If you’ve been missing the “Rants” part of Roach Rants lately, today is your day! Recently, I called a business services company to scope out some initial information around their product. I eventually got the information I needed, but along the way the customer service rep was more focused on inviting me to their upcoming event than selling the product. From the description, and his enthusiasm, the event sounded like a pep rally for their customers. But I wasn’t a Customer yet. I was only making my first inquiry! I was pretty put off, because it was just too much too soon, and I ended up going with a different brand.

To get more Customers, the good, paying kind we all want, there’s a set of steps you must take them through. I call it the Client Journey, and it’s not just about effort. You also have to take the right steps at the right time to nurture budding relationships. The process can take time, and overreach is easy if you’re not careful.

Be sensitive to where your potential clients are in the Client Journey. If you’re not, you risk putting them off before your relationship can truly blossom, just as I was with the company I described above. Below is the first part of my roadmap for doing it right. (Scroll down to jump to the second part)

Identify Your Suspects

We’ve been over this before, but when seeking new business, casting a wide net will do more harm than good. You want to be strategic and target. (Niche, niche, niche, niche!) Ask yourself: who are the Suspects for your products and services? Stop wasting valuable time and energy going after the wrong people.

Think about who is most likely to use what you provide. Next, think about how best to reach them. Know who you want to target for your services, and formulate an effective business plan.

Suspect to Prospect

Once you’ve identified the potential customers that are most likely to be open to your services, the next step is getting them to actively want to hear from you. A Suspect becomes a Prospect for your business when they’re intrigued enough to want more information.

When you’ve got their attention in a positive way, begin to build the customer relationship. Come up with an organized and systematic way to reach out to your suspects. Devote your best attention to those who are responsive. Those are the prospects you want to woo.

Prospect to Customer

Now that you have your focus on the best prospects, it’s time to sell. Make your prospects aware of exactly what you can do for them and how they will benefit. Overcome objections, and make the sale!

Only after making a purchase does your prospect officially become a Customer. That first bridge of trust is always the hardest to build. But once that relationship is in place, a new world of possibility opens up.

Looking for the next part of the Customer Journey? Find it here.

Get off your duff! Get in touch with me here or on LinkedIn.

Sean

 

 

image credit: Bigstock/AntonioGuillem