__________ is the identification of potential business opportunities.

• A. Prospecting
• B. Lead generation
• C. Targeting
• D. Market scouting

Answer: (A)

Identifying potential business opportunities is prospecting. In sales and marketing, prospecting is the early stage of building a pipeline: you search for companies or individuals who might have a need, assess whether they could become customers, and initiate outreach. This differs from lead generation, which focuses on creating interest and capturing contacts to nurture into prospects. Market scouting tends to look more broadly at new markets and trends for strategic opportunities, rather than pinpointing specific sales opportunities. Targeting involves deciding which opportunities to pursue after they’ve been identified, based on fit and potential value. So the term that best describes the identification of potential business opportunities is prospecting.