Companies can choose from two methods of acquiring business customers - passive (inbound) and active (outbound). Each way has its supporters. What are the pros and cons of both options? Which one should you choose?
Customer acquisition business is no easy task. It requires full commitment, professional approach, creativity and persuasive skills. Potential business partners usually have extensive knowledge about the market, its mechanisms and prices of individual products. What's more, they realize that they occupy a privileged position in the sales chain. "Pretty" packaging or other cheap marketing gimmicks do not work on them. They are interested in specific values and benefits that they can gain from cooperation with a given company. They are happy to ask difficult questions and are not afraid of negotiations.
An entrepreneur who wants to acquire a valuable business client should prepare himself properly for the conversation, and when it comes to contact, he must act confidently and professionally. But how to reach potential B2B partners? The methods of acquiring business customers are divided into two types: passive and active.
Passive methods of acquiring B2B customers - cold calling and cold mailing
The basic method of acquiring customers is cold calling. It is a method of telephone contact with a stranger, an unexpected person, usually in order to present a product or service and propose cooperation.
Cold calling is not happy good PR. Many interlocutors feel reluctant to this form of contact. Potential customers are reluctant to engage in such conversations. Another downside is that it is difficult to reach decision-makers. Calls are usually answered by secretarial employees who rarely provide contacts to their superiors. Among the disadvantages of cold calling, we can also distinguish: the inability to automate conversations and the risk of inadequate timing. Cold calling is not one of the most effective methods of customer acquisition. The international organization DSWA reports that only 5% connections end positively. Does this mean that it is not worth using? Nothing could be more wrong. The main thing is to do it the right way!
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How to do it effectively?
Above all, apply language of benefits. You won't be able to sell even the best product if you don't present what the customer can gain by buying it. During the conversation, agree in detail on the advantages and parameters of the goods offered, listing those that are of the greatest importance for the client's business. Leading sales conversation, use hard data and work with specific numbers. Be substantive and professional, present thoughtful examples and be prepared for any objections. The art of selling is to listen to the customer's needs and to present the product in such a way that meets these needs. During the conversation, be an attentive listener, draw conclusions and propose appropriate solutions.
What if a potential client refuses to talk, explaining that he does not have enough time? In this case, it is best to propose a different date or use a second form of passive contact - cold mailing.
A few words about cold mailing
Cold mailing is a method of acquiring business customers by sending offers via e-mail. Cold mailing, unlike cold calling, is not an intrusive form of promotion. The potential customer can read the message at any time and decide whether or not to contact the sender. The task of the sender is therefore the maximum interest of the recipient. How to write an email with an offer?
- Create a factual, interesting topic. The subject is the showcase of the entire email. Therefore, it must be encouraging! It should refer to the content in an unusual way, present the most important fact. Remember about personalization. E-mails with universal topics are often treated as spam.
- Like the subject, the entire message should be as relevant to the recipient as possible. Personalization is the key to success!
- The content must be linguistically correct, factual and professional.
- It is worth using follow-ups, i.e. reminder messages.
Active methods of acquiring B2B customers - social selling
Down business customer acquisition you can use social selling. Social selling is a contact with a potential B2B partner via LinkedIn - an international social networking site that was created with the intention of establishing professional and business contacts.
LinkedIn is very popular. About 3 million people use it only in Poland. In the world, the number has already exceeded 800 million. It's a great place to promote valuable business content. This makes them an effective marketing tool. The portal allows you to filter users based on their location, industry or position. As a result, you can easily and quickly reach the target people.
Social selling in a nutshell
Activities in the field of social selling should be carried out according to a thoroughly prepared strategy. When creating your strategy, focus on:
- characteristics of the target group,
- success indicators and tools for measuring the effectiveness of conducted activities,
- the language of communication and the quality of messages,
- consistency of all elements of marketing messages.
Social selling as a method of acquiring B2B customers will bring results if it is carried out in a systematic manner and tailored to the needs of recipients. The key importance are: commitment, knowledge of trends in the target group and constant interaction with the recipients.
Which customer acquisition method to choose?
There is no universal recipe for a successful one B2B marketing. The choice of the method of acquiring business customers is an individual matter.
Cold calling is a good solution when contacting small companies and when the target is traditional companies. It is better to contact large corporations, IT companies and other innovative entities via LinkedIn. On the other hand, properly conducted cold mailing works almost always.
Test and analyze the effects of various customer acquisition methods. You don't have to limit yourself to one. Create your unique set that will allow you to achieve your business goals!