Prospecting in Tough Markets: Strategies to Reach Customers Who Still Need You

Down markets test every salesperson’s resolve. Calls don’t get returned, emails go unanswered, and the pipeline feels stuck.

But this is exactly when the real professionals keep moving. Activity drops across the board, and competitors start sitting on their hands. Those who persevere find themselves with more space to win.

“A tough market is when you earn your stripes.”

The Trap of Waiting for a Better Market

It’s tempting to pause when things slow down and wait for the market to turn before revving up prospecting again. That’s a losing play.

The moment sales start happening again, it’s already too late. Buyers have made decisions, relationships are formed, and opportunity passes by. Stay in the hunt or get left behind.

“Somebody who has stayed in the marketplace, who has stayed in the hunt, is going to be the one who is going to get the business.”

Prospecting Is a Daily Discipline

A muscle ignored gets weak. Prospecting is no different. Skip a month or two and regaining momentum becomes a struggle. Consistent activity—emails, calls, networking, social—keeps skill sharp and awareness high.

A tough market means longer buying cycles, but that’s not a reason to quit. It’s more time to deliver value and deepen awareness. Touchpoints aren’t wasted, they’re investments.

Lengthen Your Cadence and Double Down on Value

Customers still make decisions in a challenging market. The difference? They get critical, ask tough questions, and scrutinize every move. Each message needs to add value, not just pitch a product.

That doesn’t mean chasing every possible customer. The best play is to tighten focus. Stick to the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), learn about their business pain, and their customers’ pain. That’s what separates those who survive from those who thrive.

Deep Dive: Focus on Your Customers’ Customer

Dig in. Understand what challenges your customers’ customers face. The more knowledge brought to the table, the more valuable every conversation becomes.

Offer insights, ask sharp questions, and help prospects think differently. Fresh information isn’t just a way to keep your messaging alive, it also builds trust and keeps doors open.

Create Messaging That Replicates at Scale

Once those valuable insights and questions are developed, use them with every ICP-aligned prospect. Efficiency doesn’t mean losing the personal touch, especially when the outreach is highly relevant.

Share content that supports, offers perspective, or sparks a conversation. Every touch has purpose.

The Importance of a Clear Call to Action

Include a call to action in every message, every call, every email. It doesn’t have to be a grand ask. Sometimes, it’s just requesting a next meeting. Sometimes, it’s a simple, “Let’s talk further.”

Support those asks with confirming statements and stories from similar customers. Share proof and keep the conversation moving.

Monitor, Adjust, and Stay in Your Lane

Stay connected to what’s happening in customers’ industries. Use current events and relevant trends as conversation starters. Sharing a timely article or industry update positions a salesperson as a peer, not just another vendor.

Broadening focus makes sense only when a current customer leads the way into new territory. Otherwise, stick to the core audience and don’t chase every inbound lead down a rabbit hole.

“You got to monitor your numbers even more in a market like this than ever before.”

Celebrate Daily Wins and Keep Momentum Up

Track activity closely, not just the end results. Celebrate the small wins each day: a productive call, a well-crafted email, a meaningful conversation. This keeps morale high and builds the muscle that wins when the market rebounds.

Hold peers accountable. Motivate each other. Stay away from naysayers.

Prioritize Prospecting On the Calendar

Busy doesn’t always mean productive. Prospecting belongs on the calendar as the most important meeting of the day—every day. Doesn’t have to be hours on end, but it must be consistent.

It’s simple: miss the daily routine, and the results disappear. Make the time, or risk running out of time entirely.

Finish Strong, Start Stronger

A tough market is not the time to go quiet. It’s the time to show up, create value, and outwork the competition.

Activity breeds confidence. Confidence closes business. Stay disciplined. Prospect with intention.

“Make the time to prospect. You don’t have time to not make time.”

Every positive action today is a down payment on tomorrow’s pipeline. Stay tight, celebrate each win, and keep moving—no matter what the market does.

