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By choosing your clients, you choose your future.
Seth Godin
Searching for clients: where should a manager start in a new place?
Finding clients is the main responsibility of a sales manager. Without completing this task, all other functions become meaningless. Therefore, in a new workplace, it is important to be able to quickly form your own base, determine where to look for them and how to attract them.
So, first of all, you should pay attention to what the company does. After analyzing its activities, you can understand who may be interested in its services: both directly and indirectly.
When the main direction is clear, you can make a list of enterprises that can be interested in the proposal of this organization. Companies can be selected based on the following criteria:
- Industry;
- Number of employees;
- Location;
- Annual product turnover;
- Availability of a developed network of branches.
Each enterprise that is a potential partner must be described according to these characteristics. The result is a list of priority enterprises. When working with them, you can use traditional methods of working with clients.
Manager at a new place of work: where to get a client base?
The customer base undoubtedly plays a decisive role in the activities of the sales manager. Therefore, its formation must be addressed urgently. To do this, you need to determine the sources of its formation. These could be:
- Industry directories of enterprises;
- Advertising publications;
- Telephone directories of enterprises;
- Electronic cards;
- Directories of organizations on the Internet.
These resources will make the search for new clients more efficient, since the circle of potential partners will be significantly narrowed. You can also contact a client search agency, where, for a reasonable fee, specialists will compile a database of possible contacts for a specific organization.
Don't forget about online resources. Today this is a large platform where you can conduct active search clients. The manager is recommended to review information about tenders and government orders daily.
If an order suitable for the industry or topic appears, it must be urgently discussed with management. If the organization’s participation in the tender is confirmed, the manager must collect the necessary documentation and submit an application for participation.
The Internet offers other ways to find new clients. For example, participation in thematic forums allows you to enrich the database. Potential partners and consumers of organizations engaged in the desired field often communicate on such resources.
Seminars, conferences and exhibitions - effective methods of attracting customers
Seminars, exhibitions and conferences related to topics close to the activities of the organization in which the manager works must be attended. It's a great place to gather people with a clear interest in the field.
There are probably many potential clients among them. In order to figure out in advance which of the visitors you need to communicate more closely with, it is worth asking the event organizers about the list of guests and speakers.
This will help you prepare in advance for a productive dialogue. Attracting new clients will be more effective if the manager speaks at a conference or seminar with his own report on the activities of his organization and its advantages. This is a chance to introduce yourself to a large number of people working in this field.
You need to prepare for such events in advance: stock up on business cards, specially compiled commercial proposals, and make a clearly visible and understandable badge.
New methods of attracting clients: professional clubs
Professional clubs are communities of people united by activities in one area. If a manager manages to become a member of such a club, he will have the opportunity to contact people who have a direct interest in the activities of the organization he represents.
This will significantly increase the efficiency of its work. In associations of professional interests you can not only find partners, but also study alternative ways attracting new clients who are used by colleagues.
Activities to attract clients must necessarily include working with recommendations from existing clients. When the deal is concluded, the manager must clarify whether the customer can recommend a new client from among his partners, employees, relatives or friends. Sometimes it’s worth offering a small discount for such a service or giving a nice gift.
Friends of the manager himself can also become clients. Everyone around the manager should be aware of what he is doing. On social networks, on forums, in blogs - everywhere there should be information about the services that can be obtained by contacting this person.
It can be quite difficult for beginning businessmen to gain the trust of consumers. They have to go through hundreds of cold calls and meetings with people who have no idea who they are or what they do. Users of the discussion service Quora, popular among residents of the Valley, are discussing how to quickly create a base of regular customers.
More enthusiasm
“I was fortunate to start a business with an experienced sales director. And it was unfortunate that he was completely hopeless. At one of the meetings with a potential client, he admitted that he was not particularly versed in technology and did not use by email. I had to learn to sell myself.
Despite the fact that I was not a salesman in the classical sense, with slicked hair and a sharp suit, I was full of enthusiasm, and it turned out that it meant much more than appearance. People buy from people. They can become infected with your inspiration, and accurate order fulfillment will help make these customers permanent.
People are impressed by big names
so a project for a well-known company may entail
new orders are coming
When your business doesn't have a reputation, people have to trust you. As a student I did social network free for my university. Thousands of users registered in it - many found out that I make websites. Creating free projects at the beginning of a business is very useful: they greatly increase the trust rating of the company.
