Everywhere you go on the Internet you find the words,
"target market." What do they mean? What does it have
to do with you? Well it has everything to do with your
success in sales.
Let me give you an example. A few weeks ago an
online entrepreneur asked me to review a direct
sales presentation for him. Let's call him "Joe". His
product and service is excellent. Top quality and
performance, excellent customer service and support.
The product will produce desired results for any
business advertising online.
In this particular case, Joe's potential customer is in
the furniture manufacturing business. The company
owns a small chain of outlet stores and advertises on
the Internet. Basically, an excellent candidate for Joe's
offer.
Well, Joe sent me his package. In the offline world, it
would have required UPS to deliver it with a hand truck!
Now, that is an overstatement, but it consisted of a
three-page cover letter, with four separate attachments
and a CD presentation that he was going to mail as a
follow-up.
Here's my response to Joe:
"What a tremendous amount of work you have put into
this presentation.
Having been on the receiving end of proposals such
as this, I must tell you that it would be the recipient
of the "delete" key. Why? Too much to wade through.
Too much for me to absorb. Too much for me to do.
Nothing to compel me to read on.
Having said that, let's pretend for a moment that I am
Mr. Jones.
1. Where are the needs development questions?
2. What tells me that you have done your homework
and know about my industry?
3. What are my problems and how will you solve them?
4. How much does the average household spend
on furnishings annually? (In the US it's about $1,000)
5. How are you going to help me capture a share of
those dollars?
6. How has the economy affected my business?
7. What qualities separate my business from my
competition?
8. How extensive and how important are brand
names to my customers?
9. What are my specialty areas?
10. What market do I target and why?
11. Why do my customers keep coming back to my
stores?
12. What are some of the hot buttons or copy points
that you might use to target Mr. Jones?
13. What is his business terminology?
Joe, here are two sites that can help you develop a
more "targeted" approach to Mr. Jones:
http://www.furniture-info.com
http://www.furniturestatistics.com
I hope this helps, Joe. Decision makers are
bombarded daily and we must be ever diligent that
we are focusing in on "WIIFM" (What's In It For Me)".
Now, what was the message to Joe?
Do Your Homework. Mr. Jones doesn't give a rip
about your product unless it can fulfill his needs,
but first you have to know what those needs are.
Joe's presentation, which probably took him hours
if not days to prepare, was a classic case of overkill.
The two sites referred to would have given Joe all the
ammunition he needed to prepare an effective
presentation and in just a few short minutes.
By the way, two research tools that I use to study
markets, trends, and individual sites are listed below.
Both are free to download and are priceless.
http://www.copernic.com
http://www.alexa.com
Ready, Aim... Get Ready To Fire!
About the Author
Patty Baldwin is a former Better Business Bureau
executive and the owner of several online businesses.
A successful net marketer, she invites you to visit any
one of her sites at:
http://www.allbizservices.com
http://www.4bstrading.com
http://www.allbizwealth.com
Mailto:patty@allbizservices.com