Recently I was asked:
“We are just starting a cold calling process and I was wondering if you had any ideas on what publications we could use to track down businesses based on industry, turnover, staff numbers etc.”
– Brendan.
Well, yes Brendan… I do have a few ideas.
One of the most important steps in approaching potential clients is to qualify them. The better they fit your profile of a good client, the easier it will be for you to speak with them and conduct a successful sales encounter.
However, there are only two ways to get lists of prospects:
1 – Obtain an existing list of businesses.
2 – Generate your own list from inbound enquiries.
The second category (inbound enquiries) contains by far the “hottest” prospects. Because they have already responded to your marketing message and contacted you, they are more likely to continue into your sales process. But sometimes it can take a while to achieve a suitable volume of inbound enquiries. Advertising to create inbound enquiries can be expensive, and if the marketing budget is thin this can slow the process.
So the first category gives you more control over the timing of your contact, and is often less costly. If you have a list you can proactively contact them now to get the sales process underway.
Like most firms, your business may serve clients across a number of industries. However it’s often a good idea to focus marketing activities on a specific industry. You can even run the same tactic at the same time, but with a slight twist’, to make it suitable for different industry groups.
An example:
You run a marketing services firm and you have clients in both the graphic design industry and the business coaching industry. Both these sectors are also on your prospect “hit list” – you want more of them. To create interest you could run an advertisement in which you offer an information sheet to prospects. For your prospects in the graphic design industry you may produce an information sheet called “Proven marketing tactics for Graphic Designers”. For your prospects in the coaching industry you would write another info sheet and call it “How Business Coaches can attract more clients”. It’s the same tactic customised for very different industry sectors.
But you still need to identify prospects to whom you can send the information sheets.
There are a number of sources you can readily access from which you can either create your own list of prospects (for direct mail or telephone contact purposes) or generate interest via advertising.
These sources include:
Whichever sources you use it’s imperative to plan your initial contact with a focus on what the next step will be. Do you want to send the prospect information? Will you need to schedule a meeting with decision makers? Will you need to provide “proof” of your services by way of testimonials or references? Will you need to follow up in 3 weeks time?
Stuart Ayling runs Marketing Nous, an Australasian marketing consultancy that specialises in marketing for service businesses. He helps clients to improve their marketing tactics, attract more clients, and increase revenue. For additional marketing resources, including Stuart’s popular monthly newsletter, visit his web site at www.marketingnous.com.au
