Identifying Customers-to-Be

Ean Jackson — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:08:50 +0000

Who do I sell to?

My marketing study says that my target market is roofing businesses withing a 2-hour drive of downtown Chicago. How do I get the names of those businesses so I can call
them?

Terminology

Before I launch into the how-to part, I thought best to clarify some terms that come up a lot when discussing sales.

Most sales folk refer to the people they sell to as their "prospects". Those with a bit more experience in sales segment prospects into "qualified prospects" and "suspects", where a suspect is unqualified in terms of decision-making authority, timeframe, budget and needs and the qualified prospect is.

I like the way my friend Pauline O'Malley of The RevenueBuilder refers to sales prospects "Customers-to-Be". It's so much more positive and personal.

Wherever I refer to "Customers-to-Be", I am referring to decision-makers within the target market. These people may or may not be qualified.

Identifying Customers-to-Be

Buy a List

Without a doubt, the simplest way to acquire a list of Customers-to-Be is to buy the list. There are lots and lots of list providers out there and the prices vary dramatically.
Caveat Emptor. Be sure to ask how old the information is and how complete it is!

I have not personally enjoyed a lot of success buying a list, so can not recommend any particular vendors. A recent Internet search for "prospect list" came up with 3.5 million references.

Create a List

There are lots of ways to develop a list of Customers-to-Be. Some include:

Ask the librarian. Go to the local business library! Make the best of the librarian's time and yours by arriving prepared with a very clear idea of your target market and how you segment that market. While it is the librarian's job to help you, I find it is always nice to have a few $10 Starbucks cards handy to show my appretiaton
Internet research. There are gobs of information available on the net for free. The challenge is sifting through it and organizing what you find. Many associations provide their membership lists. I will aim to share some how-to secrets in another post
Trade shows. You see the fishbowls at every trade show booth at every trade show. Some of the people that put their cards in the iPod draw may actually be Customers-to-Be! I've never seen a lot of gold in trade show fishbowls, so consider this before shelling out for a booth.