Sales Advice By Market
Selling to African Book Businesses
Leading African book businesses understand the value of every dollar. This article teaches you how to get past selling hurdles in the African book business market and dominate the competition.
Many African book businesses depend on distributors and vendors. So, many B2B companies build their business plans around sales to African book businesses.
In any B2B industry, one of the major factors in long-term success is the ability to expand your customer base. Fortunately African book businesses are plentiful, but the challenge is to acquire and retain new accounts.
Marketing, Promotions & PR
Young B2B companies are often tempted to buy their way into the market. Rather than taking the time to develop relationships with African book business owners, these companies blanket the market with high-priced marketing content in hopes of gaining quick momentum with buyers.
Marketing is useful and necessary. But new businesses should channel their energy toward initiatives that support their value proposition. Although lead lists obtained from third-party vendors like Experian can dramatically increase the quality of your prospects, the effectiveness of your marketing efforts is limited to your team's ability to connect marketing, promotional and PR messaging with your company's unique product traits.
Strategies for Selling to African Book Businesses
Although there are exceptions, African book businesses are always interested in products that help them better serve their customers.
Cost is a constant concern, but if African book businesses believe a new product or line of products can substantially improve their customers' experience, price takes a backseat to quality.
Businesses that sell to African book businesses need to also recognize the fact that African book businesses aren't necessarily the beneficiaries of their products, so strategies that focus on enhancing customer experiences are frequently well-received by buyers.
Industry Experience
In African book business sales, industry experience is fundamental requirement. Although it isn't necessary to be a twenty year industry veteran, it helps to speak the industry language and to understand the pressure points of a typical African book business.
B2B sellers who lack industry experience can compensate for inexperience by subscribing to trade journals, partnering with industry insiders and immersing themselves in the industry culture. Remember, African book businesses may also be more amenable to sellers within their network, so it's important to make new contacts as quickly as possible.
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