Become knowledgeable about the unique situations, needs, wants and concerns of people in your target business markets by doing some research, or (even better) by conducting market surveys with five or six members of each group. Businessowners like talking about their companies, and Ohio National's Business Market and Businessowner Surveys (Forms 1191 & 1192) give them a chance to do just that. It's also an easy, non-threatening, way to learn more about your initial or target business markets, discovering hot-button issues, and opening doors to future sales. In effect, conducting market surveys helps you make a smooth transition from marketing to prospecting, and gives you a head start on fact-finding and the rest of the sales process.
A Business market survey appears in an action assignment that follows. It takes approximately 10-15 minutes and can be completed in person or over the phone. It's usually better, however, to meet potential on-profile prospects or centers-of-influence face-to-face.
Try this. Before asking the survey questions:
- Introduce yourself;
- Explain the reason for the survey, "I'm considering the potential of working in the business insurance area..."
- Describe why you have selected this group for your survey.
After completing each survey:
- Ask about communication links, — "How and when do businessowners in your field communicate with each other? Through meetings, the Internet, e-mail, print media, face-to-face?"
- Thank the person for taking time to help, and request referrals to additional survey participants. Say something like this: "Thank you! You've been very helpful. I appreciate the time you spent helping me learn more about your business marketplace. Are there other successful (mention the target group) businessowners like yourself who might be willing to participate in this survey?"
- Arrange a second scheduled meeting. In question #13, you will ask if you can review the participant's program. If the answer is no, you should conclude the meeting this way, "As I develop a marketing plan from yours and other businessowners' input, is there any reason why you would have any objection to my touching base with you again as a sounding board?"
This gives you a specific reason for contacting survey participants again. Next time, after reviewing the results of your surveys, ask for an extra ten minutes to show what you offer to businessowners and professionals. Now you're into a hot-button interview, and since you already know a lot about these businessowners, it should be easy to introduce them to your sales process.
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Ohio National is not affiliated with, nor does it endorse or sponsor, any particular prospecting, marketing or selling system.
