New Business, it's all in the software

The idea of using software to point the way to your next piece of business is a thought that crosses every mind responsible for new business. Me too. But for some people the idea of whacking all you know and all you've sold into a giant sausage machine and expecting hot leads to come out the end, NO. Well not yet anyway. But there is a great deal you can do to improve your prospecting...more

First stop is asking yourself what are you offering. The question isn't as simplistic as it sounds. The answer is "something the other chap doesn't offer". Now, ask yourself the question again.

There is no point in communicating the same message as your competitors. So get different and make sure what you are offering has a real benefit to alert a prospective purchaser. This may sound odd but I see many companies who ignore the hook when casting out their fishing line. Even if your product sells itself it always makes sense to sell the service element, the
after-sales and the maintenance. Sell the price or the finance or the whole life cost. Choice, speed of delivery, exchange policy, trade up and buy backs. People don't buy products they buy BENEFITS. And you must offer different benefits from your competitor. It's your USP, (Unique Selling Proposition) and it matters.

The convenient thing about a USP is that it often has a number of elements to it. Elements which appeal differently to different customers. One customer may cross the country to trade with you because of your wide range, whilst the chap down the road trades with you because you're nearest and can deliver 'same day'. It's your understanding of which benefit appeals to which customer that starts to divide your data list into segments. A straw poll of your existing customers will give you a clue as to your particular appeal and tells you that other similar businesses to them, may also find you appealing for the same reason.

A little research will give you similar information about your competitors and your competitors customers. In next to no time you will have an orientation of your marketplace and your prospective customers, you will have a feel for the calendar year and the buying trends. Now you are ready to pick up software for a relational database that you can feed your sales and marketing information into and, more importantly, get information out of. Even then the software will not perform miracles but it will speed up the processing of the information you need to make the right marketing decisions. Even the most sophisticated programmes like those that predict consumer reaction and buying patterns are only as good as the information you feed in.

If you want to comment or add information that might help visitors to this site please email here...

mike.farmers@versomarketing.co.uk

www.VERSOmarketing.co.uk

Back to blog