Most business people say that they hate to sell. (I hear this even from sales people!) This is not true. What people actually hate to do is market! With enthusiasm, most business people do well at selling an identified prospect once they know they can solve their problem. What they hate to do is finding “suspects’ and turning those people in to “prospects”.

“Suspects” are targeted companies that have the problem that our product or solution solves. For example, a software vendor that sells customer relationship management software (like Salesforce, Goldmine, ACT! etc) are looking for companies that need to keep track and expand their contacts with their customers (people that have the problem we solve). Most companies of any size should be a suspect for them. A “prospect” is a suspect that has “raised their hand” and said to the company in some way (like returning a phone call or returning an email) that they do have a need for customer relationship management software. They will become your future customers.

It may surprise you but even the best salesperson can’t sell anything to anyone. I have sold customers for over 25 years and I am unable to sell anything to anybody who doesn’t want to buy it or does not have the financial resources to make the purchase.

If you don’t actually sell anything to anyone, then when do companies buy? Companies buy when they have a need or a pain. Your business must be visible to the prospect when they have this pain or need. This is exactly what marketing is all about. You need to constantly and consistently be marketing to your suspects, prospects and current customers so you can be there for them when each of these groups is ready to buy. This is where the sales and marketing strategy of most high growth companies fail.

Most business people spend most of their time marketing and selling to two types of companies. First, they sell to their current customers. This is a good target since conventional wisdom says that it is a lot easier to get additional business from current customers then to find new ones. Also, it is an opportunity to turn these customers into evangelists and have them refer additional prospects. This is an important part of sales. There is nothing as powerful as a great referral from another client. As Peppers and Rogers calls it, you become the “trusted agent”. You get to bypass all of the building credibility and credentials stage. You go right to “how can I help? “ to them saying “when can you start?” This is the fastest way to build your business.

The other set of businesses that unfortunately business people spend a lot of time selling to is those past prospects who long ago stopped returning our phone calls and emails. They are no longer real prospects and are a waste of our time. The pain or need that you thought they would pay to solve is no longer important to them or maybe they have bought from someone else. You need to quit chasing these past prospects and focus on new ones. This is especially hard since most of us are so comfortable selling to people we already know and do not want to admit that this opportunity is dead. How much time did we waste with this suspect? No matter how painful it is, get over it and move on. You will not be able to resurrect this one by spending more time on it.

High growth business people need to spend much more time marketing to new suspects and converting real prospects into customers. These two groups are the future sales that will feed your pipeline. However, we need to market to these groups differently.

“Suspect” Marketing

This is a large list of “anyone” whose business problems your company can solve. In most cases the total universe is hundreds of thousands or millions of companies or individuals. Since it is uneconomical to directly sell to each of these individually, the goal is to get these people to somehow “raise their hands” and say they are interested in what is being offered.

5 “Suspect” Tactics

1. Advertise: If you do not have a large budget, use trade journals or online publications where you can narrow the list of suspects for a reasonable amount of money. This will be a lot less expensive and a more targeted approach than general publications. Never advertise just once in a publication. To ensure that you get maximum results, place as many ad insertions as you can in targeted publications at a size that your budget can afford. More insertions at a smaller display size is better than a full page just once.
2. Direct Email: Buy lists of “opt in” names from a broker and use a marketing email system (like www.bluehornet.com or www.exacttarget.com ) to track who opens the emails and who clicks through to your web site. This may seem a bit sneaky, but today’s technology allows us to do this. Suspects clicking through on your email is the equivalent of “raising their hands” so you can begin to get gription with each of them. But what do I send them? I recommend a newsletter that shows that you are an expert in the industry and recent success stories your company has had. Send quarterly to monthly. Most of these email marketing systems let the user “opt-out” if they no longer want to receive your mail!
3. Paid Search: Use Google Adwords or Yahoo Overture to promote your business on search pages. You only pay when a suspect clicks through to your web site. The best part about it is that your company can set its own budget and even target a local area. You decide how high you want to be on the search list (by paying more) and how much money you want to test to spend each month. One of my clients, Eslide, tested Google Adwords and one of their new client from these paid search ads was actual the company, Google!
4. Trade Shows: If you have a large enough budget, pick a few targeted shows and exhibit. You may even want to mail to the attendees before the trade show with and incentive to have them come by your booth. If you are bootstrapping, walk your industry trade show and collect cards from attendees and all the people you meet. Follow up with them by email and then keep them on your newsletter list.
5. Become an Expert: Write an article about something of value in your industry and get it printed in online and offline publications. Companies buy from people who they think they know what they are talking about. These external publications will give you additional credibility with suspects you do not know. The publication in this case can act as the “trusted agent”. You can also use it as content on your own web site or a newsletter.

“Prospect” Marketing

This is a much smaller list of companies where 1) you know they have a problem you can solve 2) they have the money to solve the problem 3) you know the decision maker who can make the buy decision. In most cases, this universe will be 10 to 1,000 at any point in time depending on the size of your company. You need to try to touch each of these people individually and as consistently as possible through a variety of media so you can be there at the moment that their pain is so great, they must buy something and it might as well be you!

3 “Prospect” Tactics

1. Direct Sales: Call and email these people to check the status of their pain or need and your solution to it. There is nothing wrong with being aggressive, just don’t become annoying. What is the difference? Keep track of the last time you contacted them and or when they called you. Don’t call more than twice to every unanswered call from them. If these two calls go by and they don’t return a call, you can call every few weeks for a month or so. No answer or reply. This prospect is no longer one and you need to move on.
2. Referrals: The right customer for you may not be the prospect themselves but in the short run it may be someone they know. Stay in front of the prospect and they will be thinking of you the next time an associate of theirs can use your services. As stated previously, this “trusted referral” is the most powerful sales tool in the business. You can always ask for referrals at the right time. Maybe at a lunch you can say, “is there anyone else you know that you think my solution can help?” You will be surprised how helpful a satisfied customer can be!
3. Direct Email or Mail: Very cost effective since your numbers of prospects are limited. Send them industry information or articles that they will be interested in so they can continue to see you are the expert that can solve their problems. You don’t always need to be the source of these articles.

You are good at selling. You close at least one out of every three. Now become consistent at marketing. It is not something to do once or when you run out of prospects to call on or your work dries up. To achieve high growth as a company, it needs to market everyday in many ways.