Surfside Group

Are you looking for more clients these days?  Who isn't?  This is the 5th in the 12 part series about 12 Ways to Increase your Sales and Marketing.  In the original list (click here ), #5 on the list was to define and expand your market. 

This is really just a matter of evaluating your current client data, looking for patterns, and then observing how and where you can make changes to either grow your target list or find a new market niche.  Here are four questions you can ask to get started: 

1. Who are your best clients? – You can probably list them without even looking at your database.  Regardless, look through your data to see who buys from you on a repeat basis or what types of work are most profitable for your company.  Do you notice any patterns?  Do your best clients tend to be from one particular industry or company size?  Look for what they have in common and as always, write it down – add it to your defined sales process.

2. Where can you find more that are similar? Are you already targeting every company in the market defined above?  If not, where can you find the data for other similar firms? A good data broker or list service should be able to help you identify other similar businesses.  In the past, if you focused on only serving private dental practices, perhaps there is a way to also target medical or outpatient cosmetic surgery offices.  Or is it possible to simply expand the geographical area that you market to?

3. Is there a new market you can serve? One of my clients is a company that created a substance that could treat mold and rot on synthetic stucco that was used on the exteriors of many new homes in the 1980s and 1990s.  When the residential construction market began to slow, they looked for a new market and realized that mold on wood pallets is a serious issue – especially for pharmaceutical, food, and paper products industries.  And even more so for companies shipping internationally. Many countries will refuse to allow a container to be on their docks if it has mold growth.  The US pallet industry is huge!  Instant new market to target.
4. Can you position yourself in a new light or create a new niche?  One of the classic examples of brilliant positioning is what Starbucks did for coffee. A coffee shop used to be akin to a diner. An expensive cup was maybe 80¢ – remember?  Now, the whole world is addicted to $1.95 coffee and $4 latte! When Starbucks was first expanding, I remember when they entered the Dallas market (where I lived at the time). The first store was in Highland Park – a very upscale neighborhood.  People would drive from all over the city just to get their Starbucks fix.  Now that they are closing many of their stores, people are driving a little further again to make sure they go to Starbucks. Starbucks created a new upscale image for coffee and thus a new market niche that companies such as Caribou, Dean & Deluca, Peet's, and others have entered.  What can you do to shine a new light on your product or service?

Do you think there could be a way to expand your market but would like some help making it happen?  We look forward to helping you any way we can.