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Mark Hunter :
Prospecting in a tough market? Is anyone even buying? You’re sending out emails, you’re making phone calls, you’re trying to network, and nothing is happening. It’s a tough market out there, and is it even worth it? I’m going to tell you why it is and how to go about it. And the show begins right now. You’re listening to the Sales Hunter podcast with Mark Hunter, where the focus is to help you as a salesman, sell with confidence and integrity. Now here’s your host. Irregardless of what the market is doing out there, in terms of the economy, in terms of buying situations, you have to keep going. You do not have a choice. And let’s start unpacking this, because I’ll tell you what, too many of your competitors are literally slacking off.

Mark Hunter :
Now, what does that mean? That means there’s less competition out there. But hold on, let’s really unpack what that means. What that means is that they are not going to be there for your customers. Your customers still need you. They need you, in fact, more than ever. So just because it feels tough, just because things aren’t happening doesn’t mean. Because in a tough market is when you earn your stripes. Now, here’s where I’m going with this, and here’s what I mean.

Mark Hunter :
You see, you can’t sit there and say, okay, wait a minute, wait a minute. Market’s a little bit tough. So I’ll just kind of wait till the market begins to turn and then. And then I’ll start prospecting. You know what? By the time you see it’s turned, it’s too late. It’s too late because again, you won’t see it till after it’s already turned. People are already making buying decisions, and that means you’re going to be too late. And that means what happens.

Mark Hunter :
Somebody who has stayed in the marketplace, who has stayed in the hunt, is going to be the one who is going to get the business. You see, in markets like this, you have to keep going. You have to continue to send out the emails, send out the messaging, make the phone calls, do the networking, still be on social media. You have to be doing it. Why? Because here’s the whole situation. You are building awareness, and prospecting is a muscle. Okay, let’s break both of those apart, because here’s the link. Prospecting is muscle.

Mark Hunter :
If you stop prospecting for a month or two months or three months, and then you. You pick it back up again, it’s going to take you a while to get back in shape. It’s just like when you don’t go to the gym for six months and then you go back to the gym, you are not in as good a shape. You stay in shape by going to the gym every day. Every day. But now let’s talk about your messaging, because here’s what it really is about. You are building awareness. Now here’s what I’m going to be point blank, I’m going to tell you right up front.

Mark Hunter :
In difficult markets, difficult times, economic periods, decisions become more drawn out. I get it, I get it. That means what it works is to your advantage because you have more opportunities with which to build awareness. So, okay, what does this mean? You do? This means your cadence has probably got to be. I don’t say probably. It has to be extended. You have to lengthen your cadence. In other words, if you normally go like, you know, five or six touches and then you don’t need.

Mark Hunter :
Hold, hold. Not, not even close. Remember, even in good times, studies shown that it was 15 to 20 touches before you could really get a signal back from a customer. So don’t think you back up. What this means is that you have more opportunities to deliver more value to the customer. This is absolutely key because at the end of the day, customers still have to make decisions, even in difficult markets. And they just become more critical. They become more, they go to the microscope more, which means they’re looking at you more.

Mark Hunter :
This is where your messaging becomes that much more important. You really got to stop and ask yourself, am I delivering value or am I selling? In difficult markets, you have to really double down on the value that you bring. What are the insights that you’re doing? This is why also, you can’t allow yourself in a difficult market to sit there and say, you know what? I’m going to have to broaden the awareness. I’m going to go chase all kinds of different segments, different industries. No, don’t boil the ocean. You’ve got to get absolutely tight because this is when you have to bring so much value. I want you to take all of your current customers, take your icp and ask yourself this question. What do I know about their customers? Not, not the customers you’re selling to, but your customers.

Mark Hunter :
Customers. And I want you to begin doing a deep dive on understanding the needs of your customers. Customers. Because ultimately that’s what has to happen. See, you know, you’re trying to sell to a customer, but they got to turn, turn, sell to somebody else. I gotta understand that because if I can begin to help my customers see insights as to how they can reach their marketplace better. It’s gonna create more opportunities for you. Cause remember, it’s not just a tough market for you, it’s a tough market for them.

