Before you can win a sale you must first start a conversation with your prospect.

But how should you reach out to them, and what B2B prospecting tools can help you along the way? At VA Partners, we work with a variety of clients who sell to a number of industries. Whether we are helping to sell email receipt solutions to e-commerce and retail organizations, or fleet management solutions to industrial and construction organizations, choosing the right B2B prospecting tool can be the key to getting your message heard.

Here are the mediums of contact we use at VA Partners and the tools I recommended to maximize the value of each medium.

1. A CRM for All Mediums

I want to begin this list by recommending the use of a CRM. Your CRM can be your best friend in making sure that you stay in touch with your prospects, allowing you to organize information, record interactions, and schedule future activities. My coworkers and I use Salesforce, and I personally recommend it. For tips on using a CRM be sure to check out our thoughts on the 5 best practices for utilizing a CRM for sales. If you don’t have the budget to pay for Salesforce, Hubspot CRM and Insightly are both good free options.

2. Skype for Long Distance Calls

If you’re a startup or small business, you’ll understand the value in finding ways to do more for less. At VA Partners, there are times when some of our clients choose to target international prospects or when an international inbound lead comes in. With Skype we can make more long distance calls to reach a wider area of prospects without running the risk of incurring significant long distance phone charges.

3. ContactMonkey for Emails

ContactMonkey is the most recent tool I have tried and I strongly recommend it. ContactMonkey is an inexpensive plugin that can be associated with your Outlook or Gmail account and can show you when your e-mails are opened, what time and where they were opened, and how many times they were opened. Take advantage of ContactMonkey to become more responsive to your prospects’ interest.

Sidekick by Hubspot can also track email opens and clicks, and can also synchronize to HubSpot CRM if you’re also that too.

4. Excel and Word for Mail

To mention the use of traditional mail in today’s digital era might earn a few chuckles, but it is important to remember that your medium needs to match the industry and prospects that you want to target. Recently, on behalf of a client, a mail-out was sent to a number of industrial and construction prospects. Microsoft’s Excel and Word mail merge helped me create a professional looking document, complete with a personalized touch, in a fraction of the time it would have taken to do every letter manually. If you are interested in learning how to perform a mail merge Microsoft has instructions that can help you out.

5. HootSuite for Tweets

If you use Twitter as part of your social selling toolkit, I recommend going one step further and trying HootSuite or other free social media management tools as a B2B prospecting tool. HootSuite allows you to maintain a strong digital presence throughout the day through the use of scheduled tweets, and can help you monitor activity through the use of custom searches. If your organization manages multiple twitter accounts, be sure to read our thoughts on how to be successful.

6. Mobile App for LinkedIn

In sales, timing and responsiveness are critical. With LinkedIn’s mobile app you can have the power of LinkedIn wherever you go. Your mobile app can allow you to view accounts, message contacts, look for information updates, and conduct research even while out of the office and away from your computer. Stay up to date on new developments with your prospects to help win new business.

Be sure to try these B2B prospecting tools to maximize the value of their respective mediums and boost your B2B selling power. If you enjoyed this post and are fired up to learn more about prospecting and social media tools, we have a number of free white papers you’re sure to love. Be sure to check out our white papers on sales and marketing to boost your B2B selling power.