By the way, mentioning that I made a website for a university brought me additional points in negotiations: people are impressed by big names, so a project for a well-known company can lead to new orders.”
- Oliver Emberton, founder of Silktide
Find the right clients
“When we started, we tried to make sure that each new client gave us access to the largest number of potential customers. First, we found such a company or association, made it the best offer, and created a service for it. Then other associations paid attention to us - we put together a package of proposals, went on a small sales tour and signed new agreements. We continued this pattern until we became one of the largest suppliers in the country. Even during the crisis, we continued to grow thanks to this system. By the way, that first client has remained with us for 10 years.”
- Farhad Meher-Homji, Founder of Brightlabs
Stand out from your competitors
“To find new clients, you need to write a marketing plan. To do this, you need to study the market in which you operate, find out whether in the next five years a product may appear that will make your offer uninteresting. In addition, you need to write a plan for sales and revenue from them. Decide in advance how you will interact with customers.
It is also worth considering all the risks. Find out how they work
your competitors, and play against them weak points
You also need to look at your offer from the buyer's perspective. If you are not sure about pricing policy, adhere to these rules. Many people associate high prices with excellent quality and service, and low ones - with tolerable quality and minimal service. Make sure your quality is higher than your competitors if your prices are high. And if the quality is so-so, lower your prices.
It is also worth considering all the risks. Find out how your competitors operate and play on their weaknesses. If you open a restaurant opposite a popular establishment, it is worth working during the hours when it is closed and developing a delivery service. If there are no analogues of the product on the market, this is also dangerous, since you will have to create a market yourself. Business is also influenced by various trends and seasonal factors. You need to find the main risk for your business and try to minimize it.”
- Ken Larson, business consultant
Hire people with connections
“You need to find a person with great connections and a circle of acquaintances in your field. Many companies fail when trying to attract their first customer. Personal connections help find him. In addition, familiar people listen to the offer with great interest and more easily agree to the purchase. And you also need to be prepared to spend some money to attract a client. It may be a small amount, but it will show how interested you are.”
- Scott England, Sales Evangelist
Emphasize individuality
“Attracting your first client is like flirting in a bar. Your business should have an identity, its own brand and distinctive features that will help set you apart from other fish in the ocean of business. Even if you offer the same service as everyone else, you must have some ace up your sleeve.”
- Alexis Trinidad, Blogger Outreach Director
In the business of providing movers and other personnel, there are 4 most effective ways to find clients
Let's look at each method in more detail.
Internet
There are also several ways here:
Firstly, publishing advertisements on sites like avito.ru.
Secondly, this is its own website. If you are seriously planning to start a business providing movers or personnel, then it is advisable to also have a website. It is not necessary to immediately create a complex Internet portal; a simple and neat one is enough to start with.
Moreover, modern technologies they allow it. You can make a website in a couple of days, even without knowing how to do it, or with the help of specialists, for little money
And here important point. The website itself will not bring clients. They need to be brought to the site somehow. And one of the most effective ways is contextual advertising
Newsletter Email
The good old way . Probably everyone remembers the times when mailbox somewhere on mail.ru 5 or more spam letters could have arrived) But technology does not stand still, and all kinds of filters have reduced spam to nothing. Only sometimes do Nigerian letters arrive,
Today, targeted mailings are used to find clients. It's called direct mail
When I first started this business I didn't have a website. And I was looking for clients using email newsletters. The beauty of the business of providing movers and personnel is that even with the help of a simple letter you can get a client who will then give orders for several years. I found my first major client through mailing letters. It was a warehouse move, 4 people were hired and they worked for a whole month, 10 hours every day.
When sending emails, it is important to understand 2 points: careful selection of recipients, to whom to send and what text of letters to write. Because letters like, mover services, we are the best and everything for you, will be instantly deleted by the recipient. This requires skills and experience. How to write the correct text and how to select the right database for mailings.
Calling by phone
Also relatively cheap and effective way searching for clients. This method works in absolutely any city.
You can make calls yourself or hire other people for little money.
Careful selection of the number base and what to say when calling are also important here. Competently bypass secretaries and reach out to management or decision makers.
Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing is a low-budget advertising method that allows you to promote your product or service and attract new customers without investing or almost no money. For example, print your own business cards and agree to leave them in places where your potential clients gather. During my practice, I tried many different similar methods, especially when I was just starting out. Some brought good results. The main thing is to use invention
Search methods are the practical actions of a seller aimed at finding clients, answering the question: what steps in daily work should the seller take in order to achieve this goal?
