Customer Profiles for New Business
Customer Profiles for New Business
Use of ‘Pareto Thinking’ is highly relevant and important when applied to sales people. For example, 20% of sales people’s activities will create 80% of sales achieved, which has enormous consequences on how to optimise and manage lead generation activities.
Generating leads is an important sales activity that plants the seeds of growth for sustainable business development. A lead is purely a name that you could refer to as a SUSPECT because their potential to buy is unknown. Before you can qualify leads to determine whether they have the money, authority and desire to buy your products/services you need to generate them! When deciding upon which lead generation methods work best for you and your organisation, it helps to have clarity on the type of customers that you’d like to attract. This means creating an Ideal Customer Profile that can begin to provide direction to your lead generation activities.
The following questions will stimulate your thinking when it comes to developing an Ideal Customer Profile:
● What size of organisation would you prefer to deal with?
● Typically, how many people will they employ?
● What market sector(s) do these organisations operate within?
● Who specifically will be buying your products/services and what are their titles?
● Where geographically would you like these organisations to be located?
● What does your organisation offer that is unique?
● What types of organisations will be attracted by this uniqueness?
● What do your best customers possess that you would like to replicate in others?
● Which of your existing customers were the easiest and quickest to convert?
● What similarities do these customers possess?
● Are there any specific criteria that prospective organisations should have in place, so that your products/services can be optimised?
Having a well-defined profile of your ‘ideal customer’ can prove to be invaluable when determining which methods to use for lead generation, and improves the effectiveness of marketing initiatives. You may also discover that the process for asking for referrals becomes easier and generates a better response, because you are providing the person with a tighter specification of what you are looking for - this concentrates their thinking towards the direction you have defined.
There are so many sources of leads that the process of generating leads can sometimes cause sales people to feel overwhelmed when tackling this vital sales activity. Every organisation is unique and can employ a variety of approaches in their quest to attract the attention of their target market. (This will become even clearer once you have created your Ideal Customer Profile). That’s why it can be extremely useful to invest some time analysing which lead generation initiatives worked well in the past, why they worked well and what improvements can be made to optimise their effectiveness. There are 3 areas that you may want to consider that can help evaluate different
lead generation initiatives with greater objectively:
1. Effectiveness – which lead generation activities produced the most quality leads?
2. Cost – what were the tangible costs for each lead generation initiative?
3. Time – how much time did it take to initiate and follow-up on each initiative?
1. Effectiveness
● What number of leads were generated?
● How many of these leads became qualified prospects?
● What business was generated from these leads?
● What is the projected probability of business generated from these leads for the next 12 months?
2. Cost
● How much did this lead generation initiative cost?
● Using the number of actual leads generated, what was the cost per lead?
● What profit contribution was made from leads generated over a 12 month period? (Gross margin from sales, minus the cost of the initiative.)
3. Time
● How much time did salespeople invest in following up on these leads?
● How much time did they spend on leads that did not become qualified prospects?
● What was the cost of salespeople’s time spent on this lead generation initiative?
Whatever lead generation initiatives your organisation chooses to implement,
Sales people can leverage these opportunities if they are able to provide timely follow up within 5 working days from receiving each lead because people’s interest cools off after time and many will forget that they even registered their details with your organisation.
Results from direct marketing can be transformed by combing this approach with a phone-based strategy. If your sales team are currently sending out letters and literature to generate leads, this approach can be much more effective if the letter/literature is followed up with a phone call within 3 days
Customer Profiles for New Business - To learn more about this author, visit Nikki Owen's Website.
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This predictable imbalance has been expanded and applied extensively since it’s creation, and while the figures may not be exactly 80% and 20%, the notion that most of the results come from a minority of activities can help increase the ability to separate the essential from the non-essential.
Use of ‘Pareto Thinking’ is highly relevant and important when applied to sales people. For example, 20% of sales people’s activities will create 80% of sales achieved, which has enormous consequences on how to optimise and manage lead generation activities.
Generating leads is an important sales activity that plants the seeds of growth for sustainable business development. A lead is purely a name that you could refer to as a SUSPECT because their potential to buy is unknown. Before you can qualify leads to determine whether they have the money, authority and desire to buy your products/services you need to generate them! When deciding upon which lead generation methods work best for you and your organisation, it helps to have clarity on the type of customers that you’d like to attract. This means creating an Ideal Customer Profile that can begin to provide direction to your lead generation activities.
The following questions will stimulate your thinking when it comes to developing an Ideal Customer Profile:
● What size of organisation would you prefer to deal with?
● Typically, how many people will they employ?
● What market sector(s) do these organisations operate within?
● Who specifically will be buying your products/services and what are their titles?
● Where geographically would you like these organisations to be located?
● What does your organisation offer that is unique?
● What types of organisations will be attracted by this uniqueness?
● What do your best customers possess that you would like to replicate in others?
● Which of your existing customers were the easiest and quickest to convert?
● What similarities do these customers possess?
● Are there any specific criteria that prospective organisations should have in place, so that your products/services can be optimised?
Having a well-defined profile of your ‘ideal customer’ can prove to be invaluable when determining which methods to use for lead generation, and improves the effectiveness of marketing initiatives. You may also discover that the process for asking for referrals becomes easier and generates a better response, because you are providing the person with a tighter specification of what you are looking for - this concentrates their thinking towards the direction you have defined.
There are so many sources of leads that the process of generating leads can sometimes cause sales people to feel overwhelmed when tackling this vital sales activity. Every organisation is unique and can employ a variety of approaches in their quest to attract the attention of their target market. (This will become even clearer once you have created your Ideal Customer Profile). That’s why it can be extremely useful to invest some time analysing which lead generation initiatives worked well in the past, why they worked well and what improvements can be made to optimise their effectiveness. There are 3 areas that you may want to consider that can help evaluate different
lead generation initiatives with greater objectively:
1. Effectiveness – which lead generation activities produced the most quality leads?
2. Cost – what were the tangible costs for each lead generation initiative?
3. Time – how much time did it take to initiate and follow-up on each initiative?
1. Effectiveness
● What number of leads were generated?
● How many of these leads became qualified prospects?
● What business was generated from these leads?
● What is the projected probability of business generated from these leads for the next 12 months?
2. Cost
● How much did this lead generation initiative cost?
● Using the number of actual leads generated, what was the cost per lead?
● What profit contribution was made from leads generated over a 12 month period? (Gross margin from sales, minus the cost of the initiative.)
3. Time
● How much time did salespeople invest in following up on these leads?
● How much time did they spend on leads that did not become qualified prospects?
● What was the cost of salespeople’s time spent on this lead generation initiative?
Whatever lead generation initiatives your organisation chooses to implement,
Sales people can leverage these opportunities if they are able to provide timely follow up within 5 working days from receiving each lead because people’s interest cools off after time and many will forget that they even registered their details with your organisation.
Results from direct marketing can be transformed by combing this approach with a phone-based strategy. If your sales team are currently sending out letters and literature to generate leads, this approach can be much more effective if the letter/literature is followed up with a phone call within 3 days
Customer Profiles for New Business - To learn more about this author, visit Nikki Owen's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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