Hook, Line and Sinker:                                         How to Win New Customers

By Christina Ng                                                    Associate, Community Wealth Ventures
 

Encouraged by the recent boom in business literature and leaders touting the economic value of loyal customers – such as Frederick F. Reichheld and Thomas Teal's bestselling book The Loyalty Effect – businesses have eagerly committed to improving their ability to keep customers and have merely flirted with finding new customers.
 

Studies, such as the Forum’s Sales Force Research Report, however, show that the ability to bring in new customers is more essential to successful sales performance than many people have realized. While customer retention is a strong predictor of sales performance, the study found, an even stronger predictor is the ability to win new customers. “By focusing more intentionally on the process of and skills for bringing in new customers, sales organizations can make dramatic gains in sales performance,” says the report.*
 

If "winning new customers" brings to mind cold calls and delivering one-minute elevator speeches, take heart. Innovative organizations are finding successful sales approaches that minimize both the use of cold calls and the chance of rejection, as well as fit their organizational culture.

Choose Warm Leads Over Cold Call
Instead of making cold calls, use your networks to generate new customers.
 

AssistNow, an employee-assistance program (EAP) run by Recovery Resources in Cleveland, OH, has arranged to refer any companies asking about drug testing services to a local company with a drug testing facility. In return, when this local company's clients ask about employee training, its staff refers them to AssistNow. “It’s an informal partnership, but it’s a symbiotic one,” explains Tracy Tillotson, Director of AssistNow.
 

Furthermore, when AssistNow team members make presentations to a company about their drug-free workplace workshop, they market their full EAP services. “We’ve realized it doesn’t have to be cold calling or a hard sell, it’s using the connections you already have and using them in a different way,” says Tillotson.

Framing Approach to the Target Customer
Getting customers to stay on the line requires reaching them on their territory, with a pitch that matches their needs and style – which may not include mention of the venture’s nonprofit connection.
 

CMARC Industries, whose hand labor, packaging, and assembly services provide employment for persons with disabilities in Woburn, MA, learned through trial and error the appropriate approach for its target customer. “CMARC used to send out a clogs-and-granola-type person, asking for work for the handicapped. Now, I put on a suit and do a sales presentation,” says Robin Harwood, Chief Marketing Officer. “In many cases, clients don’t ask who does the work. They care about getting the product and getting it on time – they don’t care if you’re purple or green. So I just tell them about the product and our ability to deliver.”

Leaving No Room for “No’s”
You'll minimize opportunities for customer objections if you're creative with your pitch or your pricing. When prospects turn down Harwood's proposal based on bad past experiences with nonprofit providers, he tells them, "‘I’m not those people, give me one chance,’ and then I low-ball them the first time to get the first job. Instead of 100% mark-up, I may just do 50% – and bump up to normal overhead when we get them the second time,” he says. But he never does a job for free.
 

When asking about employer needs, Tillotson uses a soft pitch and always frames her questions in an “a or b” approach. “I ask, ‘Is turnover or stress more of an issue for your employees?’ Since it’s always one or the other, they don’t have an opportunity to say no. Then I collect the yeses and at the end of the meeting will highlight two trainings and ask which will be the best for them,” she explains. “If you can highlight the feature of your product or service that meets their need, they won’t be able to help but see the benefit. And then, sales is done.”

 

*“How Sales Forces Sustain Competitive Advantage.” Sales Force Research Report. Forum. 2004.
 

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