1. Existing customer base.
This is the first thing you need to start with. Every company, unless it just started working yesterday, has client databases that are reliably protected from access by unauthorized persons. There is a struggle for them within the organizations themselves between sellers.
Typically such databases are systematized. You can trace the entire work history of your clients, having information about the duration of the client’s work on your products, assortment, commercial policy, working conditions, sales dynamics, accounts receivable, additional discounts, percentage of sales plan fulfillment. Having such information, you can easily understand the state of affairs of clients and outline a plan for working with them.
The plan for working with an active client base should include the following actions:
♦ Identify the 20% of your most important clients, who give you 80% of your sales. It is in this proportion that this has been discussed more than once.
If there are, for example, 10% of such clients, this would mean that your business is highly dependent on a small number of clients. There is a certain danger in this. You may lose a significant part of your sales if one of these 10% does not buy the product from you again.
Conversely, if there are, for example, 40% of important clients, this means that your client base is “blurred”, you will not be able to focus on the most important of them. There won't be enough time and energy, and as a result, you will fail.
♦ Select the remaining category of clients - 80%. They only give you 20% of your sales and therefore have second priority for the job.
♦ Separately, make a list of clients who do not work with the company (indicating the reasons) in order to be able to analyze these reasons and eliminate them in the future.
♦ Check availability additional information: names of managers, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mails, company websites.
♦ You begin to work on the collected data, using the following rule:
- a) establish contacts with clients who do not work with your company, give them a presentation and make a deal;
- b) find new ones through existing and loyal clients, make a presentation and also carry out the buying and selling process.
- 2. Your employees, family, friends.
The larger the organization, the higher the number of people involved in working with a particular product. Conventionally, such people can be considered among the “first circle” of persons involved in the work of a particular company and product. In addition, each employee has family, relatives and friends. Quite naturally, he shares information with these people. They are members of the "second circle" of persons.
This information, in its absolute majority, is positive. The psychological aspect plays an important role here. A company employee tries to talk about his activities or the product he works with in a positive way, sometimes even embellishing reality. He understands that those around him thereby evaluate him as a person. Who doesn't want to have high grades? Show your high vocational training? The importance of your work for the company?
Next. Participants in the “second circle” carry information to the “third circle” - to their friends and family. In this way, a significant number of people accumulate who not only have positive information, but also pass it on from one to another. New people who are involved in such conditional “circles” can be useful carriers of information when searching for new customers, and sometimes they themselves act as consumers of a particular product.
Depending on the size of the company, the number of people involved can reach several thousand people. They all form an area of activity for the seller. You need to remember this and use it when searching for new clients.
3. Mass media.
The media are a valuable source of information for finding new clients. These include: Internet; TV; radio; newspapers; magazines; government statistics reports; reference books; industry and specialized publications; annual reports of companies on their work.
Using the principles of finding new clients, you can obtain the following necessary information from media sources:
♦ What companies operate in the industry?
♦ Who leads them and makes important decisions?
♦ What is the state of affairs in the companies?
♦ General strategy and tactics of work.
♦ The main product and range of the company.
♦ Number of employees.
♦ Addresses, phone numbers, websites.
These sources are open and accessible. In some cases, they must be paid for (for example, using the Internet, access to government statistics), but small costs for information will be repaid by the influx of new consumers, and therefore increased sales.
Intelligence specialists different countries admit that up to 80% necessary information they obtain from open media sources and only 20% from data obtained directly by intelligence means. Use this information.
Through the media, you can also receive up to 80% of information about new clients and then, using professional sales techniques, bring this work to the conclusion of a deal.
4. Direct contacts with clients.
Leading is your activity of finding new clients through direct contact with them. It can be carried out: at points of sale (shops, salons, offices, exhibition centers); trade shows, seminars, fairs; when sending by mail; telephone surveys; point-of-purchase surveys; home visits, etc., as well as the focus group method.
Focus group is a qualitative marketing research method; group of randomly selected representatives target audience. To conduct a focus group, volunteers are recruited (for a small fee) from among random people who meet the criteria of the target audience. Specialists various directions(marketers, psychologists, sociologists, etc.) conduct a series of conversations and experiments with them, collecting data on a variety of issues of interest to the customer (for example, a manufacturer of packaging for dairy products).
