Reach New Prospects Inexpensively

The art of reaching new customers is a challenge for many distributors.  Frequently I hear

• we know everyone in the market
• we’re doing business with everyone we want to
• we know who pays their bills
• they are not our type of customer
• or similar

And yet we all now, if we are being honest with ourselves, that there are customers who you don’t know, have never called on and are doing business with your competitors.  After all, you do have competitors and they are generating sales and some level of gross profit.  Selling to your customers as well as to other customers.  Think of it this way, when you hire a salesperson from a competitor, don’t you find it interesting that they are doing business with customers you never heard of?

Generating new business is difficult because it means you need to know, communicate and sell your value proposition.  Why should someone do business with you?

But the first thing is identying prospects and putting yourself in a position to build a relationship.  And a good way to do this can be by getting an ROI from an investment you are already making … participating in local Chamber of Commerce’s or getting your salespeople and branch managers to participate in local networking groups (breakfast clubs), community organizations or other groups.  Or consider joining BOMA and other end-user type organizations. Or have your marketing staff attend the local American Marketing Association chapter meetings. You never know when they may meet someone from a large manufacturer who can help get the name of the local plant manager, can make an introduction or mentions that they are planning a new “green” marketing initiative.  Or perhaps your breakfast club has a realtor as a member (and they probably know most of the builders in town, and service-oriented contractors, or they deal with commercial properties, or …) and these groups have a need for speakers.  After all, people do business with people.

You never know whom you may meet that could generate your next opportunity (or what other opportunities these organizations and networking / breakfast clubs) can generate.

You’re already paying for membership.  The incremental meeting attendance fee, or a breakfast / lunch reimbursement can be incidental given the potential benefit.

What are you doing to generate new accounts?