement.
Pros
Cons
Website: engagebay.com
Canva, a platform designed to make visual content creation accessible to anyone, offers an incredibly user-friendly solution for those in need of social media graphics, presentations, posters, and more.
Whether you’re an individual with a flair for creativity or a business aiming to stand out in the digital world, Canva provides the tools to create stunning visual content.
What sets Canva apart is its simple drag-and-drop interface, accompanied by a vast library of fonts, illustrations, stock photography, video and audio content.
This arsenal of creative assets, combined with the power to include content from the web, allows users to take an idea and turn it into something eye-catching and professional. Available on the web, iOS, and Android, Canva serves as a secret design weapon for social media, print materials, and beyond.
Pros
Cons
Website: canva.com
Coupler.io, a universal tool designed for seamless connectivity, serves as a bridge to connect different applications to platforms like Google Sheets, Excel, and BigQuery. Whether it’s for analytics, reporting, or data backup, Coupler.io stands out as a versatile solution that caters to various business needs.
The power of Coupler.io lies in its ability to automate data exports from multiple sources on a custom schedule. For instance, connecting Salesforce to Google Sheets for self-updating dashboards is just one of the endless possibilities.
What’s more, it’s not confined to supported destinations, allowing integration with data visualization tools like Google Data Studio and Tableau.
Beyond analytics and reporting, Coupler.io’s periodic data export functionality creates self-updating backup copies, ensuring data safety.
Pros
Cons
Website: coupler.io
Gong, the Revenue Intelligence Platform, is a powerful asset for businesses aiming to increase revenue through real-time insights and strategic adaptation.
By providing updates on sales conversions and customer reactions, Gong empowers businesses to understand customer behavior and make data-driven decisions.
In a dynamic market environment, understanding and reacting to customer interactions can spell success or failure. Gong’s proprietary and patented AI technology captures these interactions, enabling businesses to align strategies, increase visibility, and drive successful outcomes.
From Morningstar Inc. to Shopify and LinkedIn, thousands of innovative companies trust Gong to illuminate their customer reality.
Pros
Cons
Website: gong.io
In the world of sales and marketing, finding the right email address can be a crucial step towards success. Voila Norbert, an intelligent email finder, simplifies this process, ensuring that your messages reach the right inboxes.
This tool is about more than just finding emails; it’s about verifying, enriching, and enhancing the quality of your outreach.
Voila Norbert offers an 8-step verification process to maintain the sender’s reputation and ensures that emails are sent to accurate addresses.
Whether it’s for sales, recruiting, business development, PR, or marketing, Voila Norbert finds corporate emails of decision-makers at scale and enriches them with valuable data such as job roles, locations, social media profiles, and more.
Pros
Cons
Website: voilanorbert.com
In the complex and highly competitive world of B2B sales, having the right information at your fingertips can make all the difference. Vainu is designed to be that essential tool, providing comprehensive and up-to-date data on over 140 million companies globally.
It’s not just about data; it’s about actionable insights that can transform your sales and marketing initiatives.
Vainu’s platform specializes in gathering, analyzing, and compiling data from millions of sources. This includes firmographics, technographics, trigger events, and unique proprietary data points that can’t be found elsewhere.
Whether you’re looking to clean your CRM’s data, find companies that match your ideal customer profile, or enhance your marketing workflows, Vainu offers the tools to make it happen.
Pros
Cons
Website: vainu.com
Grammarly, a pioneer in AI-enabled writing assistance, has become synonymous with effective and error-free communication. Whether it’s a simple email, a complex report, or a critical business proposal, Grammarly ensures that your writing is clear, concise, and free from common mistakes.
It’s not just about correctness; it’s about enhancing your voice and making your writing more engaging and persuasive.
In the business context, Grammarly offers more than just spelling and grammar checks. It’s about accelerating the writing process, fostering connections, and fueling professional growth.
From routine summary writing to strategic decision-making, Grammarly Business aims to make communication more fluid, effective, and intuitive, all while maintaining high standards for privacy and data security.
Pros
Cons
Website: grammarly.com
GoToMeeting, part of GoTo Connect, has established itself as a leading tool in the realm of online video conferencing. It’s not just about connecting people; it’s about enhancing collaboration, boosting productivity, and facilitating seamless virtual communication.
Whether it’s a face-to-face meeting with a client or a team collaboration across continents, GoToMeeting provides a fast, reliable, and user-friendly solution.
Businesses of all sizes benefit from GoToMeeting’s versatile features, including presentation sharing, one-click meetings, webinars, in-meeting chat, conference calling, and more.
The flexibility it offers allows employees to work effectively anytime, anywhere, on any device. With GoToMeeting, virtual communication is no longer a constraint but a catalyst for growth and innovation.
Pros
Cons
Website: goto.com
Overloop, also known as Prospect.io, is more than just an email lookup tool and verifier. It’s a comprehensive CRM platform designed for outbound sales teams, aiming to initiate more conversations and close more deals.
With Overloop, the focus isn’t merely on finding contacts; it’s about engaging them through personalized, multi-channel campaigns and managing the entire sales process.
From cold email campaigns and LinkedIn automation to live chats and workflow automation, Overloop offers a suite of features tailored to enhance sales productivity.
It integrates seamlessly with major CRMs like Hubspot and Salesforce, providing a unified platform for all your outbound sales needs. Whether you’re building contact lists or tracking performance, Overloop is designed to crush your sales quota.
Pros
Cons
Website: overloop.com
FindThatLead is more than just an email finder; it’s a comprehensive B2B prospecting tool designed to facilitate lead generation, email verification, campaign management, and more.