If we consider this example, the manufacturer will be interested in the answers of the focus group participants to the following questions: do they like the shape of the packaging; Do they find it convenient to use, store, and transport; does it seem hygienic and reliable enough to them, etc. Focus group participants are often asked hundreds of questions, many of which may relate to their consumer preferences and even behavioral patterns and personal lives.
The focus group method is used to conduct qualitative marketing research. It is based on a special form of in-depth interview, during which focus group participants, under the guidance of a facilitator (usually an experienced psychologist or marketer), exchange opinions about a particular product or service.
Goals of using the focus group method:
♦ Idea generation.
♦ Studying the consumer's colloquial vocabulary.
♦ Familiarization with consumer needs and their perception of the product.
♦ Better understanding of the results of the conducted marketing research.
♦ Study of consumer reaction to certain types of advertising.
♦ Problems that the focus group method solves:
- - determining the important qualities of the product for the consumer;
- - name development trademark, packaging and their testing;
- - identification of competing products and their analysis;
- - selection of the most effective advertising messages.
The focus group method is combined with other marketing research methods. The customer receives in-depth information about the characteristics of consumer behavior and can effectively use it in practical work.
I would especially like to note the sales locations. This is where the most important interaction with the client takes place: the potential buyer learns about the product, has the opportunity to get acquainted with it, find out all the conditions for purchasing this product, make his choice and make a purchase.
Recently, exhibitions and fairs have gained increased interest. They bring together a large number of interested companies in a variety of industries: from publishing to the forestry industry. As a rule, the top officials of the companies are there. Therefore, there is a real opportunity to negotiate cooperation and sign agreements right on the spot. And if we consider that such managers gather from all regions, then it is clear that this opportunity is multiplied by the number of people present from potential companies for work. The period of such events is the busiest working time for sellers.
What is important for a seller to find clients during exhibitions and fairs?
♦ Preparation for work: selection of experienced employees for work, a properly designed stand with product samples, a sufficient amount of necessary information on paper or electronic media, participants’ knowledge of their company and the product offered, product samples, booklets, business cards, questionnaires for new clients .
♦ Availability of a list of participating companies.
♦ Distribution of areas of responsibility for finding new clients: work at the stand, in the exhibition hall, by sector, by time.
♦ An active work plan to find new clients: the number of presentations required, the number of daily scheduled meetings, the number of signed contracts, samples issued, completed questionnaires.
♦ Recording and maintaining a new client’s profile.
♦ Participation in all events held at the exhibition to find new clients.
♦ Summing up the results of the exhibition and analyzing the questionnaires of new clients.
Great importance is also given to other methods of interaction with potential buyers. Focus groups and other methods of communication are important for obtaining information (the English term "Feedback" is often used). feedback) about the correct direction of the search.
It may be necessary to make adjustments to our efforts to find clients or redistribute our efforts in some other direction.
Use work methods such as searching for consumers through an active client base, through family, friends and acquaintances, through the media and through direct contact with potential consumers.
I decided to describe a real algorithm, without water, for those who just want to break through this damn ceiling and build an endless and stable flow of clients!!!
It’s your right to do or not to do, I won’t check, I’ll tell you what needs to be done and how, I’ll give a task for those who really want changes.
Moreover, I will not push you, motivate you or explain why you should do it this way and not otherwise. I only do this with my clients who pay me for it. Everything is your personal responsibility, I only give you the opportunity.
STEP #1: WHO IS MY CLIENT?
Theory:
Business is solving the needs/problems of people/companies for a fee.
And not when you have a product or service and you sell it to everyone, even those who don’t need it...
For example:
Incorrect option: women from 25-40, average income, etc.
Correct: Mother of a 1.5-3 year old child, who according to the law will not yet be given a ticket to a municipal kindergarten, there is not enough money in the family, she needs to help her husband, go to work part-time, and there is no one to leave the child with
Solution: Nursery or group for kids
2) Business: Beauty salon
Incorrect option: Women, 18-45 years old, average income
Correct: A lonely girl who goes to the sea and wants to look awesome, but is afraid that she will spend a lot of time on makeup or it will float.
Solution: Eyelash extensions, tattooing
3) Business: Interior design
Incorrect option: catering owners, businessmen
Correct option: A cafe owner who sells a franchise and does not have enough time to work on standardization and implementation of design according to the brand book for new partners
Solution: Support in design and finishing when opening new franchise points
Task No. 1:
The first task is to develop the skill of finding the real needs of your target audience, for this you need to talk with 10-20 of your clients (who have already bought from you) and find out under what life circumstances, what happened, that they encountered this problem and began to look for a solution.
