9 Untapped Places to Find Your Next Big Sales Prospects
As a salesperson, your livelihood depends on your ability to consistently fill your pipeline with qualified leads. But in today‘s noisy, competitive landscape, finding those elusive ideal prospects can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.
In fact, 66% of salespeople say lead quantity and quality is their top challenge (source: Hubspot). And with the average sales rep spending just 34% of their time actually selling, every minute spent prospecting needs to count.
The good news? There are a plethora of often-overlooked places where you can find a bounty of fresh, high-quality leads – if you know where to look.
In this post, I‘ll share 9 of my favorite "hidden gem" prospecting sources, along with actionable tips and tools to help you tap into them effectively. By incorporating these strategies into your prospecting process, you‘ll be able to spend less time hunting for leads and more time closing deals.
Let‘s dive in!
1. LinkedIn: A Treasure Trove of B2B Prospects
When it comes to B2B prospecting, LinkedIn reigns supreme. With over 690 million users and advanced search capabilities, it‘s an absolute gold mine for salespeople.
Actionable tips:
- Optimize your profile for your target keywords; 94% of B2B buyers view profiles before accepting invitations
- Use Boolean search strings to find very specific prospects, like "VP of Marketing" AND "SaaS" AND "San Francisco"
- Check out LinkedIn‘s Sales Navigator for advanced lead searching and recommendations
Want to go even deeper with LinkedIn prospecting? Check out this Ultimate Guide from the LinkedIn Sales Solutions team.
2. Quora: Demonstrate Expertise and Find Leads Seeking Answers
Quora is a Q&A platform with a business-savvy user base that‘s great for establishing thought leadership and sourcing leads. Quora has over 300 million monthly unique visitors, many of whom are seeking expert insights.
Actionable tips:
- Follow topics relevant to your industry/solution and jump in to answer questions
- Check the profiles of people engaging with your answers; they may be potential leads
- Link back to helpful resources on your site to drive interested prospects to your pipeline
Consider using a tool like the SimilarWeb Quora Traffic Analytics extension to get insights on which Quora topics your prospects care about most.
3. Twitter: Engage in Real-Time Conversations
Twitter‘s real-time nature makes it perfect for social listening and jumping into relevant conversations as they happen. 83% of B2B marketers use Twitter (source: Statista), so odds are good that your prospects are active there.
Actionable tips:
- Set up streams in a social media management tool like Hootsuite or Sprout Social to monitor keywords and conversations
- Create Twitter lists of prospects, customers, industry influencers, etc. to easily keep tabs on important accounts
- Don‘t just promote your own content; share and engage with others‘ posts to build genuine relationships
To find the most relevant hashtags and topics to track, try using a tool like Hashtagify to analyze top hashtags in your space.
4. Industry Forums & Communities: Go Where Your Prospects Gather
Online forums, communities, and social networks focused on your industry are often brimming with ideal customers seeking advice and solutions. Go to them and establish yourself as a trusted expert.
Actionable tips:
- Use search engines and industry lists like the Sales Hacker forum directory to find the most active and relevant communities for your niche
- Introduce yourself and share your background/expertise
- Provide in-depth, genuinely helpful answers to questions (without being self-promotional)
- Reach out to forge connections with the most engaged members who fit your ICP
5. Crunchbase: Find Companies With Fresh Funding
One of the best buying signals is when a company receives a new round of funding. They‘re in growth mode and have budget to spend. Crunchbase tracks funding rounds and other key company data.
Actionable tips:
- Set up saved searches for recently funded companies in your target industries/locations
- Look for companies that raised seed/A rounds; they‘ll need to invest in growth
- Follow promising companies to get alerts on key hiring and expansion news
Pro Tip: Look for companies hiring for key titles you sell into. A new hire in your buyer‘s department is the perfect "foot in the door" opportunity.
6. Niche Business Databases: Discover Companies That Fit Your ICP
The riches are in the niches, as they say. Drilling down into databases that cater to your specific target industries can unearth super-relevant prospects you may not find on the bigger platforms.
A few niche databases to explore:
| Database | Description |
|---|---|
| Apollo.io | Search 200M+ contacts by job title, department,技术 stack, and more |
| BuiltWith | Find businesses using specific 技术s, like your competitor‘s product |
| AngelList | Discover fast-growing startups and their hiring needs |
| Mattermark | Get company growth signals and 财务/funding data |
7. Review Sites: Find Your Competitor‘s Customers
If you sell a product in a category with review sites (think software, agencies, even some B2B services), you can bet your competitors‘ customers are leaving reviews. And some of them might not be 100% satisfied…
Actionable Tips:
- Search for your competitor‘s product/company name on review sites like G2, Capterra, TrustPilot, etc.
- Look for reviewers who gave average or low ratings; they may be open to a better alternative
- Reach out and ask about their experience and if they‘d be open to a quick chat about how you might be able to help
Or use a tool like Portada to set up automatic alerts when your competitors are being mentioned online. Jump into the conversation in a helpful, non-salesy way.
8. Purchase Install Base Data: Get Lists of Companies Using Competitor Tools
For some industries, you can actually purchase lists of companies that use specific 软件/products, like your competitors‘. This data is gathered from public sources like job boards, social profiles, press releases, etc.
A few popular sources for technology install base data:
Once you have a list of companies using a competing product, you can reach out to the relevant people there and start a conversation about how you compare.
9. Attend Virtual & IRL Industry Events
Industry conferences, trade shows, meetups and webinars are literal gatherings of your target prospects. In our increasingly virtual world, most events have online components that make it easy to network and prospect.
Actionable tips:
- Search for events your target buyers attend using tools like Eventbrite, 10times, or just trusty Google
- Engage in event app discussions and polls; follow up with interesting prospects
- After virtual sessions, hang around to chat with fellow attendees and exchange details
- When you collect business cards at IRL events, jot down key info on how you met and what you discussed
To get even more out of events, volunteer as a speaker or panelist. 74% of prospects say they are more likely to buy from a sales professional who provides insights about their industry (source: LinkedIn).
Go Forth and Prospect!
In today‘s hyper-competitive sales landscape, the most successful reps don‘t just stick to the same old lead sources. They get creative, leverage a multi-channel approach, and go where their best buyers are already spending time.
By adding even just a few of these 9 untapped prospecting channels to your strategy, you‘ll be able to generate a consistent flow of high-quality leads – and ultimately, close more deals.
Of course, prospecting is just one piece of a great sales process. Be sure to also focus on things like:
- Crafting compelling, personalized outreach
- Using lead scoring to prioritize the hottest opps
- Leveraging sales automation to scale your efforts
Now go out there and crush your quota! And be sure to test, measure and optimize your prospecting process as you go. The key is to constantly iterate until you find the right mix that delivers maximum results (and commissions!).
Happy hunting!