It’s a platform that recognizes the importance of not only finding leads but engaging with them effectively, segmenting them, and optimizing campaigns for the best performance.
Whether you’re looking to generate a list of verified email addresses against domain names or enrich your database with qualified leads, FindThatLead offers a suite of features tailored to your needs. From automating and customizing email campaigns to location-based prospecting, it’s a one-stop solution that serves businesses of all sizes.
Pros
Cons
Website: findthatlead.com
Calendly is not just a scheduling tool; it’s a dynamic platform designed to automate and manage your meetings and emails, thus optimizing your workflow. Recognized globally, Calendly has transformed the way over 50,000 companies and 10 million people schedule their meetings, integrating seamlessly with various calendar systems.
From setting preferences and buffer times between meetings to automatic reminders and follow-ups, Calendly offers robust features. Its extensive integration with platforms like Zoom, Salesforce, Google, Microsoft, Slack, and more makes it a versatile solution suitable for various industries.
Pros
Cons
Website: calendly.com
Hunter is an advanced platform that focuses on simplifying the process of finding and verifying professional email addresses. By indexing over 100 million emails and offering unique features such as company email format identification, Hunter stands as one of the best prospecting tools.
Whether you are a sales representative, recruiter, or marketer, Hunter offers tools that allow you to reach out to professionals more effectively. With its capability to crawl the web and index publicly available email addresses, it provides a comprehensive solution for various business needs.
Pros
Cons
Website: hunter.io
Skrapp is a notable email finder that distinguishes itself by specializing in looking up emails associated with LinkedIn accounts. As one of the best prospecting tools in 2024, it offers a unique approach to email discovery and business data enrichment, primarily aimed at B2B sales outreach and email marketing.
By leveraging a dedicated Google Chrome extension, Skrapp offers a seamless experience where visiting a LinkedIn profile reveals the email used to sign in. Additionally, its capability to store sales leads directly into lists significantly enhances productivity.
Pros
Cons
Website: skrapp.io
Demodesk, a web-based screen sharing and video conferencing tool, has become a vital component for sales teams and SaaS businesses aiming to have more effective and engaging customer conversations. As one of the best prospecting tools in 2024, Demodesk stands out for its ability to create web-based virtual displays without the need for browser extensions or downloads.
With a focus on sales coaching, meeting scheduling, and seamless integration with CRM systems, Demodesk offers a comprehensive suite of features. From creating meeting templates and pre-built presentation flows to uploading various content types like websites, documents, and presentations, it’s designed to enhance the sales process.
Pros
Cons
Website: demodesk.com
When it comes to prospecting tools, Mention is a robust social listening and media monitoring solution that has become an indispensable tool for entrepreneurs, marketing teams, PR managers, and social media professionals. With the growing importance of social media and online presence, Mention offers tailored solutions to understand audience perception and optimize social media strategies.
Whether it’s about tracking brand mentions or understanding the impact of marketing and PR activities, Mention provides a comprehensive view of what’s being said online. By monitoring conversations from millions of sources across the web and social media platforms, it empowers businesses to engage with their audience more effectively.
Pros
Cons
Website: mention.com
Boomerang is an innovative email management and scheduling tool designed to enhance productivity and efficiency in your email communications. Whether you’re scheduling a meeting or managing follow-up reminders, Boomerang offers a seamless experience that integrates with Gmail through its powerful browser extension.
Trusted by millions of users worldwide and utilized by prominent organizations like Lyft, Netflix, and Twitter, Boomerang has established itself as a premier tool for email management. With features such as one-click calendar scheduling, automatic reminders, and inbox cleaning, it provides a comprehensive solution for individuals and businesses alike.
Pros
Cons
Website: boomerang.com
Summary: The Best Prospecting Tools Are:
Now that you’re armed with this extensive arsenal of prospecting tools, go forth with confidence and revolutionize your sales approach!
Remember, success in the world of sales prospecting comes from staying informed, embracing technology, and continuously refining your strategies to meet the ever-changing needs of your prospects.
So go ahead and make this the year of extraordinary achievements. Here’s to transforming the art of sales prospecting and making a lasting impact in the lives of your prospects and customers. Now, let’s raise that cup of coffee to a future filled with endless opportunities and unparalleled success… Powered by the tools that do all the heavy lifting for you!
Prospecting in sales refers to identifying and reaching out to potential customers or leads. Furthermore, it involves finding people or companies who might be interested in your product or service and talking to them. The aim of sales prospecting is to identify qualified leads and engage them, converting them into customers. Read the full guide to learn more about sales prospecting and the best prospecting tools to use. Improving prospecting requires understanding your target audience, using the right tools, creating personalized outreach strategies, and tracking and analyzing results. Continuously refining your approach based on feedback and data helps optimize prospecting efforts. Read the full guide to learn more about effective sales prospecting techniques and the best prospecting tools for B2B and B2C businesses. The best tools for sales prospecting vary based on needs and budgets. Popular tools include LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, and Skarpp.io. These tools offer advanced search, lead scoring, email tracking, and automation. Read the full review for our in-depth analysis of all the best prospecting tools, including pros and cons, pricing, scoring and more. Success in prospecting can be measured through various metrics such as conversion rates, response rates, the number of qualified leads generated, return on investment (ROI), and overall sales growth. Tracking these metrics over time helps assess the effectiveness of prospecting strategies. Many prospecting tools can help you track these metrics. Read the full review of the best prospecting tools for B2B and B2C businesses to find the best tools to use.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Klenty Blog: How to Build a Targeted Prospect List for your Cold Outreach
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Forbes: 4 Steps To Building A Compelling Value Proposition
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