Sell to Your Target Market
Selling to Southern Style Restaurants
Many southern style restaurants offer opportunities for emerging companies to tap into new revenue streams. Don't forget that southern style restaurants aren't easy sales marks -- here's what you'll need to close sales in this niche market.
As it turns out, southern style restaurants are subject to normal business demands; they respond to businesses that offer solid, affordable products.
If your sales strategies fall flat, your entire revenue stream could be in jeopardy. Here are a few simple strategies you can count on to keep your earnings statement in the black.
Industry Experience
In southern style restaurant sales, industry experience is a huge plus. Although it isn't necessary to have decades of front line experience, it helps to speak the industry language and to be familiar with the things are important to a typical southern style restaurant.
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, southern style restaurants may also be more open to sellers within their network, so it's important to make new contacts as quickly as possible.
Marketing to Southern Style Restaurants
There are multiple methods for marketing your products to southern style restaurants. In addition to personal contacts, advertisements in relevant media combined with online marketing techniques can substantially boost conversions and revenue.
Many businesses find that direct marketing is also helpful in marketing to southern style restaurants because it is a non-threatening resource for introducing their products to new customers.
The first step of a successful direct marketing strategy is to obtain a lead list from an established third-party provider like Experian Business Services, a company with a reputation for quality and service. From there, you can customize your direct marketing approach toward your company's strengths and perceived needs in the marketplace.
How to Evaluate Sales Staff
Periodic staff assessment is essential for companies that sell in this industry. Businesses that achieve significant market share recruit the cream of the crop and routinely evaluate them against performance goals and benchmarks.
Although annual reviews may suffice 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 southern style restaurants.
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