Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Becoming your prospects customer
In our last post, we talked about gathering market research to determine how you can easily grow your business. One of those tips involved getting out there and talking to real people (your prospects) to find out what they need.
Don't worry, be productive
We talked about not being afraid of rejection, just get out there and do it. Our personal favorite observation from our life experiences is that 99% of the stuff we worry about never really happens anyway, so don't let a little worry stop you. In fact, don't even waste your time worrying about it. Ha. Easier said than done. We are all going to worry a little bit. It's part of human nature. We just need to recover faster and move ahead.
Become a customer of your prospects business
One interesting way we've found to gather market research about the business needs of your prospective customers, is to become a customer of their business. See things from the perspective of their prospect / customer. This gives you a whole new viewpoint into problems that your prospects' business has. Most times your prospect doesn't even realize that they have these problems. This is where you ride in on your white horse and save the day!
Act as if...
For example, if you are in the business of providing marketing services for a service provider (like a plumber), act like you have a burst pipe. Who do I call to fix this? - This mimics the actions that your prospects' customer will take.
Do you turn to the phone book advertising section, do you look on the web? What results do you find?
- Do any of the names stand out, based on "easy-to-pronounce"?
- Do any names stand out as funny, or helpful?
- Do any of the ads stand out as being "visually attractive"
- Do any of the slogans or headline text make you more trusthworthy?
When your customer has no prior knowledge or experience about your business or industry, sometime they make descions on how the name of the business sounds or the colors of photos that it uses in advertisements. (We know it sounds ridiculous, but sometimes that is how the human mind works).
The listings that stand out from the rest of the pack have an advantage. Now you have some ideas for preparing an introductory letter that will allow you to get your foot in the door long enough to make an impression.
For example, take the information that you just learned from your phone book or web search results to come up with a list of prospects that you can call on.
For each prospect, give them a short letter of your test, and describe what you were seeing as you spotted their advertisement or listing. Tell them that you noticed their competitors ad first, because it had a nicer visual appeal. Or tell them how the promotional headline, or the summary text under the search engine listing caught their eye and made you click on their competitors listing first.
This creates a problem that you can solve. This creates meaningful dialogue between your prospective customer and you, the problem solver. It is a lot better than just knocking on the door and handing out a generic brochure that doesn't speak directly about how to solve the specific problems that the prospect has.
It also enable you to talk about something that interests your prospect, not just to talk about your business. Listen to your prospect talk, and learn from it. From that initial meeting, you can come up with additional ideas for promotional services to help them solve their problems. And you gain a new customer in the process.
Have you tried this approach to finding new customers? Let us know what your thoughts are, and if you have tried this, how did it work for you?
Next we will expand upon this topic and consider how prospects looking for a solution will turn to trusted friends for recommendations (sometimes called referrals). Knowing how to setup a referral to your business can make the prospect actually pick up the phone and contact you!
Labels: finding new customers, growing your business, prospecting
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