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Target Market Identification Questions and Statements for

 B to B Suppliers

Ø  Describe your company? 

Ø  What do you make?  

Ø  How long have you been in business?  

Ø  What are your existing product strengths?   

Ø  What weaknesses should you be concerned about?

Ø  Who are your existing customers?  

Ø  How would you describe these customers?     (Size, industry, location, etc)   

Ø  What geographic areas are you targeting?

 

1.     Pursue similar companies that mimic your existing accounts. Review old account records and pursue those same companies again.

 

2.     Google for the products that your target market produces. Capture those names!

 

3.     Use Linkedin to obtain names that hold the job titles of the prospects in your target geography. Capture the company name and individual’s name. Ask for connections and obtain their contact records.

 

4.     Use Chamber of Commerce guides to identify manufacturers in your area by category.

 

5.     Buy an industrial guide directory to locate prospects.

 

6.     Use a web based list seller like Sales Genie or Hoovers/D&B to locate and segregate your prospects. 

    * Register for Thomas.net and use the site as a prospecting research tool.

7.     Ask for referrals, drive your market area looking for new building construction, read your local business journal for new business announcements, and examine the local chamber of commerce website for new business announcements.

 

8.     What issues do your targeted prospects have?

 

9.     What are these prospects hoping to achieve?

 

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10. Do your products address those issues? Make sure you drive home your differentiating factors.

 

11. Can you name a title or titles at your target market accounts to ask for?

 

12. Who has the authority to buy your products at these prospect companies?

 

13. Size of the prospect?                1. By number of employees  2. By Gross Sales                       3.   By industry  

14. What is the budget year for these prospects?

 

15. What macro-economic trends are impacting these prospects?

 

16.  What technological trends are impacting these prospects?

 

17.  Are there seasonal trends you need to be aware of?

 

18.  Are your prospects independently owned?

 

19.  Are your prospects a branch or remote location of a corporate entity?      * Often times they will lack authority to make the changes in buying decisions for the company.

 

20.  Are you aware of any expansion or contraction plans?

 

21.  Any recent changes in ownership or senior management?

 

22.  How long has the decision maker been in that position?

 

23.  Are there long-term supply contracts in force in your product category?

 

24.  Do you need to register your business with purchasing in order to quote?

 

25.  What capital budget criteria does your prospect have? If you sell large ticket items, make sure you approach prospects a full year in advance of their budgeting period.

 

26.  Does the prospect have internal staff that handles your product category?

 

Trucon Sales Consulting                                                                                 www.truconbd.com

 

27.  Does the prospect already produce your product category internally?

 

28.  Inquire about previous use of your product category.

 

29.  Are they interacting with your marketing efforts? (opening newsletters, looking at your website, clicking through on product offers, attending webinars?)

 

30.  Are you aware of the net profit margins for your targeted industry? (Low margins make for very stringent budget constraints)

 

31.  Is your prospect being sold or the subject of a merger?

 

32.  What is the credit rating of your prospect? What kind of payment record do they have?

 

33.  What criteria have they established that your product or company must meet to qualify as a supplier? ANSI Standards, ISO9001, Insurance coverage, UL, etc, etc

 

34.  Keep in mind that in a larger account, the effort level necessary and barriers will be greater. And the time to break into that prospect will normally be longer than a smaller prospect

 

35. Put your target market identification in writing and share it with all of your associates, especially your sales team!

 

** If your prospects fall into an individual consumer category, then do your research by standard marketing demographics.

Ø  Age

Ø  Gender

Ø  Marital status

Ø  Ethnicity

Ø  Income

Ø  Employment status

Ø  Nationality

Ø  Political preference

Ø  Psychographics