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Strategic Guidance to Build Your Business
Volume 1, Issue 2, November 2006

"The Business Builder" is brought to you by VSA, Inc. in collaboration with Rink Consulting. VSA, Inc., founded by Valerie Schlitt, builds and implements B2B prospecting programs for businesses and professional service firms. VSA has a team of professional telephone callers who open doors to new business opportunities for VSA clients. Linda Rink, president of Rink Consulting, specializes in B2B and consumer marketing and research. Both Wharton MBA graduates, Valerie and Linda often team together to help clients identify and reach new customers. In this newsletter, they share some of their business development insights.

Prospect List Predicts Success
by Valerie Schlitt, President of VSA, Inc.
Valerie Schlitt


Do you know what the biggest predictor of success for your prospecting program is?


YOUR PROSPECT LIST!

Sales courses and sales writing – they’re of vital importance. But, if you cannot reach the right decision-maker, then these other tools are almost wasted efforts – and money.

Here are two case studies – where the list made all the difference between success and failure.

Client A is an established, successful firm who really knows its market.

The executives know that the best prospects for them are manufacturing firms primarily with male employees of a certain age group. They know the range of employee size, and the decision maker’s title.

In the past year, this client has come to VSA several times. At the client’s request, VSA ordered prospect lists that fit the exact criteria our client wanted – not an entirely quick task, but one well-worth the effort. This kind of list can be ordered at virtually any list broker, but requires asking the right questions and scrutinizing the list delivered by the vendor.

Then, the VSA calling team began dialing for Client A.

  • We spoke to a real human being at nearly each prospect firm - a rarity in today's world of voicemail!
  • Our rate of appointment-generation was excellent.

Our client visited prospects and made multiple sales, generating a significant return on investment.

Client B is a start-up firm, with no track record.

This client had previously hired a west coast firm, who didn’t quite understand the market, to help them build a custom-list of prospects. This list was comprised of businesses with recent property damage because our client wanted to finance the repairs. The list included the apparent decision- makers’ names, telephone numbers, and addresses. What more could we ask for?

The VSA team began dialing for Client B.

  • We soon discovered something very interesting.
  • Because of the property damage, most telephone numbers were disconnected, and few had forwarded numbers.
  • When we found a forwarded number, often it was for the former business owner, and not to the property owner.
  • It turns out the property owner, who was responsible for repairs, was the real decision-maker, not the business owner whom we had dialed.

We made no qualified appointments for Client B.

VSA caller skillsets were identical for both calling efforts. But Client A gained a financial profit. Client B lost a financial investment.

The only difference was the quality of the list.

In the rush to acquire new clients, don’t also rush through the critical step of creating a prospecting list that will enable you to deliver your message to the right prospects.

Who Are Your Best Prospects?
by Linda Rink, President of RINK Consulting
Linda Rink Photo


One of the biggest marketing mistakes that people can make is failing to define their target prospects. Why is this important?

As a marketer or business owner, you may think you know who your best prospects are – after all, it’s your business! But before you spend advertising or promotion money, doesn’t it make sense to validate your “gut” instincts?

  • Not only will you potentially save time and money, you will boost the success of your marketing campaign.
  • And you may uncover some new targets that you hadn't thought of before.
Eight Ways to Find Out!
But just how do you go about defining your target prospects? There are many approaches; I’ve listed eight areas to consider:

1. Who are your current customers?
Or better yet, who are your most valuable current customers – the ones you’d like to clone? What do they have in common? Why are they buying from you? (Hint: apply the 80/20 rule – which customers contribute to 80% of your profits?)

2. Who is your ideal customer?
If you are just starting out (or even if you’re established), try to imagine who your ideal customer is – you know, the one you had in mind when you first developed your product / service / business.

3. Think about your company and its capabilities.
Are there geographic limitations to the area that you can serve? Do you have production, inventory, or service constraints which impact the size or type of customer you can handle?

4. Take a look at your competition.
What kinds of customers do they have? Would you like to have similar customers?

5. Be knowledgeable about your industry.
What’s driving it? New technology? Are there demographic or geographic shifts in the customer base? Where are new customers likely to come from? Then try to define the characteristics of these new customers.

6. Look into the future.
Where do you see your company five years from now? Would you still like to be dealing with the same types of customers as today? If not, how do you intend to evolve? Perhaps it’s time to try marketing to someone with a different profile.

7. Go beyond demographics.
Keep in mind that defining your target – whether it’s companies or consumers – can go beyond the usual demographics.
  • In consumer marketing, lifestyle attributes can be a very important part of the target definition. Hobbies, interests, purchase behavior, style sense, political leanings - these can add dimension to demographics.
  • But even in the B2B arena, companies can be defined in ways other than size and industry. A company's philosophy or mission, history, image, who their customers are - factors such as these often determine your most likely prospects.
8. Do some research.
If you are still unsure of your audience, consider doing some market research.
  • You can “test drive” your marketing effort with one or more target groups to measure results before launching the entire campaign. Direct mail is an especially effective testing vehicle to see if one group is more receptive to your message than another.
  • Other ways to research include surveys, interviews and focus groups.
Once you’ve nailed your target prospect, the rest of the marketing plan should fall into place!


RINK Consulting
1420 Locust Street, Suite 31N
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215-546-5863
lrink@lindarink.com
www.lindarink.com