Leads vs. Prospects vs. Opportunities: The Difference in B2B Outreach

Leads, prospects and opportunities are like labels in the sales cycle. Even though all are related to closing a deal, the three have distinct meanings. The latter is narrower and closer to getting deals.

Marketers use those labels when looking for customers. They’re common terms in B2B outreach practices. However, beginner marketers may find it difficult to draw a clear line between them, and it's normal in the early stage of a marketer's career.

Whether you run a blockchain startup, an enterprise or an explainer video company, this article can come in handy for B2B marketers. Read on to understand the difference between leads vs. prospects vs. opportunities. Keep scrolling!

Leads vs. prospects vs. opportunities in a nutshell

Outreach remains one of the most effective strategies to get customers. According to a study, emails are nearly 40 times more powerful and effective than social media in attracting customers.

In a nutshell, leads, prospects and opportunities describe potential customers based on their likelihood to convert. Some marketers and sales use them interchangeably, but they carry different meanings.

The difference between the three relies heavily on the likelihood of someone becoming a paying buyer. The latter are more likely to turn themselves into customers. Let's find out more in the discussion below.

#1. Leads

Leads refer to anyone who fits into your target audience and has the potential to buy something from your brand. In a sales funnel, leads sit at the top of the pyramid and have the broadest pool of participants.

However, not all leads will respond back to you upon reaching out to them by email, and those that match your target audience characteristics will be narrowed down into prospects. In all likelihood, a considerable portion of leads is unqualified as your customer profiles.

How to gather leads

In this day and age, you can generate leads through website email forms and social media. Once you get your leads' contacts, you can reach them by cold emails or warm calls.

You can also set up a chatbot on your website to collect emails. The chatbot works automatically and can save you countless hours of generating leads. You can also leverage marketing automation tools to nurture your leads and turn them into prospects.

#2. Prospects

Prospects are qualified leads. Only leads that fit your customer parameters will become prospects. Typically B2B companies have target customer characteristics. Leads that fit into those characteristics can turn into prospects.

If you're a B2B marketer, your ideal prospects may be multinational companies with a budget of $5K or more. Your prospect characteristics depend on your target customers or clients.

Hence, you should have an ideal profile (ICP) to sort your leads. You can do it by studying your existing customers and identifying their similar characteristics. Gather their information, including company industry, size, budget and location.

Consider interviewing some existing customers to find more characteristic details. Most importantly, you can also discover why they buy your product or service and some aspects to improve.

How to turn leads into prospects

In order to narrow down your leads to become prospects, you can do several things, including talking to them. You can ask even the most detailed information, like their specific needs.

This way, you can offer your product or service better, which can be a solution to their problems. Additionally, you can also use online forms to find other specific information related to your prospects.

As prospects are valuable potential customers, you should pay extra attention to them. Lead nurturing is a must to build relationships with your prospects. Besides, lead nurturing is also effective in building trust.

You can do lead nurturing by providing valuable content for free. For instance, provide informative blog posts, social media updates, infographics, newsletters, podcasts, product videos, etc.

The better your relationships with prospects, the higher the possibility for you to make them opportunities. You can send content in the form of a newsletter or publish quality content on your website and social media platforms.

#3. Opportunities

Opportunities refer to prospects that actually show interest in the product or service you sell. Not all of your prospects will turn into opportunities. But, those who are showing interest in your products can be your potential buyers.

As opportunities are the most valuable compared to leads and prospects, you should spend more effort on them. You still need to convince them that your product or service can be a game changer for them.

Besides, sales representatives should highlight features and qualities that make their product better than competitors. It's a crucial part of converting prospects into paying buyers. If not, they can turn into your competitors for better deals.

How to turn prospects into opportunities

The art of selling is vital in converting prospects. How you approach and nurture prospects is essential to maintain good relationships and to find win-win solutions. Being responsive is also one of the keys to winning close deals.

Once you secure the deals, you need to keep nurturing existing customers. Keep providing valuable content to them to maintain your relationships. A correct way of nurturing customers allows you to turn them into loyal ones.

Some of the content you can provide to existing customers, including virtual events, giveaways, surveys, quizzes, tutorials, infographics and more. It's best to create a balanced amount of informative and entertaining content to maintain customer engagement.

Final thoughts

B2B outreach or cold email is a common practice to increase your business sales. However, millions of other businesses do the same thing as you. So it's vital to use the right strategy to attract customers and stay ahead of the curve.

The process of turning someone into a paying buyer is not a one-night game. The way you nurture them through each cycle is key to driving them to convert.

Knowing the differences between leads, prospects, and opportunities is the first step to building the correct marketing strategy. If you know how to treat potential buyers correctly, you have a higher possibility of thriving in the industry.