We’ve been connecting businesses with the help of cold emails for more than 3 years at RightHello. During this time, we have learned that getting new leads and closing deals is all about personalized and target-centered communication.
Plunging into sales without knowing your target customer properly is a huge risk. It can result in getting no deals, or not getting the best ones – i.e., the deals with customers who shouldn’t buy your product (and probably won’t buy it again).
Not knowing your target customer means that you’ll be wasting the time of people who you have no idea of how to sell to. But, you’ll also be wasting your own time and that’s a huge hit to your overall sales strategy where every minute counts.
Besides, you might miss out on opportunities for great sales just because you had no idea of who else might be interested in your offer. Think, for example, about sand producers who are so focused on finding clients within construction companies that they totally ignore a goldmine niche – man-made beaches (or actually hotels and other companies interested in their creation).
Here are 5 tips to help you learn more about your target customer and thus – convert leads into sales more effectively.
1. Who are your customers?
Make sure to learn this! Your first step is creating a customer profile. Here are some questions you should ask when researching your target customer:
- What type of companies will benefit most from your product?
- What is their business model?
- To which sectors or industries do they belong?
- What kind of ecosystem are they part of?
- How big are these companies?
- Where are they located?
- What tools or technologies are they using or have used in the past?
Knowing all of this helps to set initial search criteria for finding concrete (and right!) companies to target.
2. Define what connects you to your target customer
Here’s how. Remember that you’re selling to people, not companies. That’s right, even in B2B. Your next step is to define what are the needs, problems, goals, challenges, and pain points of these people. How else will you know whether your product or service could help them and their businesses? When doing your homework, be sure to check out:
- How do your target customers solve their problems?
- What kind of tools are they using?
- Are they satisfied with these solutions?
- Can your solution help them solve their problem/reach their goals?
- Is your solution more attractive than their current one?
At this point, you’ll know how to approach your target customers, how to attract their attention, and how to persuade them to continue the conversation. This is necessary in order to successfully convert your prospects into your leads.
3. How will you get in touch with your leads?
If you want to close more deals (and who doesn’t?), you need to treat leads coming from different sources differently.
For example, potential clients who come to you via referrals are like your friends. If you do your best in helping them, they’re bound to spread the word about you to their buddies. Since you’ve been recommended to them by somebody they trust, by default it’s easier to convince them to buy from you. But, don’t think the deal is in your pocket – put some effort into proving to then that the recommendation was right and that you’re really worth working with.
When it comes to leads that come through inbound channels – get in touch with them as soon as you can. If they found you, it means they are close to make their final decision. Be the first one to reach them back and convince that you’re the right choice. When dealing with them you can start pitching right away. No need for long intros – they’ve read about you and know what you’re doing.
When dealing with leads that you get via outbound channels – it’s the opposite. You need to focus on building the relationship first with them. Try not to be pushy with your offer in the beginning. Make sure they are ready to listen to you. Then show them client testimonials, case studies, and reviews. Building trust is your top priority here.
4. Check out your competition
To understand the needs of your target customers, ask prospects about the vendors they’ve worked with previously, or do research by yourself. That’s how you’ll get a better idea about the requirements and preferences of your target customers.
But that’s not everything. You’ll also get invaluable knowledge about how your offer compares to your competitors. This way you learn your competitive advantage. Use it in your pitch to make it more convincing.
5. Pay attention to these red flags
When dealing with prospects, you should pay close attention to how they respond to your offer. If they’re reluctant and don’t give you a definite answer, you might spend a lot of time and in the end get “no”. Don’t let it happen. Try to be direct and clarify the source of their reluctance.
Does it mean ‘yes’ or ‘no’? Maybe it’s simply ‘not now’? BANT technique helps a lot here. You can read more about it in one of our blog posts. It stands for Budget, Authority, Need, Timeframe. By gathering data through this BANT technique you can figure out what’s the real reason of your lead’s reluctance and plan your further actions accordingly.
Key Takeaways
- Create your customer profile – find concrete companies that match your criteria
- Define what connects you to your target customer – use it to attract their attention and start a conversation
- Keep in mind how you get in touch with your leads – use this info to approach them differently
- Learn your competitive advantage – become even more persuasive
- Use BANT to qualify leads – stop wasting your time, focus on high value opportunities
Piotr Zaniewicz
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- 5 Things You Should Know About Your Target Customer to Close Deals Successfully - December 28, 2016