How Can I Find Clients and Prospects Use An Effective List
How Can I Find Clients and Prospects Use An Effective List
With that list, there is much you can do. You can make cold calls. You can send personalized e-mail messages. You can do a mailing of your brochure or promotional package. Or, you can do all of the above. In other words, you can use that list for a campaign.
Where do these lists come from?
There are many resources for a list of prospects, especially if you don’t need thousands of prospects. But the most effective list is generally one you create yourself, based on the criteria you’ve chosen, such as the size of the company, possible revenue or the number of employees. Although it requires a bit more work on your part, compiling and collecting names for your own list will make for a much more effective and profitable list.
Be wary of someone selling “prospect lists” because although they sound good and are often very inexpensive, the people on the list may be someone’s prospects, but they usually are not yours.
You probably have access to lists that you may not be aware of, so look first to your own resources, which may include:
· Industry and trade group directories. Almost every trade group publishes a directory, either online or printed. As a member of a group, one of the benefits you get is access to (and inclusion in) the member directory. (Some groups make their directories available for a fee, so you don’t even have to join.) You may not realize it, but this is one of the most valuable resources and best reasons to join a group. Directories are invaluable because they pre-qualify your prospects and give you the name of someone to start with, which saves your valuable time. Calling a company and trying to find the person who hires or buys the services you’re offering is very time-consuming.
· Attendee lists to industry events. Often, a list of attendees will be published and distributed to attendees of an industry event or conference—it’s one of the perks of attending. This is another invaluable resource that you should do more than just glance at to see who’s in attendance. Make this list your bible. At the event, use it to find the people you want to talk to. Get familiar with the names. Mark it up. Write notes to yourself about who you met, as well as who you didn’t meet but can follow up with later. Then, when you get home, use that list. Make cold calls using the conference as your connection. If you didn’t meet them, your opening line when you call or e-mail could be, “We both attended the AMA meeting last night but we didn’t have a chance to meet, so I thought I’d call and see what I can find out a bit about what you do.” That connection usually makes them open to listening or reading further. (There is usually a caveat not to use the list for “mass marketing,” but you can use it to make contact with people.)
· Resource lists published in trade publications. Many trade publications offer (usually around year-end) annual lists of the top players in a particular industry, complete with contact information and details about the products and services offered by the company. This is not only a great source of prospects, but also a good overview of an industry that you may be considering getting into.
BHD: Should I rent a list?
Any list broker can rent you any of the more than 30,000 commercially available lists. But renting a list won’t necessarily make your marketing profitable. The minimums are high (generally 5,000), and you just don’t need that many names to work with.
There are lists available specifically for businesses targeting marketing communications prospects. These lists are best if you’re willing to pay for someone else to provide the names and contact information for prospects because it saves you a lot of time. Start small, with 100 or 250 good prospects, to get your marketing going.
Many designers buy or subscribe to these lists but don’t get the most out of them. They may do one mailing, get very little return and proclaim the list worthless. It’s not the list’s fault; it’s the designer’s. The list is just one spoke on the marketing wheel. Use the list to develop relationships with these prospects, communicate with them consistently over time and your efforts will be successful.
You’ve no doubt received e-mail messages offering e-mail lists with millions of names. Well, don’t do it, ever. Not only is using these lists considered spamming, but these lists are not qualified for your purposes. The chances that your prospects are on them are one in a million—not great odds.
How to Build Your Dream List
How much would you pay for a list of people who need your services—and know it—and who are so close to being ready to buy that they’ve already made the effort to contact you? Wouldn’t that be worth a lot of money? Maybe even invaluable?
The best list for you is the list of people with whom you have already begun the process of building a relationship. Don’t underestimate its value for a minute, even if the list is small. These people already know you, and may even trust you (at least more than those on the mailing list you’re thinking of renting), which means that the amount of time it will take to make the sale is shorter.
There are two strategies for building your dream list: First, you choose your prospects by compiling names from e-mail messages lingering in your inbox, old invoices, business cards, attendee lists from networking meetings and little bits of paper strewn about your office (you know the ones). The names you want to capture are quite simply those of everyone who’s ever expressed interest in your work.
While you’re building that list, also be using marketing tools that motivate qualified leads to raise their hands and ask you to market to them—tools like e-mail newsletters, publicity and press coverage, a toll-free number and offers of free info.
How Can I Find Clients and Prospects Use An Effective List - To learn more about this author, visit Ilise Benun's Website.
