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Sales Techniques: Increasing Your Potential Customer BaseBy Hayley Hunkin Flourishing salespeople spend a proportion of their time each day in generating new leads and gathering data on potential customers. Due to the inevitable loss of some customers over time for a variety of reasons, any business relying on sales will always need to generate new customers, just to stay level. To grow your business, you need to add new customers at a higher rate than any loss caused by natural attrition. Businesses may lose current customers when they move to a new location, merge, change purchasing plans, or the key contact person the salesperson builds a relationship with dies or changes jobs, leaving someone else to decide on whether to purchase your product or not. Prospecting for new customers is an essential part of building success. Here are eight ways of increasing your potential customer base. Referrals A referral is a prospective customer who has been referred to you by a current satisfied customer, or a business associate who knows your product well. Always ask your customers and acquaintances and even prospective customers who do not buy if they know anyone else who may be interested in the product. Customer referrals are a great way to build a reputation for fair-dealing as a salesperson. You may even want to create a referral rewards program to incentivize customers to refer their friends and family. Directories Go beyond thinking about the phone book here. There are hundreds of companies who create and sell directories with information about companies. For example, Middle Market Directory lists over 14,000 firms worth between $500,000 and $1 million and the Thomas Register of American Manufacturers provides a listing of more than 60,000 manufacturers by product classification, addresses and capital ratings. Purchasing a directory that targets your market can be well worth the investment. Trade Publications Trade publications provide status reports on every major industry and provide up to date information on buying trends. You can review trade publications to find potential customers within the articles and advertisements. Telemarketing Salespeople often use telemarketing in conjunction with other methods. If you have met a prospective client at a trade show or networking event, a quick telephone call can help generate interest in the product you are selling. Telemarketing prospective clients in one area, even from the phone book, can give you enough leads to set up an information evening or educational seminar to give the sales pitch to several hundred people at once. Cold Canvassing This method is used by companies such as Avon and Amway, who sell to people in their homes or offices. Creating a mailing campaign to target an area means you will send information to some people who are not interested in being customers. However, it is an effective way of building product and brand recognition, and can lead to enquiries that lead to sales. Networking In simple terms, networking is the art of making and keeping contacts. Meet as many people as you can and always be open to explaining what you do in a way that generates further discussions. Do not do business while networking, this is not the time to make the sales pitch. This is the chance to build up contacts. You can decide which contacts will be productive to follow up with in the future. Hand your business card out (at least two at a time), so that the contact can tell others about you too. Some ways to increase your networking activity include joining a professional organization in your industry or an athletic/country club near your residence. Educational Seminars Many salespeople will use educational seminars or information evenings to encourage contacts to become buying customers. Target a group of prospective contacts and hold an educational seminar about your product. You should charge a fee to cover the meeting room and materials costs. This helps to weed out the non-interested people from your contacts. Provide refreshments or dinner as part of the experience, and give prospective customers a chance to trial the product. You can give your sales pitch to many people at once using this technique. Trade Shows and Fairs Research studies conducted by the Trade Show Bureau indicate that it is easier to identify good prospects and to close the sale at a trade show, because anyone who walks in the door of the trade show is already interested in the industry. Spending two days at a trade show, giving out brochures, providing demonstrations and collecting business cards from people can generate hundreds of prospective leads to follow up on. Webinars Conducting webinars is a great way to educate and interact with potential customers on the benefits of using your product or service. This medium is especially effective if you conduct a good portion of your business online. It has the added benefit of allowing you to use audio and video to demonstrate your message in a personal way to each prospect. Webinar attendees are also able to easily forward questions, so you learn from them as well. As a follow-up to these methods, you may want to create a computerized database that allows all contact with potential customers to be readily accessible. Reviewing the database can help you to generate lists of contacts for particular sales campaigns or product releases. Most thriving salespeople will use a combination of these methods to build up a large base of prospective customers; however, remember that it is always more expensive and time consuming to get a new customer than to retain and sell to one you already have. Therefore, make sure you follow-up all of your marketing and sales processes with the best customer service possible. To learn more, see these eBooks: Teleseminars & Webinars How to Get More Business: Building Your Sales Funnel Online |
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