Create an initial list of potential clients
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 9:18 am
There may be very few companies in your area that fit the profile of your ideal client.
They will be included in this primary list, from which, in fact, the accumulation of your client base will begin.
Create an initial list of potential clients
Source: shutterstock.com
Collect information about the companies on numbers (south korean tv series) the list (from open directories, on the Internet, in mapping services). Depending on what services you provide, you may need the following information:
contact details;
number of employees, size of property;
information about the financial situation of the company;
addresses of offices and representative offices.
Let's say, for example, you need all cleaning services in Novosibirsk. Then contact the Yandex search engine with the necessary request.
For a more precise search and a larger list of reference books in the results, enter your request in quotation marks.
Companies that were not initially included in the primary list should not be dismissed immediately, they may become your clients in the future. At this stage, you determine the most effective areas for work in order to immediately get specific results.
Read also!
"USP examples to help you come up with your own that's even better"
Read more
Assess the prospects for cooperation
First, predict how promising cooperation with a particular client might be.
Take information from open sources (Internet, press releases, news sites). Look at what companies focus on in their development, maybe some areas are being curtailed altogether. All this will give a general picture of the state of affairs in the organization.
Even if business is going well, it is not a fact that the company will want to cooperate with you.
Assess whether there are any signs that indicate that your product or service is needed there.
Assess the prospects for cooperation
Source: shutterstock.com
For example, your area of activity is legal services for securities transactions. This means that you should look for clients among financially stable organizations (so that they have the funds to pay for your services) that own such assets (in securities). And if you are promoting startups, then your clients are young firms that are just entering the market.
Immediately try to identify companies that are best not to deal with.
If, for example, you service real estate, and the organization gets rid of assets, then your services will not be needed for a long time. Or at the initial stage you are interested in quickly signing a contract, but in a large company approval can take at least a year. Then such cooperation will be risky for you.
Keep in mind that in B2B you may be dealing with a large business, but the decision maker is one specific person (or a small group of people).
And you need to deal with him (them), having first understood the general goals of the business and the priorities of each decision maker. Therefore, an important parameter here will also be the question of whether it will be easy for you to reach agreements.
Fill the database to the maximum
So, you have discarded the unpromising clients, now fill the primary database with information. The greatest attention is given to the most promising clients. Here is the information that will be useful here:
name of the company, its legal status;
Full names of decision makers, their goals (if this is important to you);
general contacts (email, phone numbers);
website, addresses of offices, representative offices.
Where to get data:
on the organization's website;
in old databases;
in mapping services;
in general directories of operating companies.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to collect all of this automatically.
Fill the database to the maximum
Source: shutterstock.com
Of course, client bases are sold online, but you are buying a "pig in a poke" there. And filling the base manually can take weeks (if the market that is potentially suitable for you is quite large). You can use business directories, there are filters (by one or another formal criteria), by installing which you will collect data on companies to fill your client base.
Next, you will need to prepare a targeted offer for each potential buyer, and here it is important to have an idea of the internal organization of processes in a particular company. Therefore, the database should include parameters of exactly those aspects that are important directly for you, as a supplier of a specific service (product).
They will be included in this primary list, from which, in fact, the accumulation of your client base will begin.
Create an initial list of potential clients
Source: shutterstock.com
Collect information about the companies on numbers (south korean tv series) the list (from open directories, on the Internet, in mapping services). Depending on what services you provide, you may need the following information:
contact details;
number of employees, size of property;
information about the financial situation of the company;
addresses of offices and representative offices.
Let's say, for example, you need all cleaning services in Novosibirsk. Then contact the Yandex search engine with the necessary request.
For a more precise search and a larger list of reference books in the results, enter your request in quotation marks.
Companies that were not initially included in the primary list should not be dismissed immediately, they may become your clients in the future. At this stage, you determine the most effective areas for work in order to immediately get specific results.
Read also!
"USP examples to help you come up with your own that's even better"
Read more
Assess the prospects for cooperation
First, predict how promising cooperation with a particular client might be.
Take information from open sources (Internet, press releases, news sites). Look at what companies focus on in their development, maybe some areas are being curtailed altogether. All this will give a general picture of the state of affairs in the organization.
Even if business is going well, it is not a fact that the company will want to cooperate with you.
Assess whether there are any signs that indicate that your product or service is needed there.
Assess the prospects for cooperation
Source: shutterstock.com
For example, your area of activity is legal services for securities transactions. This means that you should look for clients among financially stable organizations (so that they have the funds to pay for your services) that own such assets (in securities). And if you are promoting startups, then your clients are young firms that are just entering the market.
Immediately try to identify companies that are best not to deal with.
If, for example, you service real estate, and the organization gets rid of assets, then your services will not be needed for a long time. Or at the initial stage you are interested in quickly signing a contract, but in a large company approval can take at least a year. Then such cooperation will be risky for you.
Keep in mind that in B2B you may be dealing with a large business, but the decision maker is one specific person (or a small group of people).
And you need to deal with him (them), having first understood the general goals of the business and the priorities of each decision maker. Therefore, an important parameter here will also be the question of whether it will be easy for you to reach agreements.
Fill the database to the maximum
So, you have discarded the unpromising clients, now fill the primary database with information. The greatest attention is given to the most promising clients. Here is the information that will be useful here:
name of the company, its legal status;
Full names of decision makers, their goals (if this is important to you);
general contacts (email, phone numbers);
website, addresses of offices, representative offices.
Where to get data:
on the organization's website;
in old databases;
in mapping services;
in general directories of operating companies.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to collect all of this automatically.
Fill the database to the maximum
Source: shutterstock.com
Of course, client bases are sold online, but you are buying a "pig in a poke" there. And filling the base manually can take weeks (if the market that is potentially suitable for you is quite large). You can use business directories, there are filters (by one or another formal criteria), by installing which you will collect data on companies to fill your client base.
Next, you will need to prepare a targeted offer for each potential buyer, and here it is important to have an idea of the internal organization of processes in a particular company. Therefore, the database should include parameters of exactly those aspects that are important directly for you, as a supplier of a specific service (product).