As I mentioned in last weeks blog, finding new buyers for your service is imperative if you are to achieve growth within your business.
If you don’t bring new buyers/customers on board, you aren’t going to grow or worst still you are going to go out of business. It’s that simple.
Seeing an avalanche of new leads coming through each week is ideal and my CONVERT model can be the method by which you can achieve this.
Getting customers to come to you in this way, saves so much time and effort and it’s the Sales Holy Grail.
But, in many cases, you often can’t achieve the growth you desire, without going out to find new business. When your ship doesn’t come in, you have to swim out to it!
If you just hope and expect business to come to you, you’ll often be disappointed and so it’s worth developing a plan to go and find new buyers and my 7A’s model is a simple method to achieve this.
Before anyone replies and says ‘how am I supposed to do this selling to consumers’, this is a sales method for companies that sell to other businesses. But it’s a method I have i’ve used for a number of years and with several customers, like Charles Stanley, to drive growth in their business.
As with inbound leads, you have to ensure you are VERY CLEAR on 2 aspects.
- What is the key problem or desire you achieve with what you sell?
- Who is the target customer you are looking to target with a solution to that problem or desire?
One of the most key elements of outbound prospecting is that you must be specific about the audience you are targeting.
If you’re not specific about the type of companies or type of role (HR or IT Director) you want to target, your message is going to fall on deaf ears.
Be very clear about who your audience is before you engage in this process.
Work across multiple industries?
Pick just one for this prospecting campaign. One where you have great experience, testimonials and case studies to share, which will testify to how good you are in this space.
With those 2 boxes ticked, let’s get into the 7 steps you need to take to find and do business with new buyers!
The 7 A's
A - Make them Aware
If a buyer hasn’t come to you yet, then they simply don’t know who you are or that you exist. The only way you can make them aware is to reach out to them through different methods of prospecting. Next week I will delve into the six methods typically used: email, call, social media, social video, direct mail and face to face and how you can use each of these to make potential buyers aware of you and what you offer.
These are the 6 methods you need to focus on to make potential buyers aware of you. Ironically, the one on this list that most people dislike most is getting on the phone and yet speaking to someone is the best way to make someone aware of your company. Targeted calling can work VERY well if you do it in the right way.
A - Attract them
Once you have made them aware of you, the next step is to build attraction. You have to get the buyer to be attracted to what you do and the key here is to provide a hook. Attract their attention with a hook that makes them think “That’s intriguing, that’s interesting, that’s useful…”
Often this can be achieved by either sharing a testimonial of someone in their industry who has achieved great results or sharing a guide or resource that can help them solve a problem they have.
Think like the buyer! What is making them sit at their desk with their head in their hands? What’s causing them stress and challenge? What can you share that will help them deal with it that will attract them to you?
A - Analyse
Now that you’ve got their attention, your potential buyer is going to analyse you and whether you’re the sort of company you want to work with.
They going to look at your social media and search for your name and company (especially if you have really attracted their attention) and will start to get a feel for who you are and what you stand for? You need to ensure that they don’t analyse your social media and website and think wow, that’s old and out of date!
You need to be consistent and congruent across all of your different channels and ensure that the brand you outline is one which will make a potential buyer feel they want to engage with you. Go ahead and search for me on @JamesWhiteSales and you’ll see a consistent approach in the way I’m branded and appear to my prospects.
First impressions count. Buyers will Analyse you and what you do and so when that happens, be prepared for that!
A - Assess
Hopefully, by this time, the dialog between you and the buyer is now open. You should have either gotten some form of response from your prospecting or been engaged in some conversations. These discussions are key and the buyer is going to use them to ASSESS whether you are a good fit for them.
Do they like you? Do they feel like they can trust you? The first conversations in the discovery phase are critical, and how you approach them matters. The early impact you make won’t win you the business but it can have a huge impact.
Take the time to do your research ahead of any calls. Take a look at their social profiles or website ahead of your first conversation. Look at key recent news and understand what’s going on in their world. It will allow them to assess whether you are as helpful as you said you would be at the start and whether you are someone worth doing business with.
A - Alternatives
In most cases, if your potential customer hasn’t heard about you, ahead of buying your service, they will look out to the market to see what other options are available. What other alternatives are out there? Who else is doing what you are doing?
Although many think this is a strange strategy, I like to share what alternatives could be there for them. Why you ask? What this does is build trust with the buyer. It shows that I understand them! I know they may look at other options before choosing to work with me and by sharing alternatives with them (and making it easy for them), it shows that I am confident in my own solution. I am so confident that I share others who could be alternatives for them. I don’t promote others or encourage potential buyer to contact them, but I do indicate that I respect their ability to choose the right solution for them.
The point is, don’t think that your buyer isn’t going to look into alternatives. They will. Make sure you can communicate why you stand out but be prepared to be open and transparent about what you do and how that is different to other people/providers.
A - Action
At this stage in the process, it should now be time to get the buyer to take action! If you have spent time digging into their world, discussing problems, and sharing insights and values that they find interesting, they should be open to moving forward. Good salespeople solve problems and buyers who have problems, want to take action to solve their issues!
Outline what the next steps look like. Maybe it’s a demo or maybe it’s an initial service or offering that you provide to get the ball rolling.
Buyers who have been made aware of solutions, who have been attracted with insights, who have then analysed the seller and built confidence with what they offer compared to others in the market will take action. POs follow Pain and if you have outlined how your solution can take the pain away and showed evidence of how you have made this happen, its time for action!
If the buyer is uncomfortable to take action then address the issue. Ask them what they would need to see in order to take action. Find out what is required to get the prospect to become a customer.
A - Achieve
The final A.
With a commitment to take action from the buyer, it’s now time to deliver!
It’s time to achieve the goals and outcomes you’ve promised to your customers. Do this and this new buyer can start to become an ambassador for you and your brand.
Fail to deliver and achieve the results and it will leave a bad taste in the mouth for the buyer and bigger challenges for you as a seller. Your reputation will proceed you and will turn others off.
Deliver results and achieve the goals that the buyer has and a bright future awaits!
So there you have the 7A’s to drive outbound leads to your business. The steps to follow to find buyers who you don’t know about you now but who in time can become advocates of your company and brand.
Outbound prospecting is not easy and it takes work but it DOES ACHIEVE RESULTS.
And if you can’t bring in new leads from inbound activity, its the only way to achieve the plans you have for your business. Want some help with plans for outbound prospecting?
Let me know. Me and my team offer a number of ways in which we can help.
I hope this has given you some ideas on how to drive new business. My ‘Help I don’t have a Sales Plan’ video is also well loved by 000’s of people all over the world and so is worth a look as well if this and last week’s email has left you feeling unsure.
