Identifying Customers-to-Be

Ean Jackson — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:08:50 -0500

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.