How to target customers

Talking with several of my customers, I’ve noticed a trend. Many don’t know where to start when growing their sales pipeline. To fix this pain point, I’ve created the, Grow Your Sales Pipeline Series, which will help the entrepreneur, marketing and sales director (or associate) who is looking for different ways to fill up their sales pipeline.

How to target customers
How to reach out to them
How to not sell them
How to land them

First. Setting up a realistic goal is needed. Don’t worry about down the road-big picture, worry about the actionable and what you can grow immediately. To make things easy, nothing more than one week from today will be your basis. So, if you can’t become an Olympic athlete in a week, don’t make that a goal.

Three years ago, I was looking for ways to grow the agency, I was working with. I was as green as could be but was willing to work and test whatever I needed to, I was looking for a trigger point or something that enthused others.

I was reading article after article, and several books. I came across Get Clients Now, and this was my trigger. The author talks about ways to create a community through your business when you do not have one. The idea I had was through events.

Going to a few Chamber workshops, I was realized I was trying to make a sale when no one else was looking to be sold anything. You can’t be that guy (or girl) who everyone looks at during an event and knows you are the business card fool, who does whatever they can to grab your card, even though you know you will never buy anything from them. Instead, you are nice and give them your card and they hound you worse than a Sallie Mae trying to refinance your student loans.

If I wanted to grow my sales pipeline, I was going to find the right customer.

What you are selling isn’t your product, service, company, etc. it’s that you are an authority in this field. You are looking to make friends while creating a network of the top business people in your community and medium.

Guess what, I wasn’t. I didn’t even really understand what I was selling. Websites and custom development, but in Norfolk, the game was RFPs. There had to be a different way.

Your goal is to always funnel those you meet through. In this case, an event at our office was lead generation.

Events bring several positives

1. Prospects to your office
2. Authority status
3. Aggressive pipeline leads
4. Room for growth

Whether you are interested in events or not, don’t count them out. And don’t worry if you don’t know how to start one. Well, go over that through this series.

Goal. To find companies that needed custom development work.

Problem. We were an unknown, new company. Zero authority status. Potential customers didn’t know what they needed and were put through the RFP battle, instead of being able to speak with them in person.

Solution. Bring together business owners, exclusive content + curated guest list.

Topics. The growth of companies, Peer to peer mentoring with those who had been there before, Create the I have to be there club.

Achievement. Immediately become authority status. Solid sales pipeline.

Targeting customers. This is easily the hardest piece. Where do you find those prospects?

1. Exclusive invite group
2. Find a cheerleader
3. Create email invite.
Ask to join + bring a friend, but give specifics on who can attend.
4. Amazing content + your event can’t suck

Create a spreadsheet and google search location + industry. What industry do you want to work with or have worked with in the past?

Take an inventory of your business cards, once you have decided what industry you are looking divide your business cards into piles of industries. Then set aside the ones you are not interested in and create three piles; likely, not-likely and not sure.

Other. You don’t have to have an in-person event. Instead create a Webinar and include the same type of people.

Make it as easy as possible for someone to say yes. Be different. The chamber was not our target. Dig deep. Ask