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It may seem obvious, but when you introduce yourself to a new market, the most important tool at your disposal is a list of your prospects. Without that list, there’s very little you can do.
With that list, there is much you can do. You can make cold calls. You can send personalized e-mail messages. You can do a mailing of your brochure or promotional package. Or, you can do all of the above. In other words, you can use that list for a campaign.
Where do these lists come from?
There are many resources for a list of prospects, especially if you don’t need thousands of prospects. But the most effective list is generally one you create yourself, based on the criteria you’ve chosen, such as the size of the company, possible revenue or the number of employees. Although it requires a bit more work on your part, compiling and collecting names for your own list will make for a much more effective and profitable list.
Be wary of someone selling “prospect lists” because although they sound good and are often very inexpensive, the people on the list may be someone’s prospects, but they usually are not yours.
You probably have access to lists that you may not be aware of, so look first to your own resources, which may include:
· Industry and trade group directories. Almost every trade group publishes a directory, either online or printed. As a member of a group, one of the benefits you get is access to (and inclusion in) the member directory. (Some groups make their directories available for a fee, so you don’t even have to join.) You may not realize it, but this is one of the most valuable resources and best reasons to join a group. Directories are invaluable because they pre-qualify your prospects and give you the name of someone to start with, which saves your valuable time. Calling a company and trying to find the person who hires or buys the services you’re offering is very time-consuming.
· Attendee lists to industry events. Often, a list of attendees will be published and distributed to attendees of an industry event or conference—it’s one of the perks of attending. This is another invaluable resource that you should do more than just glance at to see who’s in attendance. Make this list your bible. At the event, use it to find the people you want to talk to. Get familiar with the names. Mark it up. Write notes to yourself about who you met, as well as who you didn’t meet but can follow up with later. Then, when you get home, use that list. Make cold calls using the conference as your connection. If you didn’t meet them, your opening line when you call or e-mail could be, “We both attended the AMA meeting last night but we didn’t have a chance to meet, so I thought I’d call and see what I can find out a bit about what you do.” That connection usually makes them open to listening or reading further. (There is usually a caveat not to use the list for “mass marketing,” but you can use it to make contact with people.)
· Resource lists published in trade publications. Many trade publications offer (usually around year-end) annual lists of the top players in a particular industry, complete with contact information and details about the products and services offered by the company. This is not only a great source of prospects, but also a good overview of an industry that you may be considering getting into.
BHD: Should I rent a list?
Any list broker can rent you any of the more than 30,000 commercially available lists. But renting a list won’t necessarily make your marketing profitable. The minimums are high (generally 5,000), and you just don’t need that many names to work with.
There are lists available specifically for businesses targeting marketing communications prospects. These lists are best if you’re willing to pay for someone else to provide the names and contact information for prospects because it saves you a lot of time. Start small, with 100 or 250 good prospects, to get your marketing going.
Many designers buy or subscribe to these lists but don’t get the most out of them. They may do one mailing, get very little return and proclaim the list worthless. It’s not the list’s fault; it’s the designer’s. The list is just one spoke on the marketing wheel. Use the list to develop relationships with these prospects, communicate with them consistently over time and your efforts will be successful.
You’ve no doubt received e-mail messages offering e-mail lists with millions of names. Well, don’t do it, ever. Not only is using these lists considered spamming, but these lists are not qualified for your purposes. The chances that your prospects are on them are one in a million—not great odds.
How to Build Your Dream List
How much would you pay for a list of people who need your services—and know it—and who are so close to being ready to buy that they’ve already made the effort to contact you? Wouldn’t that be worth a lot of money? Maybe even invaluable?
The best list for you is the list of people with whom you have already begun the process of building a relationship. Don’t underestimate its value for a minute, even if the list is small. These people already know you, and may even trust you (at least more than those on the mailing list you’re thinking of renting), which means that the amount of time it will take to make the sale is shorter.
There are two strategies for building your dream list: First, you choose your prospects by compiling names from e-mail messages lingering in your inbox, old invoices, business cards, attendee lists from networking meetings and little bits of paper strewn about your office (you know the ones). The names you want to capture are quite simply those of everyone who’s ever expressed interest in your work.
While you’re building that list, also be using marketing tools that motivate qualified leads to raise their hands and ask you to market to them—tools like e-mail newsletters, publicity and press coverage, a toll-free number and offers of free info.
How Can I Find Clients and Prospects Use An Effective List - To learn more about this author, visit Ilise Benun'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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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig'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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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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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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