Personal Approach to Sales Prospecting Yields Results

 

Stacy Sacco

Stacy Sacco, MBA, VP Marketing at WESST

Small-business owners focused on increasing sales sometimes turn to prospect lists – names of potential customers researched on the internet or purchased from a marketing firm. Even if the selection criteria are finely targeted, “cold calls” made from these lists result in fewer sales than calls made to people with whom there is a personal relationship. The key is to turn unknown potential customers into personal connections.

One approach is to generate an ongoing prospect list from public announcements about people who have won industry awards or reached achievements of note, and use the announcement to make a personal connection by sending a letter of congratulations. The letter should be written and addressed by hand, and suggest how doing business together can make the award-winner become even more successful.

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Knowing your Customer Critical with Big Ticket Products

 

Betsy Gillette

Betsy Gillette, Director of Market Research & Planning, TVC

A business trying to market an industrial product has a smaller customer base than one selling mass-market products, which means the entrepreneur must capitalize on each sales opportunity by investing in market research.

Industrial customers do not buy on whim and generally have a structured buying process. An entrepreneur with a product he believes customers will want needs to know what problems potential customers must solve and how they’re currently solving them. What machinery does the client use? What manual processes are involved? How much does this cost (not just labor and supplies but lower production or revenues, environmental penalties or other costs)? Many industrial customers simply want to do things faster and more efficiently.

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