Important! Verbatim, it is better to record the client’s direct speech, his slang, manner on a dictaphone and completely preserve all wording verbatim.
STEP #2 WHERE TO FIND MY CLIENT (WATERPOINT)
Now that we know who our customers really are, we can and must find where they are most concentrated. How did you previously make sales, launch advertising for women, St. Petersburg, 23-45 years old, well, some other characteristics and out of 1000 who saw your advertisement, 1-2 applications. As a result, I lost the budget, and these 2 applications disappeared completely... And why?
Hitting sparrows with a cannon is, of course, funny, but this is not our story, therefore, by understanding who our client is, we can more accurately determine where he is.
For example:
1) Business: Private kindergarten
The mother of a 1.5-3 year old child, who according to the law will not yet be given a ticket to a municipal kindergarten, there is not enough money in the family, she needs to help her husband, go to work part-time, but there is no one to leave the child with
Watering hole: VKontakte groups for earning money for mothers on maternity leave, interests of parents of children of a certain age, geolocation of a children's clinic, toy store, etc.
2) Business: Beauty salon
A lonely girl who goes to the sea and wants to look drop dead, but is afraid that she will spend a lot of time on makeup or it will float.
Watering hole: Women newly joining travel agency groups, travel agency geolocation
3) Business: Interior design
A cafe owner who sells a franchise and does not have enough time to work on standardization and implementation of design according to the brand book for new partners
Solution: Administrators of franchise sales groups, administrators of establishment communities, contacts on franchise sales sites, etc.
Task No. 2:
For each portrait (client problem), select 5-10 options for watering holes
STEP #3 HOW TO MAKE A CLIENT BUY?
Even if we correctly determine with you who our client is and where he hangs out and show advertising about our services there, this will not bring us much success.. The key in making a purchasing decision is TRUST.
The client’s trust that we will solve the issue, do it at an adequate price, on time and with high quality, we simply won’t let him down..
Example:
On the street, a guy approaches a girl and proposes marriage right away. The girl's reaction? Most likely not, there are exceptions, of course (I proposed to my wife in the first 2 hours of meeting), but they rather confirm the practice.
And even if we take my example, we met for another six months, talked, went on dates, had common events, got to know each other.. This is how a person is designed; to make a decision, he needs arguments on the basis of which he draws conclusions.. The more significant the decision (in our situation of purchasing our product/service immediately), the more arguments and time he needs...
Therefore, we need to reduce the significance of the decision for the client and make it comfortable, for example: Give him value in exchange for contact. The guy tells the girl that he is going to the cinema and invites her, if she is interested, they exchange phone numbers... After the movie, we can invite her to a restaurant, it will be easier for her to make a decision, and then propose;)
Thus, our task is to give a person an easy entry into communication with us, while the value from us should be higher than the discomfort from leaving the same request.
For example:
1) Business: Private kindergarten
Value in exchange for contact: Download a coupon for a free excursion to our kindergarten, for the 1st trial lesson in mental arithmetic, and the manual “10 ways to early develop a child’s personality for children aged 1-3 years from the best child psychologists in the world”
2) Business: Beauty salon
Value in exchange for contact: Download coupon for eyelash extensions. We make two, pay as for one.
3) Business: Interior design
Value in exchange for contact: We will develop a preliminary design layout for a cafe developing under a franchise for free
Task No. 3:
For each client portrait, create 5-10 value options in exchange for contact
STEP #4 GET YOUR FIRST CLIENTS
Now that we know who our customers really are, where they are, what we can offer them, our task is to convey to them our value and collect their contacts in return.
Thanks to our contacts, we can call them and help them get their first value. After which we can sell them anything, because they trust us.
But how to do this, here I will write a list of the top 8 most effective advertising channels:
- Targeted advertising on VK
- Targeted advertising on Facebook
- Targeted advertising on Instagram
- Targeted advertising Ok
- Yandex Direct, YAN
- Google Adwords, KMS
- Avito and sites free ads
- Email newsletter
Important! In order not to be scattered, start with one thing, select the first channel, launch it, look at the result, if everything is ok, launch another one and so on step by step..
Task No. 4:
I foresee questions:
I have a product/service, how can I attract customers to it?
It’s very simple, write in the comments what you sell (and what need your product or service solves) and I’ll tell you where to find your clients.
