// Research

Top Performance in Sales Prospecting

Discover what it takes to break through to executives, fill your pipeline, and win more sales.

No area in selling is more rife with conflict, advice, and data than prospecting.

Do automated form emails work? Is cold calling dead? Do buyers accept cold meetings? How many touches does it take to connect? How can you get through to the C-suite?

Indeed, what do sellers who get the best prospecting results do differently?

With our Top Performance in Sales Prospecting research, the team at the RAIN Group Center for Sales Research has uncovered what works and what doesn’t in sales prospecting—according to both buyers and sellers. We sought to find out how sellers break through and connect with buyers, what works to generate meetings, what influences overall purchase decisions, and where buyer and seller views on prospecting overlap.

The study included 488 buyers representing $4.2 billion in purchases across 25 industries, and 489 sellers who outbound prospect. We analyzed results across Top Performers—those with the best prospecting results—industry, company value-focus, buyer title, company size, prospecting maturity and success, brand cachet, and geography.

Top Performance in Sales Prospecting Benchmark Report

In our Top Performance in Sales Prospecting Benchmark Report, we share what works in sales prospecting according to buyers and sellers. The report includes:

  • The definition of top performance and key results
  • A breakdown of the key areas that set top-performing prospectors apart
  • Prospecting tactics from a seller's perspective
  • Statistics on the number of outreach attempts required to connect with a buyer
  • Factors that influence if a buyer connects with a seller

Fill out the form to download the report.

Key Findings in This Report

Top-Performing Sellers and Sales Prospecting

Top-Performing Sellers and Sales Prospecting

Top Performers are better at defining a strong value proposition for their meetings with buyers, targeting the right buyers at the right levels, and delivering first meetings that are both more customized and value-focused than The Rest, resulting in 2.7x more conversions and 1.8x more quality outcomes (meetings, conversations, demos).

They also get business results: the bring more opportunities to proposal, win them more often, and hit their goals more than The Rest.

Help Your Sellers Break Through and Secure Meetings

Teach your sellers the ins and outs of sales prospecting and how to incorporate it into their regular sales activities with RAIN Sales Prospecting.

Based on our research, this program gives your sales team a proven process for generating meetings and filling the pipeline with qualified prospects.

Learning modules include:

  • Building an Attraction Campaign
  • Analyzing Your Numbers and Prospecting Research
  • Prospecting with LinkedIn and Social Media
  • Setting Appointments with Emails and Referrals
  • And more

Learn more about RAIN Sales Prospecting. east

Teach your sellers the ins and outs of sales prospecting and how to incorporate it into their regular sales activities with RAIN Sales Prospecting.

Based on our research, this program gives your sales team a proven process for generating meetings and filling the pipeline with qualified prospects.

Learning modules include:

  • Building an Attraction Campaign
  • Analyzing Your Numbers and Prospecting Research
  • Prospecting with LinkedIn and Social Media
  • Setting Appointments with Emails and Referrals
  • And more

Learn more about RAIN Sales Prospecting. east

Get Insights to Boost Your Prospecting

Learn how to set more meetings and reach more qualified prospects in the Top Performance in Sales Prospecting Benchmark Report.


Top Performance in Sales Prospecting