The latest annual State of Prospecting Report has just been released, revealing a host of must-know insights and trends that will define the B2B sales and marketing landscape this year.
The report, created by the lead generation and sales engagement experts at Sopro – a global multi-channel prospecting service for B2B businesses – dives into the developments and challenges shaping industry strategies.
The fifth annual report features insights from more than 400 senior B2B decision-makers, analysis of 126 million emails, and more than 25 million multi-channel touchpoints and intent signals, paired with strategies from today’s leading outreach experts.
You can view the full State of Prospecting 2026 here.
Key Findings:
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Buyers decide when the conversation starts
Self-directed research, closed platforms, and AI-driven evaluations mean decisions often form before outreach is answered. Prospecting must align with how buyers already behave.
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Brand familiarity and consistent outreach lift performance
When buyers recognise the sender, reply rates, meeting rates, and deal velocity increase. Visibility isn’t cosmetic – it’s commercial.
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Quality beats quantity every time
Sharper audience definition improves inbox placement, boosts engagement, and makes messaging feel relevant. The best results come from tighter lists, not bigger sends.
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Integration beats accumulation
Most companies have the right tools, but not the integration. The strongest performers unify channels, workflows, and reporting around a single view of the buyer.
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In an AI-driven world, people still buy from people
Automation can start conversations, but humans close them. Credibility, proof, and real responses now separate meaningful engagement from ignored noise.
The sales landscape at a glance:
Performance
- 40% exceeding their new-business targets
- 21% are below their new-business targets
Top areas for investment next year
- AI content generation (68%)
- Outbound marketing (68%)
- AI for prospecting/personalisation (67%)
Prospecting and growth strategy
- 89% say prospecting is essential for new business
- 51% call it “core, always-on”
- 43% run it seasonally or selectively
- 4% are not running any outbound activity
Outreach complexity
- 58% use multiple outreach channels…
- …but only 21% coordinate across channels
- 87% use intent signals in some form…
- …but under half of them trigger or tailor outreach.
Standout Insights:
The study analysed 650,000 unique prospecting emails sent in 2025 and identified common behavioural biases – psychological patterns known to influence decision-making – and measured how the presence of each one boosted or reduced the likelihood of generating a lead compared to the baseline lead rates for all of the emails.
Positive bias:
- Time discounting bias (+52.5%)
- Distinctiveness bias (+30.4%)
- Habit formation bias (+16.3%)
- Collaboration (+16.1%)
- Optimistic tone (+6.4%)
- Opportunity-led framing (+4.5%)
Negative bias:
- Authority bias (–12.2%)
- Social proof (–12.4%)
- Explaining / clarity (–19.8%)
- Educational / advisory (–24.2%)
- Empathy (–27.3%)
- Customer-first framing (–30.7%)
- Reciprocity bias (–32.3%)
- Problem-led framing (–45.7%)
Vic Heyward, Director of Marketing at Sopro, comments: “Some of these results might seem shocking at first, but they make sense when you think about them. Social proof uses the voice of other people to build credibility. It’s not about landing in someone’s inbox as a stranger and saying, ‘Everyone loves us, trust me.’ That’s just arrogance.
“Similarly, understanding a prospect’s problems on a sales call and discussing whether your solution fits? That’s Sales 101. But leading a cold email with assumptions about their challenges and positioning yourself as the fix is presumptuous and off-putting.”
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