How to Sell to Niche Markets
Selling to Economic Development Businesses
Despite competitive pressure, there are still openings for new businesses to enter the B2B economic development business market. Don't forget that economic development businesses aren't easy sales marks -- here's what you'll need to compete in today's market.
Personal motivation is essential for entrepreneurs who are interested in selling equipment and supplies to economic development businesses.
New entries to the marketplace need to develop a comprehensive sales plan that is built on industry fundamentals.
How to Find Economic Development Business Leads
Leads form the basis for winning sales strategies. The first step in lead generation is to evaluate the local market. From there, you can broaden your net to include the yellow pages, Internet searches and trade listings.
The names of economic development businesses you obtain through your own efforts need to be qualified through phone calls, emails, and face-to-face conversations.
But the most reliable source of qualified sales leads is often a third-party lead list provider. For consistently high quality lead lists, we recommend Experian Business Services to our business partners. Experian has a reputation for providing updated and sorted lead lists that can be used for direct mail and other marketing efforts directed toward economic development businesses.
Casting a Broad Net
The first step in selling to economic development businesses is to take a broad approach to the marketplace. Strategies that are isolated to the local market are not likely to succeed in an environment that is becoming increasingly reliant on e-commerce and other long distance marketing channels.
Although a geographic concentration may be a useful strategy for new sellers, you will eventually need to broaden your focus to include prospects outside of your initial range. You can also broaden your prospect base by introducing new products and partnerships into the mix.
Internet Strategies
With economic development businesses now turning to the Internet for equipment and supplies, it's becoming more important for B2B sellers to develop online sales strategies.
A user-friendly website is the centerpiece of all of your other online sales and marketing activities. However, it may also be worthwhile to integrate email advertising, SEO, social networking and other techniques into your sales and marketing mix.
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