Prospecting for customers is the first step to selling. The entire object of any prospecting must be to find sales leads that can eventually be translated into sales turnover. Effective prospecting requires a systematic methodology. The essential rule is to prospect all the time, and not just when the list of potential people on whom to call runs out.
Narrowing the Target Market and Customer Field
Defining a Target Market
Prospecting in a defined target market that mostly contains characteristics of an ideal customer will help in making the sale.
Where the potential market is very wide, there are significant advantages to limiting oneself to just one or two specialized market segments. First, a salesperson does not have the time to make everyone his customer. Second, there may be some products in a salesperson's product range that match up better to one industry or market segment than another. If they can tailor their products to secure a unique selling proposition in that particular market segment, they will meet less competition.
By focusing on a particular industry, a salesperson can gradually acquire technical knowledge of his customer's industry, thus enabling them to develop empathy and talk on equal terms with their customers. To identify which particular market segment to aim for, a salesperson should analyze the profile of their existing customers, and secure a picture of what their "ideal customer" should look like. The profile should include psycho-demographic characteristics, such as age, sex, careers, and interests, since all will impact where or when they buy. If viable, the salesperson should also consider using mail shots and advertising to evaluate their potential market.
Having decided on a specific market, the salesperson should try to limit their prospecting to remain within that market. The ideal customer (i.e., the one who buys as soon as the salesperson talks to them) is probably non-existent, but the closer a salesperson's prospect matches that ideal customer profile, the fewer sales objections will arise.
Identifying a Customer's Wants
A process to determine the actual needs of consumers requires the identification of the market factors that produce them. In this process, companies should find real consumption motivators that eventually evolve into product offerings. Furthermore, a correct business definition leads to a natural market orientation; for instance, Charles Revson's famous quote, "in the factory we make cosmetics; in the drug store we sell hope," allowed the company to develop cosmetic products based on women's hopes rather than product features.
Several potential pitfalls should be avoided:
- the natural tendency to impose a personal point of view when launching a new product or entering a new market.
- simple imitation about competitors' moves.
- lack of sufficient research and market knowledge to produce market-proved ideas.
A framework has been proposed to align customer's needs and wants with companies capabilities. This framework was introduced by Sherri Dorfman in her 2005 marketing article, entitled "What do Customers Really, Really Want".
Three Step Process to Develop a Market Orientation
Step 1. Discovery: Finding out What Customer's Need
Learn about customer needs and priorities to identify opportunities in the company to fulfill these needs, and to create new or enhanced product offerings. These ideas must be incorporated in a market research process involving customers and other clients and suppliers in the Value Chain.
Step 2. Definition: Customizing the Offering to Meet Customer Needs
In this step, Dorfman proposes prioritizing features and benefits identified by clients, suppliers, and customers. Different qualitative research techniques such as in-depth interviews, ethnographies, and focus group sessions permit the identification of the core market needs.
Step 3. Validation: Ensuring Offerings fit within Customer's World
A salesperson must understand their products thoroughly, and ensure that there is a match between product, benefits, and customer needs. Further communication with consumers validate the final definition of a market-based product or service. This validation takes place as the prototypes are assessed by consumers to identify potential problems and to smooth out design issues.
All these models take into account the so-called end consumer perspective, which implies that consumers buying, using, or recommending the products are the driving force behind successful marketing efforts.