Ten Prospects For Success
The value of taking the time to profile good customers and target similar groups is particularly high for salespeople because we often don’t need large numbers of customers to prosper. In fact this is the great advantage we have over large companies with large overhead who must sell great quantities to earn enough profit. The average salesperson will probably do very well adding as few as one to ten new customers each year, particularly if those customers are exceptional. But what is an exceptional customer?
Let’s look at John K. who runs a landscaping company that specializes in designing, building and maintaining small but beautiful garden areas for urban dwellers and businesses. John’s edge is the fact that he offers one-stop shopping: He plans, builds and maintains, making it easy for his customers to have the garden they want without dealing with numerous contractors. The downside of his business is that he is limited by his size to doing a relatively small number of gardens.
John’s customers are highly educated, urban homeowners who are in a high income bracket and often hold executive positions or own their own businesses. They have limited time but a lot of disposable income. Once they contract with John they typically stay customers until they move or retire. He services about 25 homes and businesses and has a turnover of about 25% requiring that he add 5 customers annually to maintain his current sales level. If he wants to grow he should be adding around ten per year.
The challenge for John is to find the ten exceptional customers that will not only stay with him for years but will also make regular referrals. He already knows what type of people they will be and where he is likely to find them in his city. He can target his marketing efforts directly at these demographically distinct individuals. His ads, brochures and networking will focus exclusively on the best prospects and the responses they generate will be pre-qualified before he starts the sales process.
In addition to making the sales process much easier, targeting also helps generate referrals, references and networking opportunities. A landscaper like John will be in regular contact with his customers and their friends will see the results of his labors. This will generate referrals. Good quality referrals often do not require any selling other than price and schedule negotiations. Various networking opportunities arise as he is invited to social opportunities and community get-togethers that his customers attend. By sharing this part of their lifestyle he becomes an even more likely resource for them to refer others to.
Relationship Selling
John’s selling style is based on developing valuable and mutually beneficial relationships with his customers that generate rewards for both parties. The exceptional customers you should be seeking will expect something of value from their relationship with you. The values most prized in a business relationship are trust, quality, time and money. Offer these to the right group of prospects and your selling will become much easier.
Prospecting for exceptional customers and preparing your products so that they completely fulfill those customer’s needs can take much of the mystery out of sales. Target the right customer groups, send the message they want to hear and provide the stellar service they expect and your sales will close themselves. Skip these steps and you’ll spend a lot more time selling and have a much lower ratio of success to failure.
Knowing your prospective customer’s lifestyles and reaching out to them are only part of the whole prospecting process. You must also tailor your products to fit their needs and desires. The more perfect the fit between product and customer the easier the sale.
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