BUS633: Sales Management

3a. Apply different methods salespeople use to research prospective customers

• How can you learn about your potential customer prospects?
• What different methods are available to salespeople to research potential prospects?
• How can you find potential customer prospects?

Understanding how to find different prospective customers is an important part of a salesperson's job. Various methods may be applied to determine who these people are. Gathering information is an important start to this process. By understanding your resources and how to find potential information, you can begin to better understand who your potential customers are.

If your product solves a need or problem for a prospective customer, then it may be your job to communicate how your product does that. This is another potential method to find potential customer prospects.

Preparing a detailed customer presentation is another method salespeople use to reach potential customers. This presentation may include filling potential needs, understanding demographic information, and fulfilling those needs as well. It is important that this presentation is not created quickly, but thought and research is put into the process.

Ensuring the right people are aware of your product and what needs it fulfills is also important. These methods are just a few of the methods that salespeople use to determine who potential prospective customers are and how to relate wants and needs.

To review, see Learning About Your Prospects.

3b. Compare strategies to research the company and the industry

• What are SMART objectives?
• How can you research companies and industries to determine potential customers?
• Why is it important to conduct research about potential customers?

SMART objectives stand for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound. These objectives will help you to strategize possible ways to research companies and industries and find potential customers. SMART can also be used to set goals to help you in your daily work and personal life. By setting specific and measurable goals that include action steps, you may better understand this system and become more efficient.

It is important to research companies and their needs when attempting to find potential customers. This research may be conducted in a variety of ways, including online research, speaking to clients, customers, or employees of those companies, or scheduling a meeting in which you can ask questions. The better prepared you are with research, the easier it will be to find potential customers.

To review, see SMART Objectives.

3c. Use research to identify a prospect's potential needs

• Why is it important to identify needs?
• How can research help you to identify potential needs?
• Why is trust important when determining needs?

Customers will only buy from people or companies that they trust, so developing trust and ensuring a worthy product can be good for a company's reputation. Monitoring that reputation can be a benefit when it comes to building customer loyalty.

Determining needs is important when it comes to finding a product match and potential customers. Conducting research about companies and their needs can help you establish a relationship with a company before determining if they are or can be a potential new customer.

To review, see Solving Customer Challenges.

Unit 3 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

• company reputation
• determining needs
• prospective customers
• SMART objectives