“I serve any company that needs service X.”
What's the problem?
They do not help define the target audience. And this has repercussions for the entire business, but especially for B2B prospecting activities .
Typically, when a company is having prospecting problems , we evaluate the list of prospects and notice that there are many different sectors, sizes, regions and profiles on the same list. A total lack of focus.
If we mention this to the manager, he or she will say, “Yes, but any of these taiwan email list companies could potentially buy from us.” This is indeed true, which unfortunately only reinforces the belief that broad segmentation is an efficient strategy.
This is not the case, in our experience.
At the other extreme, we see high-performance sales teams with much more focused and carefully segmented lists. Typically, these companies have already found their niche and are focusing their efforts on becoming leaders in that niche.
Of course, there is no magic formula for finding a niche.
But there are 3 basic (and even obvious) steps that need to be mentioned and that I decided to list:
1. ANALYZE
The best way to start is to look at your current client base and ask yourself, “Who is my ideal client?”
Let’s say you already know that small businesses in São Paulo are a better fit for your business.
If you put together a prospecting list with all the micro and small businesses in São Paulo , you will find around 1 million in the Econodata database alone .
These are companies from various sectors mixed with sectors that rarely buy from you or to which you have never sold.
2. SEGMENT
Instead, a closer look at your client portfolio would allow you, for example, to list the 3 sectors for which you already have several success stories. Let's say:
Vehicle resale
Auto parts
Restaurants
With a more uniform target, your speech and materials become better targeted.
The B2B prospecting activity itself becomes more productive, as the process of calling, finding the right person, introducing yourself and getting a meeting tends to be more uniform within the same niche.
3. MEASURE
Finally, in B2B you must do something simple and important: compare the results of each segment.
For example:
Resellers: 100 companies, 50 decision makers contacted, 3 meetings scheduled
Auto parts: 100 companies, 66 decision makers contacted, 11 meetings scheduled
Restaurants: 100 companies, 77 decision makers contacted, 8 meetings scheduled
Clearly, auto parts is the sector with the best prospecting potential, with a rate of 11% of scheduled meetings and in which it is worth investing more energy.