Turn AI into your ultimate prospecting assistant — without losing the human touch
AI can be a powerful helper in sales, but it’s a tool to boost your skills, not replace them. Your ability to connect with clients, understand their unique needs, and provide trusted advice remains the key to success.
Over the coming weeks, you’ll learn how to save time and increase sales by using AI effectively and ethically. We’ll explore which tools to use, when to use them, and how to craft prompts that get results. We’ll also look at what works and what doesn’t with these often free tools.
Speed up prospecting with AI
Prospecting is a critical part of your sales pipeline. When things get busy, it’s easy to focus on closing deals and neglect lead generation. Think of your prospecting like a treadmill in your office — if you keep using it regularly, good things happen. AI can help you keep that treadmill moving faster.
How AI helps
AI tools can scan large amounts of data — from industry news to company websites, social media, and job postings — to find businesses that match your ideal customer profile. They also uncover insights you can share with prospects to secure meetings.
Quick tips
- Set up AI alerts for keywords related to your clients’ industries or challenges. For example, get notified when a local business mentions “expanding services” or “new website launch.”
- Use AI like ChatGPT or Gemini to generate lists of business types that might need your services. For example, ask: “Give me 10 types of small businesses that would benefit from local advertising and digital marketing in [your geography] and why.”
- Follow up with prompts such as: “Which one would you call on first and why? Where do you see the most opportunity and why?”
You can also use AI to evaluate prospects’ existing marketing efforts. Analyze their website for local search rankings, mobile-friendliness, or social media engagement. Use these insights to demonstrate how your services can help.
Sample prompts for prospecting
Think of AI as a new sales assistant. You wouldn’t expect them to succeed without training — the same applies here. Feed your AI tool information about your product, your ideal customers, and what makes you stand out to get the best results.
- “List 10 businesses that fit [ideal customer profile] in [geography] within the [industry] sector that have websites but don’t appear to be running Google Ads. For each, provide their website URL and insights to help me sell to them.”
- “Identify companies that fit [ideal customer profile] in [geography] that have recently received funding or announced growth initiatives in the [industry] sector. Summarize the announcement and list their website. Why are they a good fit for my services?”
- “Compare [Prospect’s website] to [Competitor A's website] and [Competitor B's website] in terms of estimated organic traffic, top keywords, and backlink profile. Where does [Prospect’s website] have room to improve?”
- “Given that [Prospect Company] is a [type of business] and their competitors are [Competitor A, Competitor B] using [specific marketing tactic], what opportunities might [Prospect Company] be missing?”
- “[Prospect Company]’s primary goal is [insert goal]. Their current marketing includes local newspaper ads and some organic social media. What 2-3 digital marketing tactics are they under-utilizing to reach this goal, and what success metrics should they track?”
Tools to help you
At this stage, tools like perplexity.ai are great for quickly gathering relevant data. You can ask for recent news, challenges, leadership changes, and trends in a specific industry or geography. For example:
- “Please share recent news, business challenges, leadership changes, or digital trends in [industry]. Which businesses need the most help in digital marketing and advertising? List 10 in [geography] that would benefit most.”
- “Give me the latest digital marketing trends, ad spend statistics, and consumer behavior shifts in [industry, geography].”
These insights give you context and talking points for every call, helping you add value and position yourself as a knowledgeable partner.
The human touch remains key
AI can speed up your work, but it won’t replace your ability to build relationships and tailor solutions. Always review AI-generated content carefully — it can make mistakes. Use it as a powerful assistant, not a replacement.
Also, be mindful of data privacy and company policies when entering information into AI tools. Use AI to free up time, gain deeper insights, and provide more value, making you indispensable to your clients.
Recommended book of the month
To sharpen your prospecting skills, check out “Fanatical Prospecting” by Jeb Blount. The book stresses that if you slow down prospecting, your pipeline will dry up in about 90 days. It offers practical tips and motivation to keep your lead generation consistent and effective.
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