Tips for Targeting prospective business clients - Part two

by Startacus Admin

Tips for Targeting prospective business clients - Part two

In Part 1 of our tips post for targeting prospective clients as a service business we highlighted Identify your targets, Use a Database and Record, Get past the Gatekeeper and First introductions as our first four tips.

And bingo, as if by magic we return with Part 2 of this epic trilogy of a themed post. And just as a Jedi needs to learn how to use the force, as a new business you need to learn the tools and language to persuade a prospective client to not only speak with you about their business, but to part with their cash too. So, intro done, here's our next four tips for Jedi-esque sales performance...

Make the best first impression

Great! You’ve done all of the above; identified your targets, used a database to record all your business activity, introduced yourself to the decision maker and then wham - you only go and mess it all up at the first hurdle. There are plenty of reasons why this might happen and making a good first impression is a post in itself, but some of the more obvious reasons are included in our post “Making Sales Calls - the basics”. Go see!

Hook them with a special deal

If you've never worked with a business client before and you want to offer your services, you have to appreciate that unless you’ve been recommended or referred by a mutual contact, they probably won’t know you or your business from Adam. With this in mind, it might be worthwhile offering them a special deal, a discounted price or some kind of other reward for using your services for the first time. Obviously the special offer should highlight your usual price / terms of business / or service offering, so that it’s apparent that this is not your normal fee or service. The special offer also needs to be date specific (e.g. use by 31/08/13) so that you can get immediate results and the potential client knows that this is an offer that’s only available for the short term and you should ensure that whatever you are offering is something that they are likely to actually need! For example,  offering your graphic design services to a company with an in-house graphic design team is unlikely to generate many results.

Get referrals

You've worked with a few decent clients and they think that you did a pretty good job. Happy days! But how can you turn this feedback into additional business with new prospective clients? Well, there are two main ways that can work really well. Firstly, ask the clients who were impressed with your work for a written referral or testimonial to confirm just that - that you did an amazing job. Make sure that you also ask their permission so that you can use said quote or testimonial as part of your marketing material and any campaigns that you do. Secondly, ask existing clients to recommend you to other businesses - you will surprised how well both these approaches can work. If you don’t ask - you won’t get!

Identify what their need is

We suggested it above in the “hook them with a special deal” - but this is a really important point. You can target a client all you like, advising them of all the snazzy deals and services that you offer, however have you actually asked the client, what they would really like? Ask the question. After all, if you’re a coffee shop owner and you know that a customer comes in every morning for a Latte, you don’t keep asking them if they want a cup of tea! The same applies to developing a relationship and potential business with a client - firstly identify their need and secondly outline to them what you can offer that matches that need.

So, there you have it - 4 more killer tips for Targeting prospective business clients. Next week we’ll return - with 4 more (plus maybe even a bonus one for good measure!)

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Published on: 28th July 2013