Knowing your ideal customer is important before reaching out to them. It’s essential to have a targeted list so your team’s effort will not be put to waste. The information you gather in profiling a list makes it easier to identify why customers buy from you. The more information you have about your customer, the easier it is for you to know if there will be opportunities to sell them your product.
Also, you must make sure that you’ve examined your existing data before reaching out to your prospects. Having a clean and updated database with no duplicate records is important for your sales team to maximize their time and effort in getting hold of their target prospects. Here’s how to know if you’re wasting resources on a dirty marketing list.
As discussed in my previous article, Get it Right: Double the Number of Your Sales Leads with Multi Channel Marketing, the best method to reach out to prospects in Malaysia is through Multi-channel marketing. Follow these steps to have better campaign results:
STEP 1: Send out introductory email first
Now that you have a targeted list, you are now ready to reach out to your prospects.
Email allows you to communicate with your prospect and at the same time, respect their time. According to Robert Graham, the author of Cold Calling Early Customers, “An initial email makes more sense because it doesn’t require for the prospect to answer the moment they receive it.”
Emailing let’s you educate your prospect about your product or service and connect it with their current situation. Plus, you can always use email as a reason for your call. However, if many are already familiar with your company, for example; Salesforce.com, Dropbox, Microsoft, etc. Then I suggest that you should start calling your prospect and ignore the email-first rule.
STEP 2: Make sure to maximize every call
When calling, you don’t only focus in one decision maker. Different people with different roles are involved in the decision making process. These people are;
- The evaluator. He’s not the decision maker but he’s the one who evaluate if there are some issues with their current setup.
- The recommender. He’s usually the one who evaluate what’s available in the market and present a recommendation with reasons why the top decision maker should consider a certain product.
- The influencer. He’s not the final decision maker but he’s the one who can influence the decision of the final decision maker.
- The final decision maker. He is the top decision maker. He’s not directly involved with the process but he’s the one who decides which product to consider.
Also, when making a call, follow a prospecting schedule. Learn about your prospects availability and evaluate as to when is the best time to call Asian prospects that will give you higher contact ratio.
STEP 3: Warm referrals through word of mouth
You may have satisfied customers, only to the fact that their expectations were low or no one else is doing a better job. Having a satisfied customer isn’t enough nowadays. For you to have a booming business, you need to have loyal and satisfied fans who will keep on patronizing your product or service to their family, relatives and friends.
How to get more referrals?
- Build good relationship with your current clients
- Provide good quality of service and not just focus on getting their money
STEP 4: Conducting or Attending trade shows and events
Trade show, conference or any event is usually targeted for a specific industry. The people involved or those who attend are usually interested in that industry. Hosting or attending a trade shows can be a great way to reach out to your target market, create brand awareness and promote your product or service.
Find out what’s the best event marketing game plan for your next event.
STEP 5: Connect through social media platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc)
Stay in touch with your prospects through social media by sharing contents, company update
s and tips regularly. It is one way to establish yourself as one of the experts in your field. Also, using social media to communicate and interact with your audience can be an advantage on your end. However, be careful as social media is ineffective when it comes to sales. Social media is more effective if you educate your audience about your products and service and make them feel like they need it, instead of selling it directly to them.
Example: Healthcare Marketing: Selling Products and Services, Creating Awareness
It is easy to sell something to someone when you know that they’re interested with the product or service that you’re offering. By profiling your database and having a targeted list, it’ll be easier for you to reach out to your prospects through various channels and create brand awareness which may eventually convert into a sale.
