Business Development Strategies for Niche Markets
Selling to Lighthouses Businesses
Need to drive more sales? There are still opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs to enter the B2B lighthouses business market. This is the approach that will help you get started selling to this market.
Selling is one of the hardest tasks you'll ever undertake. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that new customer acquisitions in this industry is a lofty ambition that demands diligence and respect.
Don't be intimidated by the speed of the marketplace. Although speed is important, sales fundamentals and logical strategies will make the biggest difference in the success or failure of your selling efforts.
Developing a Marketing Plan
A solid marketing plan is the foundation of a winning sales strategy. Your team might be stocked with highly capable sales professionals, but if they aren't supported by strong messaging and effective marketing channels, your conversion rate will suffer.
Keep in mind that lighthouses businesses are busy operations with little patience for unfocused sales discussions.
A well thought-out marketing plan helps to focus your selling proposition and deliver messaging in channels that are successful with your customer base. When combined with a sales plan, a marketing plan provides a coordinated selling strategy that delivers results.
Focused Messaging
Effective lead generation processes are vital for firms that sell to lighthouses businesses. Sales teams should be trained in sound lead generation and prospect qualification principles. Lead lists obtained through legitimate third-party providers like Experian can improve the quality of your leads and reduce the time requirements for gathering prospect contact information.
But lead generation is only one piece of the puzzle. Of equal importance is the quality of the messaging you include in your sales and marketing strategy. Keep in mind that lighthouses businesses are educated buyers who are skilled in identifying empty promises. To get their attention, you'll need to create highly focused sales messages that emphasizes your product's strengths and value points.
How to Evaluate Sales Staff
Periodic staff assessment is essential for companies that sell in this industry. Businesses that achieve significant market share hire quality candidates and routinely evaluate them against performance goals and benchmarks.
Although annual reviews may be enough for other business units, sales units should be evaluated quarterly with monthly or weekly reviews of sales totals. Training, coaching and sales incentives can be useful for improving performance and revenues. In some instances, it may be appropriate to team underperforming sales reps with reps that have more experience selling to lighthouses businesses.
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