Sales Intelligentsia

Prospecting Tools: Networking

I’ve stressed the importance of building personal relationships for salespeople. Nothing has a stronger effect than getting out and pressing the flesh and meeting people. Networking is nothing more than meeting potential prospects on mutual territory. The most important thing I can say about networking is to make sure you network where the customers are. As obvious as it seems, too many of us attend meetings of trade groups who do what we do. In other words: Our competition. While it can be fun to talk shop, it doesn’t get you in touch with customers. You must go where they are likely to be.
As a writer, I could attend the many writer’s conferences around the country which promise to help you meet editors and agents. However, I’d be there with a lot of other writers vying for the attention of the harried editors who got talked into these little junkets. Wouldn’t I be better off at a convention of editors, agents or publishers? When you attend networking opportunities make sure there is a likelihood that most of the attendees are good prospects for what you do. Then you can go and talk shop. I guarantee you’ll get inquires about your business in the process. Exchange cards and follow up with a sales call.

Prospecting Tools: Advertising

Advertising is a powerful tool. So is a chainsaw. Used effectively they can both get a lot of work done in a small amount of time, but used carelessly they can be costly. Advertising, in order to be effective, must be well-planned, well-executed, consistent, frequent and targeted at the right audience. For a salesperson who may not need large numbers of prospects to prosper, it may be overkill. If you run a business that requires a steady stream of new customers to survive then you must advertise. Otherwise, look carefully at other options.
Rather than randomly running ads here and there in various places, you should consider choosing one or two media you know your customers look at and run a small but well-written and designed ad. This ad should run all the time, every week or month, forever, if it gets results after the first eight or nine placements. Frequency and consistency are the two attributes your advertising needs to succeed because, as savvy consumers, we gradually build our trust and recognition. We seldom respond to an ad we see once.
For a small business I recommend small display or classified ads that appear regularly and invite the prospect to call for information. These prospecting ads are not designed to build brand awareness or a company image. They are tools for finding motivated prospects for your sales efforts. Try buying a couple of months of weekly ads in the trades or papers aimed at your target audience. Run a similar message in every one and make sure you always ask any callers how they heard of you. If the ad doesn’t pull after 8-10 repetitions, try another message or media. Give them time first.

Even if you’re a local business you should run Google Adwords. These ads show up in search results and you only pay when someone clicks on the ad. These are, hands down, the most effective advertising any sales-related business can do.

Prospecting Tools: Publicity

It is amazing what the effect of even a small amount of publicity can be. People you don’t know recognize your name. You get requests for information out of the blue. Doors may open that were closed previously. Your overall credibility is enhanced. This is because we still have an almost reverent belief in what we read and see on the news. The irony is that public relations professionals know that as much as ninety per cent of the news is generated through the efforts of publicity pros. Editors and producers in the media have an insatiable hunger for more content. Every day or every month they must start over with a blank page or dead air and fill it with interesting, stimulating information for their audiences. You can be a source for that information.
When you do or participate in something newsworthy, you should tell the press. What is newsworthy? Anything that involves the interest of the readers of that publication or the listeners of that talk show. You need an interesting angle, recognizable names, unusual products or experiences and a good story that is uplifting or thought-provoking. While this may seem impossible to someone running an apparently mundane business, remember your story doesn’t have to appeal to the general public, it only needs to appeal to people with an interest in what you do: Your customers and prospects. If you’re in a very specialized business, aim your press releases at trade magazines and web sites, newsletters and other industry media. Or come up with a story explaining your unusual business to the general public.
This involves having an angle. An attorney I know who is a corporate litigator recently received an extensive article about himself in the local business paper. It wasn’t based on his litigation skills, it was based on the fact that he is a well-respected children’s music performer with several CDs to his credit. While the angle was ‘lawyer plays children’s music’, much of the article was information about his business.
Simple publicity is rewarding because it costs little and has a broad effect on your sales. There are many books that tell how to put together a simple press kit, write a press release and do effective interviews. The time spent learning the ropes of publicity can be invaluable when you make one of those cold calls and the recipient says, “I just read about you in the paper.” Just make sure the exposure is positive. Unless you’re a rock star or certain politicians, the old saw about any publicity being good publicity just isn’t true.

Publicity and Search

Press Releases distributed by press release services like PRWeb and BusinessWire can reach thousands of media outlets in minutes. Perhaps even more important, if they are written with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind, they will get indexed by search engines like Google and Yahoo, meaning your message will come up when people search for keywords relevant to your business. Those keywords should be in the headline(s) and content of your releases. Make sure you include a live link to your web site, particularly to a landing page dedicated to the product, service or story highlighted in the release. And make sure that landing page has an action the visitor can take: Contact you, register for a white paper, fill out an order form, etc.