This blog brought to you by Ep. #363 of The Sales Hunter Podcast

The rules have changed. The expectations have changed. But prospecting is not dead. It just needs a new narrative.

In this episode, I walk through five ways to reshape how you prospect so you can start meaningful conversations again.

You can make a hundred calls and maybe two people pick up. You can send a hundred emails and maybe three respond. That is the reality. But the reason is not complicated.

Customers have options. More than ever.

They also do not trust salespeople. And if they do not trust you, they have no reason to take your call or open your email. It is that simple.

Prospecting used to be about pushing for the close. Today, it is about earning trust and building credibility. Until the customer sees you as credible, they will never see you as trustworthy.

Take a look at your own buying habits. You buy from people you trust. And the people you trust always have one thing in common. They have credibility.

Credibility is the gateway to trust. Trust is what moves the sale forward. Without credibility, you are just noise.

This is why the sales process must shift. It can no longer start with the product. It must start with proving that you are someone worth listening to.

I am going to walk through these from most important to least important. None of them rely on talking about your product. They rely on building human connection.

This is the gold standard. If someone the customer trusts points them to you, the door opens. Referrals are a thin slice, but they are the most valuable way to start a conversation.

A referral allows you to borrow credibility long enough to earn your own.

If you cannot get a referral, find shared connections. This is where LinkedIn and social media matter. Not random name dropping. Real relationships with real credibility.

Common connections help prospects view you as part of their world, not an outsider.

Customers want to work with people who understand their world. When you are recognized in your industry, participate in associations or contribute to conversations, you build credibility before the first call even happens.

You become someone who belongs in the same space as the customer.

These are your case studies, your success stories and the outcomes you have delivered. You do not blast these out at the start, but you make sure they are visible and ready when needed.

When customers see real evidence of success, credibility grows.

Bring other experts into the conversation. This includes webinars, lunch and learns or internal resources who deepen the discussion. Prospects want guidance, not a pitch. Bringing experts shows that you are not trying to sell alone, you are trying to help.

When you build trust and credibility the right way, these five tools feed each other.

A client success story can fuel your industry recognition. That recognition can lead to more common connections. Those connections can lead to more referrals. And referrals help you create even more proven results.

That is the flywheel. That is how prospecting should work today.

This approach does not mean you need more leads. It means you need better prospects. When trust rises, conversations rise. And only then can you understand the customer’s real needs and present the right solution.

Skip this process and you fall into price driven selling. Because in the absence of trust, low price is everything.