If your business was created to cater to other entrepreneurs by supplying products to either promote their business or for them to sell you know that landing customer contracts is important to the success of what you do.
Some B2B operations either rely exclusively in online sales or they leave the Internet alone in favor of local contacts. Like most other business oriented articles my suggestion will be that you do both. Keep working with your local businesses if you are established, but expand to the online world to take advantage of unexpected buyers.
What you have done with cold calls in the past may have some value in the present if adapted correctly. Remember days when you would send your sales staff out to businesses and allow them to sing your praises while you worked to get a contract? A similar approach can be managed online using email.
You can wait for businesses to find you, and the use of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will help you greatly in achieving this goal. However, if you are new to the world of online sales you may have an advantage that other regular entrepreneurs do not.
Let me see if I can explain this. A regular business will not typically know who might be a potential new customer. They may resort to renting a list and sending an email blast that can be perceived as spam by many recipients. They might also work to organically create an email list by encouraging sign ups through their site and they can create company newsletter that may prove beneficial to some customers.
The benefit business to business owners have is that you can research potential buyers. You know your product and can envision how that product might fit into other businesses. Using your favorite search engine can be a great sales tool for you. For example if you sell promotional key chains you might research automotive groups, real estate agencies or radio stations. From that point you can simply send them a personalized email that relates a little about what you’ve learned while visiting their website along with a brief introduction to your business. Be sure to supply a link to your website for quick review and offer a phone number they can call to talk with you personally about any needs they might have. You might even take it a step further by offering to call them at a mutually convenient time to discuss possibilities.
Business owners like to know that someone has paid attention to what they are doing and can accurately reflect what they have learned. They may be flattered to know that you specifically found them and took the time to review what they are doing. Offer to send samples if available.
This may seem like an old school approach to marketing, but for a business to business approach there can be great benefit in being able to research potential customers and then design a personal email marketing campaign that is very specific to their situation.
This is one of those rare opportunities to add a human touch to an online world. You may find it is a great approach that can work to bridge the gap between the past and the future.
Author Resource:
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. Make your own website in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com or Build A Website at: http://www.buildagreatsite.com . Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com
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