Your Ideal Client Profile & Ways to Best Reach & Connect with Them
Your Ideal Client Profile & Ways to Best Reach & Connect with Them
Honestly, she did a beautiful job with this full-color piece. There were just a few problems that I had to explain in my Reality Check consult.
First: The biggest was that her mailing list consisted of 5,000 who had never heard of her before and who she didn’t even a luke-warm relationship with any one of them herself. This is an enormous issue to overcome, given that people make buying decisions based on people they know, like and trust. It was too little information given to create that kind of bond between a supplier/vendor and a potential corporate buyer.
Remember, you’re only as good as your list of contacts and it’s never about quantity, it’s about quality. A database of 5,000 unknown prospects is almost useless. You’d need to commit to multiple mailings to each of them in order for them to begin to understand – in a small way – what you do and what you have to offer them.
Second: It’s impossible in my experience to follow-up (yes, you have to follow-up, otherwise you should save your time and money and not send out a darn thing!) with this many people. Isn’t it far more cost- and time-efficient to limit your number of prospects to a number that’s manageable – say 100 – 150. Commit to targeting 25 at a time with a series of letters, direct mail and content-rich information that they can use. This helps to position you as a valued and trusted resource, who they would want to seek out to do business with.
It takes time to solidify trust in any relationship, but especially between professional strangers. Start with a realistic number of prospects, identify a plan to connect with them at least four times before you ever pick up the phone to follow-up. You may be surprised and they may actually call you before you have a chance to make the follow-up call.
Third: I’d venture to guess that the viable list of prospects is far fewer than 5000. Let’s be real. The world should not be your oyster when considering qualified prospects and ideal client profiles. My total list of potential buyers (Fortune 500 Companies who hire me to address their small business and solo-preneur customer base) is less than 150 companies. That’s it. I also never send a drip campaign (I’ll explain that below) to more than 25 ideal client prospects at a time – for one reason. I’d never be able to follow-up with them, the way I should with pleasant persistence.
How do I make the determination of who an ideal client is: review industry trade publications, conference programs, small business magazines, etc., to see what companies have put their money where there mouths are and are actively seeking out small and solo-preneur customers. That’s my list. These are companies that I can get excited about working with to deliver my message to their ideal customer and prospect base. It’s a no-brainer. I get to work with their customers and get well-compensated by them to do so. It’s a win-win-win all around.
Fourth: Sending out only one mailing and expecting your phone to ring is unrealistic and naïve – at best. Utilizing a Drip Campaign, of sending information-rich content to your prospects as a way to endear yourself to them and let them know that you’re interested in building a relationship based on trust, integrity and service. This approach goes a long way in hastening a solid business relationship (perhaps a personal one as well – given that we don’t get married on the first date – typically, unless you’re caught up in the moment in Vegas).
Remember the advertising rule of thumb – it takes at least six impressions on the minds of your prospects before they make the connection between who you are and what you’re selling! Hang in there and take a slow and steady approach to building rapport with your prospects. It will pay back dividends.
Fifth: Have a plan to communicate with your prospects prior to spending large wads of cash on full-color direct mail pieces, web sites, etc. I lay out a direct mail campaign and delegate the mailings to a virtual support staff and five weeks later, before I’m even starting my follow-up calls – my phone is ringing! Go figure, but it works ever time.
Your Ideal Client Profile Ways to Best Reach Connect with Them - To learn more about this author, visit Nancy Michaels's Website.
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I recently had a conversation with a VIP Coaching Client and she was extremely disappointed that her full-color 5000 piece mailing sent to complete strangers didn’t get a response – not ONE response.
Honestly, she did a beautiful job with this full-color piece. There were just a few problems that I had to explain in my Reality Check consult.
First: The biggest was that her mailing list consisted of 5,000 who had never heard of her before and who she didn’t even a luke-warm relationship with any one of them herself. This is an enormous issue to overcome, given that people make buying decisions based on people they know, like and trust. It was too little information given to create that kind of bond between a supplier/vendor and a potential corporate buyer.
Remember, you’re only as good as your list of contacts and it’s never about quantity, it’s about quality. A database of 5,000 unknown prospects is almost useless. You’d need to commit to multiple mailings to each of them in order for them to begin to understand – in a small way – what you do and what you have to offer them.
Second: It’s impossible in my experience to follow-up (yes, you have to follow-up, otherwise you should save your time and money and not send out a darn thing!) with this many people. Isn’t it far more cost- and time-efficient to limit your number of prospects to a number that’s manageable – say 100 – 150. Commit to targeting 25 at a time with a series of letters, direct mail and content-rich information that they can use. This helps to position you as a valued and trusted resource, who they would want to seek out to do business with.
It takes time to solidify trust in any relationship, but especially between professional strangers. Start with a realistic number of prospects, identify a plan to connect with them at least four times before you ever pick up the phone to follow-up. You may be surprised and they may actually call you before you have a chance to make the follow-up call.
Third: I’d venture to guess that the viable list of prospects is far fewer than 5000. Let’s be real. The world should not be your oyster when considering qualified prospects and ideal client profiles. My total list of potential buyers (Fortune 500 Companies who hire me to address their small business and solo-preneur customer base) is less than 150 companies. That’s it. I also never send a drip campaign (I’ll explain that below) to more than 25 ideal client prospects at a time – for one reason. I’d never be able to follow-up with them, the way I should with pleasant persistence.
How do I make the determination of who an ideal client is: review industry trade publications, conference programs, small business magazines, etc., to see what companies have put their money where there mouths are and are actively seeking out small and solo-preneur customers. That’s my list. These are companies that I can get excited about working with to deliver my message to their ideal customer and prospect base. It’s a no-brainer. I get to work with their customers and get well-compensated by them to do so. It’s a win-win-win all around.
Fourth: Sending out only one mailing and expecting your phone to ring is unrealistic and naïve – at best. Utilizing a Drip Campaign, of sending information-rich content to your prospects as a way to endear yourself to them and let them know that you’re interested in building a relationship based on trust, integrity and service. This approach goes a long way in hastening a solid business relationship (perhaps a personal one as well – given that we don’t get married on the first date – typically, unless you’re caught up in the moment in Vegas).
Remember the advertising rule of thumb – it takes at least six impressions on the minds of your prospects before they make the connection between who you are and what you’re selling! Hang in there and take a slow and steady approach to building rapport with your prospects. It will pay back dividends.
Fifth: Have a plan to communicate with your prospects prior to spending large wads of cash on full-color direct mail pieces, web sites, etc. I lay out a direct mail campaign and delegate the mailings to a virtual support staff and five weeks later, before I’m even starting my follow-up calls – my phone is ringing! Go figure, but it works ever time.
Your Ideal Client Profile Ways to Best Reach Connect with Them - To learn more about this author, visit Nancy Michaels's Website.
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager'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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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton'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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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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