Become the Thought Leader and Supercharge Your Database
I recently bumped into this blog post which got me thinking about thought leadership and how it can rapidly grow your database.
Become the thought leader in your industry, a valuable resource for your prospects. People are social beings and like to buy from people they know, like and trust. They also will buy when they are ready to buy, not when a salesman is ready to sell. For this reason, building a database for ongoing communication and relationship building can be the best way to grow your business. It keeps you in front of your prospects, building the relationship until they are ready to buy.
Even if you are approaching someone who has bought from you in the past and you have a great relationship, they may not be ready to buy from you again. Perhaps their budget is restricted or they don’t have the need for your product or service just yet.
You must understand what your prospect needs before you try selling them anything. Getting ahead of yourself in your prospecting means you will lose hundreds of potential sales. Many businesses apply too much pressure in their marketing, thereby destroying the relationship they need in order to succeed. Most advertising offers the one option of response – “Call Now!” A smart business person gives a better option. ‘Order Free Information to find out how you can…’
Today’s buyers often like to do a lot of research, thinking and contemplating before making a final decision that involves spending what they consider to be a large amount of money. This can cause frustration for many businesses because it’s getting harder to get quick decisions from prospects. Much of the research is done on the Internet making it a great place to present your information.
A savvy business person is prepared to help people with the information they need in a non-sales like manner. This approach is designed to capture prospects’ details so they can be converted into sales at a later stage. With the Internet, we are living in the information age where people have access to all kinds of information with a few clicks. If you can become the expert and contribute valuable information to people prepared to give their contact details, you can rapidly grow your database.
Position yourself as the thought leader in your field in such a way that enables your prospects to obtain the specific information they need to help them research your products or services before they come in contact with you or your salespeople. This demonstrates respect for your prospects’ desire for more information.
No matter what your business is, you are not the only one trying to sell to your target market. If you differentiate your business by being the thought leader they know, like and trust, you will not compete on price alone. When you understand the value of your database which is often an untapped gold mine, you will treat every prospect with the respect they deserve.
