Sales Techniques By Market
Selling to Foundations Businesses
In today's business environment, unpredictability is the only constant for foundations businesses. Don't forget that foundations businesses aren't easy sales marks -- here's what you'll need to convert prospects into customers.
Initiative and perseverance are admirable characteristics for sales professionals. But selling to foundations businesses requires more than a desire to succeed.
A strong value proposition and a great strategy are requirements for companies who sell to foundations businesses. Despite the presence of market barriers, new entries to the marketplace can gain traction by applying a handful of tried and true sales principles.
Research the Market
Start with good market research, which is a prerequisite for profitability in this industry. Smart sales teams conduct thorough research on market demand, pricing and niche opportunities.
More importantly, they conduct research on the specific foundations businesses that they want to add to their customer roster.
Since relationships can be critical in closing sales, meetings with foundations businesses leaders and their staff often form the backbone of the sales cycle. These meetings can also provide information that can give your business a competitive edge.
How to Sell to Foundations Businesses
Once your foot is in the door, how do you close the sale?
Like many of us, foundations business business owners are busy professionals operating on tight schedules. As a rule, be respectful of your customers' time constraints and adjust your pitches to accommodate their schedules.
In some instances, your initial contact at foundations businesses you call on may not even be the decision maker, so you'll need to quickly identify key staff and be prepared to sell to office managers or others in the organization.
Direct Marketing Strategies
Direct marketing is an effective way to sell to foundations businesses. The benefit of direct marketing is that it provides a cost-effective resource for reaching qualified prospects with targeted messaging. From a sales perspective, direct marketing establishes a baseline for relationships with foundations businesses that can benefit from your products or services.
The challenge with direct marketing is lead generation. Since reliable leads can be hard to find, we recommend using lead lists supplied by established third-party vendors. Over the years we've found that Experian is one of the best in the business with a reputation for supplying consistently reliable lists of foundations businesses that produce high conversion rates.
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