Mark Hunter :
So you gotta help them solve that problem. You gotta help them. And this means you can’t sit there and boil the ocean. The only way you can boil the ocean is. Well, you can’t. Is if you’re literally just saying, buy from me, buy from me, buy from me. And you know what? The only. Well, yeah, even a blind squirrel will find an occasional acorn.

Mark Hunter :
You may get an occasional sale, but it’s not going to happen for you. You’ve got to get absolutely tight. Okay, what does this mean? You got to create pieces of content. You’ve got to create messaging that’s geared to help your ICP and your current customers that better fit in your ICP deal with their customers. What’s the content? What’s the messaging? What’s the. What’s the insights that you can ask them? And many times the insights that you’re asking are questions you’re asking because you want to get them thinking. I found myself in this situation just the other day. I’m sitting there talking to several.

Mark Hunter :
And it happened on two different occasions. I’m talking to two different VPs of sales, and we’re discussing about the challenges. And I began asking them questions about their customers. Yeah. And what did it do? It immediately had those VPs of sales putting me in a different light. They were now putting me in a different light. You see, what am I doing? I’m creating awareness and I’m separating myself from everyone else. So the exercise, like I said, you want to understand your customers.

Mark Hunter :
Customers. And find what are five pieces of information that your customers may not know as well as they should, that you could bring to them. Okay, so now you got five messages. Take that same level of information and now turn that into 10 questions. What are 10 questions? And what’s a question or two that you could ask in each messaging? Now suddenly you’ve got, you know, we’ll say five email emails with two questions each. So that’s, you know, five emails, and then you’ve got five emails with each one with. You’ve got 10 different messages of value that you can bring to your prospects. You see what you’re doing.

Mark Hunter :
You are staying in the game. And because. And because you are just dealing with people in your icp, when you create these messages, you have the ability to replicate almost the same message. You’re changing a few things. But to 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20 different prospects. You are being much more efficient with your time. This means that you could probably put more prospects who fit your icp, only those who fit your ICP in into that cadence. This is going to be a game changer because again, in difficult markets, difficult times, decisions take longer.

Mark Hunter :
So it work it to your advantage to create more value for your prospects. Oh, by the way, you know what this is? This is also perfect because the same content that you’re delivering to your prospect, you can turn around and deliver to your existing customers and they’re going to find you in a different light. They’re going to say thank you, thank you for sharing with me. And it’s going to give you more opportunities with your existing customers who, guess what, your existing customers may turn around and either buy more from you, refer you to somebody else in their organization, or simply give you an outside referral. Again, it’s a win win. This is absolutely, I think one of the greatest times to be a salesperson because only the tough stay in the game. Now here are some things that you also got to be doing. You got to make sure that each message you send out has a clear cta, clear call to action.

Mark Hunter :
And that call to action might be just, hey, reach out, call me. Let’s arrange a time to talk further in a difficult time like this. My whole focus here is just to secure the next meeting. Secure the next meeting. Second, do your messages have confirming statements? We’ve been able to help other companies similar to yours achieve this. Do you have, if you do get them on the phone or get them into a longer conversation, have stories that engage, stories that they can relate to, stories that they can connect to, stories. You see, when I have these messaging points that I’ve talked about looking at your customers, customer, then I have a clear call to action. I have confirming statements and I’m going ahead and putting those confirming statements into every email I send out.

Mark Hunter :
Don’t hesitate the least bit because you don’t want them to think for, for a moment that this is your first rodeo. You want them to know that you want them to see you as an expert. And then you’ve got in your back pocket these stories that engage. And many times the stories that engage are going to be connected back to some of this customers customer information. Yeah. Now what you’re also doing is you’re also monitoring signals in the marketplace. And again, this is why you’ve got to stay absolutely tight. Don’t sit there and try to boil the ocean.

Mark Hunter :
I want to Monitor signals in the marketplace. In other words, what are the industries that these people belong to, what’s happening? And, and this is going to give you current relevant information, news information that you can send out. Because what I love doing is when I’m in a difficult market like this and I’ve gone through several, if I can send out immediate, hey, just saw this. Really think it is a pertinent to you. Wow, what does that do? That has them looking at you in a different light. What, what this does when you’re monitoring signals in their marketplace from their trade association, what’s happening from a regulatory standpoint, what competitors are doing, what, what’s happening out there with the economy, etc, and I can convey some of that information. They begin to see me as a peer. And when they begin to see me as a peer, they take me even more seriously.

