1. Identify your target: Who would benefit most from what you are selling?
• Make a list of industries (5 or less)
• Make a list of companies within each industry
• Research each company to find as much info as possible. (Your competition, DM, how long have they been with your competition…)
Note: The more specific and narrow you can be, the better. Your goal is to target. Common mistake is to generalize. We tend to rationalize by being hyper optimistic about everyone being a potential customer. This creates random/blind prospecting. People call that “the numbers game” It causes rep burn out, high turn over and low closing averages. (33% or 1/3 is typical)
What makes this hard to avoid is that logic would tell us that a wider range of opportunity and a larger amount of activity will result in a larger return or volume.
2. Marketing/prospecting: Based on your list, how will you market and prospect them? Should use at least 3 touches. (The list bellow is an example of some types of touches)
• Telemarketing
• Brochures
• Flyers
• Mailers
• Face to Face
• Radio adds or shows
• T.V. adds
• Billboards
• Surveys
• Leave behinds
• Summits or trade shows
Once you have an idea as to how you will prospect or market them, you need to be able to answer these questions in as few words as possible: 2 or 3 sentences.
This could become an elevator pitch as well as several prospecting pitches:
• Who am I?
• What does my company do?
• Why should they talk to me?
• What is in it for them?
• Why is my company better then the competition?
• What am I offering that nobody else is?
3. Define your niche: What makes my company different or better?
• What is different about my company
• What can I do that the competition can’t
• What makes us unique
Note: List your competitive advantages. This list will be tied to your marketing and prospecting campaigns.
4. Know your competition: Research
• List companies that do the same thing
• Research their strengths and weaknesses as if you were developing a campaign for them. (How would I sell against my company?)
• How do they Market/prospect?
Copyright © 2010 Jim Stringer – All rights reserved.
