Just like you can’t plan a party
without a guest list and, likewise, you can't start or run a business without
making a list of potential customers or clients.
Many successful small business owners are continuously
looking to expand their customer base and grow their businesses. Business
growth can be a difficult and long-term process, though. One of the
foundational elements of growing a business is having access to a steady stream
of sales leads.
A sales lead is a person, or business if you have a company
that sells to other businesses (B2B) that has an interest in the products or
services you are selling.
Selling is by no means the same as it was 20 years ago where
things were a lot more laboured and paper-heavy. The wonders of technology have
allowed salespeople to work at a faster rate, which also quickens the selling
process. One of the processes is prospect marketing.
What is prospecting?
Prospecting is the process of identifying potential prospects
for your business. It’s all about building a list of people who are potentially
interested in your products and services and then reaching out to them.
When you reach out and get a response you qualify them. Those
who show interest to move toward the next stages of the sales pipeline are your
prospects. These are the people who will hopefully buy from you and become your
customers! After all, the end goal of prospecting is to turn as many prospects
as possible into paying customers.
What is a sales prospect?
A sales prospect is a potential customer, someone that is
likely to buy what you’re offering. They have been qualified so you know there
is a good chance they’ll buy your product or service.
Leads – generate a list of potential
customers for your business
Prospect – qualify those leads
Sales – convert prospects into sales
Indirectly you need to
build prospects to build sales!
How do you build
prospect list for sales?
Your prospects list is one of the most valuable assets you’ll
build as it is the foundation of successful sales outreach.
1 - Define your target market
This is a crucial step in the outreach process. If you’re
reaching out to the wrong audience it won’t matter how good your marketing
efforts are. You just won’t get the results you’re after. So invest some time
into figuring out who your ideal customers are. For businesses, identify the
locations, industries, sizes, and business models for your best customers. For
individuals, look at specific demographic information, including age, income,
location, and other information.
A more efficient and effective method of marketing is to
first, define the most likely buyer of your product or service. Take the time to understand who your target the market is so you don’t waste your time or money finding and selling to the
wrong customers and clients.
a) Research your existing customers to work out the ideal
profile
b) Identify their business type, business size, the role of
the person that purchased your product, etc.
c) Find out why they made a decision to buy
d) Build a sample list, do some outreach to see if you get
results, and then ramp up.
2- Build a Potential Customer and Client
List
Listing people you know is a good place to start as you can
make a quick sale and get referrals. But there are other sources from which to
start your potential customer list. Here are just a few:
- Existing customers: If you've already made a few sales,
call upon your existing customers to see if they need more of your product or
service. Selling to an existing happy customer is easier than generating a new
one.
- Internet Research: This is ideal for
business-to-business (B2B) businesses. If you know the ideal customer or
client, you can go online and search for them, and then reach out to them
directly. While you can do this online for all businesses, it works
particularly well for doing local searches of businesses you want to work with.
Social media is another great way to connect with potential businesses you'd
like to work with, especially LinkedIn.
- Trades Shows or Craft
Fairs: Events are a
great way to network with other businesses that may fit your market (in B2B) or
generate new customers and prospects through an exhibit if you sell to the end
consumer (B2C). Even if you don't make a sale, events can allow you to build
your contact list.
- Speaking: The easiest way to show off your
expertise is speaking, either at a conference or by setting up your own
workshops. If you're nervous about speaking, consider joining a panel at an
event.
- Community Networking
Events: If your the business focuses on B2B sales, consider joining your local Chamber of Commerce.
Where you can network with other local businesses, attend workshops and more.
Another option is to join groups involving your target market.
- Social Media: Many service-based businesses find
social media one of the best places to connect and build a relationship with
potential clients and customers. Do you have social media followers on Twitter,
Facebook or LinkedIn? While you don't want to annoy them with constant sales
messages, you can interact and converse with them, increasing their awareness
of you as well as building a relationship.
- Purchase a Lead List: While this can be expensive and
often achieves low results, if you're in a bind, you can purchase mailing or
contact lists of prospects that fit your target market (demographics, location
etc). Do a Google search for "mailing lists" and you will find dozens
of companies. In most cases, businesses use this list for direct mail
marketing, but you can also call or email if those form of contact information
is provided.
3- Make Contact
Over The Phone or
mail: Once you have a list of potential clients, it's time to reach out. Cold
calling scares many people, but if you lead by asking what they need and then
present your product or service as a solution, you'll have better results.
Asking questions and presenting your product or services benefits turns the
focus of the call onto them instead of you. Finally, if an individual says they
are not interested, ask them if they know of someone who might be and get a
referral.
4- Follow-Up and then Follow-Up Again
The fortune is in the follow-up. You're going to hear “no” a
lot. For some people, that “no” is firm. But for others, the “no” is only “no”
for now. Many business owners hear “no” and give up. But 80% of sales are not
made on the first, second, or even a third contact! It can take five or more
contacts to achieve a sale.
Keep track of your communication with various leads and
prospects by using some sort of free CRM database. Create calendar reminders to
follow-up in the future with those who said no.
Summary
The system for getting clients and customer is straight
forward. You need a way to entice them to learn about you through your
marketing efforts, then you need to build a relationship with them that will
hopefully, lead to a sale.
If you spend the time identifying the right audience you can
get great results from your sales outreach. But if you don’t have a relevant
list of prospects and an efficient process to get this data, even the best
marketing efforts will fail to deliver results.
Address: Unit No.450, Mastermind One - IT Park, Royal Palms, Aarey Colony,
Goregaon(E), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India- 400065
About Prakash Bhosale:-
Prof. Prakash Bhosale is the entrepreneurship consultant for startups. He is a serial IT, Media entrepreneur & leading business consultant He has Over 15 years of experience in education, corporate, IT, e-Marketing, Consulting domain. He is a columnist on business & entrepreneurship with newspaper, magazines, portals, published over 1100 articles. He is the writer of the 4 books on business, entrepreneurship, business ideas. He also guides PhD fellows, business plans, DPR preparation.
Phone: 08355979232, 09867806399
Whatsapp Me:- 8355979232
