How To Identify Your Target Market With Three Simple Data Points

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

Part 2

As B2B marketers, business developers, and salespeople, it’s our responsibility to keep the sales pipeline full of prospects. This is no easy feat and takes a lot of hard work. When the flow of word-of-mouth leads and referrals runs dry, where do you go? How do you define your target market and find businesses that can become your future prospects?

Last week, we discussed the two ways to approach this question – the method that will be the best fit for your company depends on your starting point.

  • Starting Point #1: You have a list of current and/or past customers AND you want to continue selling to customers who are similar.
  • Starting Point #2: You are starting from scratch. This means, you do not have a list of current and/or past customers OR you have a list, but you do not want to reach this group, instead, you want to target a new segment.

If Starting Point #1 sounds like a fit for you, go back and read this post.

Maybe you’re just starting out. Or maybe your goal is to grow by breaking into a new segment. If so, Option 2 is for you. Arguably, this route can feel very intimidating. But, if you apply the same three data points we reviewed last week, geography, industry, and size, you can easily conquer identifying your target market.

Here’s how to use geography, industry, and size when you’re starting from scratch.

  1. Geography – can be defined by state, city, county, zip code, or even neighborhood
    • When you’re starting with a clean slate, it is easy to think “everyone is my prospect”. And while that might be the case, it is not an attainable lead generation tactic. You need to have a starting point, or an “A List”. If you put your blinders on and start thinking realistically, geographically, where will your first buyers come from? Often, they come from your own backyard – or neighborhood, county, city, state, etc.
  2. Industry
    • Start by filtering out industries you know you do not want to work inside of – examples include competitors and non-fits. For example, if you’re a business banker, you would want to filter out other banks.
    • Next, brainstorm the industries that are good-fits. This is where you’ll start finding your target industries. For example, if you sell industrial kitchen equipment, you will want to include industries such as restaurants, hotels, senior living facilities, hospitals, etc.
  3. Size – can be defined by employee count, revenue ranges, or physical square-footage
    • This is where you begin zeroing in and really start identifying your target market. There are multiple ways to define the size of a company – depending on your product or service, we suggest using either employee count, annualized revenue, or square-footage – sometimes, a combination of the three. For example, if you sell on-site fueling services, there’s probably a minimum number of gallons you want to fill on each site – you can use employee count to gauge the number of cars on site, which will give you an approximate number of gallons. Or, if you’re a commercial roofer, you would look at square-footage to determine buildings that have roofs that are in the size-range you want to do business with.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or have hundreds of existing customers, you can identify your target market. By using geography, industry, and size, you will be well on your way to your next selling opportunity!

Introducing Consulting Services for In-House Prospecting

Posted on by Mike Dunlap

Dunlap Marketing has recently rolled out two new services we will consult you and your team on: internal lead generation and internal appointment setting.

We are ready to get your sales team geared up to do what we do best – prospecting. Whether you’re adding a prospecting branch to your current sales team, or just refining the skills of your current team, we’re here to help you be as successful as possible at in-house prospecting.

Okay, So What’s The Deal?

Let’s look at the overall sales process as a four-person relay race. Each person runs one lap, passing the baton to the next runner at the end of their lap. In a business environment, each of the four laps of the race represents a stage of the sales process and look something like this: 

  • Lap 1: Prospecting
  • Lap 2: Salesperson Hustle
  • Lap 3: Product or Service
  • Lap 4: Company Name and Reputation

Laps 2, 3, and 4 might look differently at various companies. However, the one consistent variable is that Prospecting is Lap 1. Without prospecting, there would be no other stages of the sales process. 

Dunlap Marketing is passionate about prospecting – it’s where we have made our living since 1996. We have developed and implemented thousands of campaigns – not to toot our own horn, but we know what we’re doing when it comes to prospecting. We can help you get your own in-house prospecting campaign launched within a few weeks.

Very interesting. You’ve caught my attention.

You might be thinking “what needs to be in place for a successful prospecting campaign?”

  • Overall plan
  • Proper messaging
  • Targeted database records (and CRM tool to manage)
  • Staff willing to execute the campaign
  • Staff training
  • Implementation and a set schedule for calling times
  • Calendaring and pacing
  • Reporting and measurement
  • Ongoing management 

That’s a lot…now what?

We’ve got your back. Dunlap Marketing can guide you through the complete process, or we can isolate specific steps inside the process. Our approach is unique, but simple. Prospecting is necessary for every industry, every business, and every sales team. 

Let’s get the ball rolling and determine if our skills are a good fit for your needs.  

