Turn AI into your ultimate prospecting assistant — without losing the human touch

While AI offers powerful assistance, it’s a tool to augment your skills, not replace them. Your ability to build relationships, understand your offering and how it matches nuanced client needs, your market and your ability to be the trusted adviser and offer strategic counsel remains paramount.”

Shannon Kinney, founder and client success officer, Dream Local Digital

Over the following columns, I will help you save time and make more money by helping you master your craft and increase your sales performance by effectively and ethically leveraging AI. We’ll look at tools — when to use them and what for, examples of effective prompts and more. We’ll cover what works and what doesn’t in leveraging these new (often free) tools.

This month, we’re going to start with smart prospecting. As busy sales professionals, prospecting and lead generation are some of the most critical stages of our pipeline. However, when we get busy, we often spend more time trying to close sales and forget this crucial stage. It’s like having a dusty treadmill in your office — you know that if you run on it, good things will happen. The same is true with filling your pipeline! So, let’s cover how to speed up your prospecting using AI.

How AI helps

AI-powered tools can analyze vast datasets — industry news, company websites, social media activity, the competitive landscape and even job postings — to flag businesses that fit your ideal customer profile. It can also help you gain new insights to share with your prospect to get that appointment.

Quick tips

Use AI platforms to set up alerts for specific keywords related to your client’s industry or challenges. For example, get notified when a local business mentions “expanding services” or “new website launch.” Want a faster shortcut? Use ChatGPT or Gemini to generate a list of business types likely to need services in your market. Example prompt: “Give me 10 types of small businesses that would benefit from local advertising and digital marketing in (insert your geography) and why.”

Then, write a follow-up prompt, “Which one would you call on first and why? Where do you see the most opportunity and why?” You can also accurately assess needs and opportunities with AI tools. Put a prospect’s website into the tool and ask how they rank for relevant local search terms. Is their website mobile-friendly? Is their social media engagement lagging? Then, use these insights to illustrate opportunities for your prospect to get the appointment.

Sample prompts

It’s important to think about AI like you would if you had a new personal sales assistant. You wouldn’t just throw them to the wolves on their first day; you’d train them on what you sell, your ideal customer profile, what makes you different from competitors, and why your products matter. Whichever tool you choose, be sure to offer it training beforehand, and just like working with a person — the better your training, the better the output. I have multiple tools that are well-trained in my offerings, voice and ideal customer profiles. This also comes into play when you use prompts or the question/direction you offer the tool. Here are some sample prompts for you to consider:

• “List 10 businesses that fit (insert your ideal customer profile) in (insert geography) within the (industry you're targeting) sector that have websites but don’t appear to be running Google Ads (or other type of advertising you sell). For each, provide their website URL and insights to help me sell to them.”
• “Identify companies that fit (insert your ideal customer profile) in (insert geography) that have recently received funding or announced major growth initiatives in the (insert industry) sector. Summarize the announcement and list their website. Why do you think they’re an excellent 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 an opportunity to gain ground?”
• “Given that (Prospect Company) is a (type of business) and their main competitors are (Competitor A, Competitor B) and are actively using (specific marketing tactic like newspaper advertising, local SEO, etc.), what is the potential missed opportunity for (Prospect Company) if they are not?”
• “(Prospect Company) mentioned that their primary goal is (insert goal). Their current marketing includes local newspaper ads and some organic social media. What are two to three digital marketing tactics they might be under-utilizing to achieve this goal, and what metrics would define success?”

What I use

In addition to prompts like the above, at this stage of the sales process, I like to use perplexity.ai. I use it to gather relevant data quickly: “Please share recent news, business challenges, leadership changes or digital trends in (insert industry). What businesses need the most help in digital marketing and advertising? How can I appeal to them? Please list 10 in (insert geography) that have the most need for my services.” This gives me intel and context on their current needs so that I can add insights and value on every call. It’s also fantastic for market and competitor intelligence: “Please give me the latest digital marketing trends, ad spend statistics and consumer behavior shifts in (x industry y geography).”

The human touch remains key

While AI offers powerful assistance, it’s a tool to augment your skills, not replace them. Your ability to build relationships, understand your offering and how it matches nuanced client needs, your market and your ability to be the trusted adviser and offer strategic counsel remains paramount. It is important to note that you always need to review and refine AI-generated content. Use it as your assistant with superpowers, but not as the end-all-be-all. It can speed you up, but it can also be wrong. Also, be mindful of data privacy and company policies when putting information into AI tools. By integrating these AI tips, you can free up time, gain deeper insights and ultimately provide more value to your clients, positioning yourself as their indispensable partner in their success.

Recommended book of the month

Each month, I’ll share one of my go-to resources for mastering your craft in sales. Since we’re focusing on prospecting this month, I want to share a great resource: “Fanatical Prospecting” by Jeb Blount. I love his no-nonsense approach, particularly his insight that if you slow down in prospecting 90 days later, your pipeline will dry up. He helps inspire you to keep doing the work and shares great tips for making it happen.

Dream Local Digital Founder and Client Success Officer Shannon Kinney brings over 30 years of experience in leadership roles developing scalable digital marketing strategies and supporting and training media companies with scalable digital revenue growth. She played a vital role in the development of such internet giants as Cars.com, CareerBuilder.com, Knight Ridder Digital, LinkedIn, Google, eBay and Microsoft. She worked with media companies worldwide until pivoting to found Dream Local Digital. Since Dream Local Digital's creation in 2009, Shannon has served on the Local Media Association board, been awarded the LMA Digital Innovation Award, appeared on hundreds of stages as a keynote speaker, and has helped media companies transform their business model. She also serves as a Local Media Association Branded Content Project Cohorts project lead, helping media companies transform through new revenue streams. Shannon can be reached at shannon@dreamlocal.com.