Mark Hunter :
Now, I know some of you are saying, mark, I do have to broaden my picture. You only allow yourself to broaden your ICP broaden in terms of the space that you sell into when a current customer takes you there. When a current customer takes you there, don’t allow a lead to take you there because too many times that just becomes a rabbit hole. That just becomes a rabbit hole. But if a current customer takes you there, then I’m probably going to go along with it. I’m probably going to because I have a little more confidence because they’ve already bought from me once, they probably will buy from me again. But if it’s just an inbound lead and they’re there and it’s some other industry, I really question it. Now what do I got to do do all this? I got to celebrate each day’s win, regardless of how small.

Mark Hunter :
You know what’s funny is, is you got to monitor your numbers even more in a market like this than ever before. You really do have to monitor your numbers. But the number is not the quarterly quota, the annual number. The numbers are your daily emails, your weekly emails, your weekly phone calls, your conversations. You gotta monitor the numbers. And what you do is I want you to celebrate each win, each day. Each day you celebrate one win. Yeah, you do.

Mark Hunter :
Because you got to end the day on a positive note because again, you’ve got to even main positive through this because what happens is it’s easy to get into a funk. And then suddenly you say, well, I’m not going to prospect for a week or two and that’s not going to the gym. Your muscles are going to get flabby. You see how you do this is by you setting goals that you can achieve. One of the best goals that I always say, it’s called the 10am Rule. You’ve heard me talk about this, and that is each morning by 10am I want to accomplish something significant. It just somehow motivates me. I have a number that I monitor.

Mark Hunter :
It’s five conversations a day. Five conversations a day. Now, it can be a push for me to have five conversations a day a lot of times, but, boy, when I do it, I celebrate. And you know what? I may not put more numbers on the board in terms of sales or bookings in my business, but if I’m having five conversations, I. I feel good. You’ve also got to have peers who can help motivate you, and you help motivate them. Now you got to make sure that the peers you have are, are motivated people. Optimists.

Mark Hunter :
Don’t, don’t, don’t. Be careful. Don’t get sucked in to somebody else’s, you know, vortex. No, no, be careful. The fringe you spend time with, because you do become the sum of who you spend. But, like, for myself, I’ve got a mastermind group, and it’s amazing how we lift each other up. Yeah. Final piece I want to share with you is don’t allow yourself to get sidetracked on other stuff.

Mark Hunter :
It’s so easy when prospecting is not going right, to get sidetracked on. You know, I got to take care of this report. I got to take care of this. I got. I. I got to take care of that. And. And suddenly what happens is you don’t get your prospecting done.

Mark Hunter :
You’re busy, but you’re not productive. This is why I say you’ve got to put prospecting on your calendar. This is probably the most critical, important meeting you have on your calendar. And don’t think for a moment it’s got to be eight hours. No, I tell you what, you do a consistent 30 minutes a day or a consistent one hour a day, it’s amazing how much more success. Don’t sit there and say you don’t have time. Oh, yeah, wait a minute. You’ll have plenty of time if you don’t have any income.

Mark Hunter :
Yeah, you see, you don’t have time to not make time. Make the time to prospect. Hey, my name is Mark Hunter, the sales hunter, and I wrote the book Integrity First Selling. I want you to pick it up because everything I’ve talked about here is in that book and more. Two episodes a week, one like this, where I do a deep dive single topic. Second episode is where I have a subject matter expert. I want you to become the greatest salesperson you can be because sales is needed now more than ever in difficult markets. Leave me a review on your favorite podcast app.

Mark Hunter :
Would you please leave me a review? It really helps. Whether it’s Apple music, whether it’s Spotify, whatever. I do the show to help you see and achieve what you didn’t think was possible. My name is Mark Hunter, the sales Hunter. Great selling.