Additional Tools:

How to Restart Your Business Now

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

Written by Audrey Tuttle

We are living through a remarkable time that will go down in the history books and be studied through generations to come. The Coronavirus will not only be remembered for its immediate effect on humanity, but also for its destructive impact on our economy and business structures as a whole. It would be a powerful statement to explain to your business partners and to future generations that during this historic event, your business not only survived the wrath of the Coronavirus but it thrived in its aftermath. Don’t wait, restart your business now!

As businesses are reopening and trying to settle themselves into their pre-Corona state, there is no better time to ensure the success of your company. Dunlap Marketing’s Recovery Program will do that and more.

With our extremely affordable Recovery Program options, you will have the opportunity to work with the successful team at Dunlap Marketing who has been working with companies like yours since 1996. We will provide a four-month prospecting and appointment setting program as well as outbound prospecting phone calls with permission-based email follow-ups. We will take care of your recovery needs and put your business back on track towards success.

“Each day you don’t prospect is a day in the future you don’t have anything to sell.”

Mike Dunlap, President

Provided by Dunlap Marketing:

  • 24 years of knowledge and experience in B2B appointment setting and B2B lead generation services
  • Onsite and ongoing management supervision of your campaign – all work is performed in our Houston office
  • Staff members are W2 employees of the company who have an average of 12+ years of appointment setting and lead generation work
  • Assistance in developing an effective call message (script)
  • All campaign programming, setup, and development work

This program is only being offered for a limited time, so take advantage of this great deal while it lasts. Not only are you able to choose which of the three recovery options is the best fit for your needs, you also get the bonus of 25% off normal pricing with each of the programs.

Your business’s success will be an affirmation to your customers and competition on your ability to face adversity. Be the business that goes down in the history books, not as the company that fell apart from this unfortunate virus but the one that pushed past the challenge and flourished in its existence. The future of your business depends on the choices you make today, make the right choice and check out Dunlap Marketing’s Recovery Program. We look forward to working with you.

For questions or inquiries, contact us online. Or, reach out to Mike Dunlap at miked@dunlapmarketing.com, 281.496.9870 x 140 or Kaitlin Dunlap Cuevas at kaitlind@dunlapmarketing.com, 281.496.9870 x 180.

How to Write Quality Notes While Teleprospecting

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

 

[We] were just discussing how invaluable your team’s discussion notes were to understanding what’s going on with our target attendees. Very insightful. – Rebecca, Los Angeles, CA

 

Knowing how to write quality notes while teleprospecting is a necessary skill required to achieve positive outcomes from your calling efforts. Frankly, cold calling is a waste of time if notes documenting the conversations are not a factor. If you have a list of 1,000 prospects to call, how can you expect to remember the conversation you had with Mr. Smith at 123.456.7890? It’s nearly impossible!

The good news is if you keep the following tips in mind, it’s simple to take useful notes while teleprospecting.

How to Write Quality Notes While Teleprospecting

Brief, yet thorough

Remember that these are notes; therefore, they do not need to be overly extensive. Keep them brief and to the point. To help make sure you don’t leave out any pertinent information, keep in mind the 5 W’s and 1H – who, what, when, where, why, and how. For example:

  1. Who did you speak to / who do you need to speak with next time / who is the decision maker
  2. What did you speak about / what are your next steps (ie: follow up call, send email with more information, etc.)
  3. When did you call / when is a good time to reach the decision maker / when did the decision maker ask you to call back
  4. Where is the decision maker located (important to note time zones when a follow up call will occur) / if a face-to-face appointment was scheduled, where are you meeting
  5. Why was the prospect interested in your product or service
  6. How did the prospect sound – very interested or somewhat interested? This can be defined as a hot, warm, or cold lead, depending on interest level

Easy to read

While reviewing notes, it is easier to read short blurbs or bulleted lists as compared to long paragraphs. The eyes can quickly skim when the information is spaced out. This is not the time to see how many words you can fit on one piece of paper!

Quick to write down/capture

Shorthand is a great tool to use while taking notes. Dunlap Marketing’s president, Mike Dunlap, is a fan of using shorthand and frequently uses it himself. Here is his shorthand key:

  • TT – talked to
  • SIT – still in touch
  • CB – call back
  • TA – try again
  • LVM – left voicemail
  • DM – decision maker

Need to “spark” your memory

The bottom line is your notes need to be able to jog your memory or inform the person you’re passing them along to of the conversation you had. They also need to clearly state what the appropriate next steps are.

Don’t waste the time you dedicate to cold calling – take quality notes to make sure you achieve the best possible outcome of your teleprospecting efforts.