How to look for new customers for a sales manager? This question often arises for both beginners and experienced managers who are developing a new region or territory.
Potential customer portrait
Before proceeding with the search for customers, it is necessary to make a portrait of partners interesting for business. Assess the most promising sectors, identify market leaders by region and country, study the market situation, identify weaknesses. This preparatory work helps answer the following questions:
- Who are the customers?
- Where to find customers for a sales manager geographically?
- What is the situation in the industry as a whole?
- What interests the client?
- How does he today solve those problems whose solutions are proposed to be proposed?
- Which companies are competing suppliers?
Having collected all the necessary information, you can make a portrait of a potential customer who needs or may be interested in a product / service that a sales manager represents in the market.
After the portrait of the customer is determined, you can proceed directly to the search for the answer to the question of how to look for customers to the sales manager.
Customers Similar to Existing
The simplest method to understand how to look for potential customers for a sales manager is to review the existing customer base, study the history of interaction and successful sales, the volume and characteristics of the offer. Based on these data, you can find companies that are similar in industry, volume and potential procurement, and get in touch with the proposal based on successful experience of the projects. This makes it possible to conclude quick transactions and increase customer base.
Recommendations
The second successful and effective way to search for new customers is to receive recommendations from existing customers with whom relationships are established and communication is built.
There are several ways to find a sales manager using customer recommendations:
Letter. A letter to the client asking them to recommend those who may be interested in the company's product, citing the fact that this is important for expanding the business. This is an opportunity to strengthen relationships with an existing customer and find new sales channels.
Personal meeting. You can ask for recommendations and contacts of potential customers who need or, perhaps, the proposed solution will be useful, at a personal meeting with regular customers. People love to give advice and help while feeling like experts. With the right approach, this method can be very effective.
Phone call. Having asked an existing client about a preliminary call to a potential partner of interest, with a high degree of probability you can count on a meeting and a subsequent sale. The call of the recommender increases the credit of trust and becomes a good springboard for successful communication.
Visiting exhibitions and thematic events
An effective way to find customers is to visit industry exhibitions and thematic events. How to look for clients the sales manager at exhibitions and public events? The goal may be to get to know the company, establish personal contact with employees of the organization of interest, and arrange an in-person meeting. It is very important to analyze the information received and work out possible “warm” contacts as soon as possible, in hot pursuit. A letter should be written to reinforce the acquaintance.In the letter, it is worth recalling the place of communication, perhaps citing the words of the interlocutor, clarifying intentions to continue dating and emphasizing the possibility of mutually beneficial cooperation.
Visiting themed events is a good opportunity for networking. Getting to know the right people, building communication, exchanging opinions is the way to a sale. Here, the ability to make the right impression, be open to dialogue and demonstrate an expert position in the topics that the sales manager represents is useful. Avoid sales "in the forehead", obsession and manifestations of need. Self-esteem, coupled with the ability to communicate and good product knowledge is the key to successful commercial communication. It is important to sincerely be interested in the state of affairs of new acquaintances, to identify or form needs, to ask the right questions.
Cold calls
A proven way to find new customers is to make cold calls to companies of interest that fit the description of a client’s portrait.
How to look for customers a sales manager using cold calls? The cold call algorithm may look like this:
- to find a person making a decision on the necessary issue;
- get through;
- clarify information, ask questions, get the necessary data;
- to sell the opportunity and the idea of cooperation;
- make an appointment;
- prepare a preliminary commercial proposal based on the data obtained during a telephone conversation.
Many companies have implemented consistent phone sales scripts. If the rules of the company allow, then it is necessary to give the calls the right emotional tone, placing the interlocutors for communication and partnership.
In work on cold calls, such qualities as punctuality, the ability to hear the interlocutor, and ask questions are important. It is necessary to clearly understand the purpose of the call: getting to know, making an appointment, sending preliminary information by fax or e-mail.
The conversion of cold calls depends on the ability to overcome barriers, work with customer objections and speak the language of benefit. Competent speech, a pleasant voice, and a convenient pace of communication for the interlocutor will help to build a dialogue and find a new client.
Search for customers on the Internet
How to look for clients online sales manager, how effective is it?
You can search for potential customers on the Internet in several ways:
- Active participation in specialized forums with posting information about a product / service and demonstrating an expert position.
- Posting company information on social networks.
- Using bulletin boards and thematic aggregators.
Social networks
Using social networks to search for clients is by far one of the most effective and reliable ways to find clients on the Internet. Depending on the specifics of the business and the target audience, a social network is selected. Consider the target audience on the example of the Facebook network. The audience is young people (18-24) and the middle age group (24-45 +), aimed at establishing business contacts and searching for information for self-development.
Here, most often it is possible to make acquaintance with new customers. To find people of interest makes it possible to advanced search. Facilitates the task of the fact that people indicate the place of work.
Many large companies create official pages where you can get acquainted with the specifics of the company, employees, problems and news. Social networks - a source of information for analysis, finding the right people and establishing communications for further sales in an interesting segment for business.
Forums and bulletin boards
Studying and actively participating in specialized online forums helps to analyze the work of competitors and make really important advantages for clients in their unique commercial offer.As a rule, on such resources, customers and suppliers share industry news, opinions about products and services, and discuss pressing issues. In addition to new acquaintances and necessary contacts, here you can actively promote your company, taking into account reviews of other suppliers, emphasizing the profitability of your offer and product / service.
Bulletin boards in the Internet space are paid and free. They vary in territorial coverage and industry direction. By creating a small sales offer with contact details, you can provide passive lead generation without attracting additional funds. The sales manager can indicate your contact phone number and receive requests directly, ensuring the implementation of the plan.
