This is the question I get asked the most from Jola partners. It doesn’t have an easy answer and there is no one successful formula. What I suggest often surprises partners, but has proven to work time and time again.
What do you want to sell to whom?
Selling new products into a new market is the most challenging approach, as there are no known factors or existing relationships to build on. This strategy needs the most planning and investment and has the longest ROI, however by establishing clear objectives and a budget you can start working on a strategy.
Start with the basics
Add product overviews, features and benefits to your website. Create compelling packages and offers to attract your target audience. Focus on a strong call to action to generate leads. Think about competitive offers and how your offer differs. Put yourself in the position of your prospective customers. What problems do they have? What options are available to solve this problem? At what cost? How could your solution best meet these requirements? Make sure this information is clearly visible, easy to download and that you are responsive to their first enquiry.
Building a communications strategy to promote new products into a new audience is the next challenge. Attracting your target audience to the website via adverts, social media, email marketing and combining this with more traditional methods, such as direct mail, PR and advertising is key. Building, attracting and converting a new audience takes time, commitment and investment. You need to meet an exact need at the right time with the right solution at the right price, better than your competition. You may also need to overcome competitors that have existing relationships with your target audience.
Once you have generated interest, you need to be ready with materials to support the customer engagement and conversion process. Some customers are fine with PDFs others prefer printed glossy packs for the board to peruse, along with detailed product descriptions and a professional proposal.
Winning the first deal is crucial and when all goes well can be an excellent springboard to winning further business in the same market.
Short Cut
What I suggest to partners when they say they want to win new business is to start with existing contacts. Selling new products into existing customers is far easier than selling to new prospects. You already have a trusted relationship and research shows that SMEs are turning to trusted suppliers when they are looking to upgrade business communications. As someone who understands the business, you are best-placed to uncover a need and be the first to suggest a cost-effective solution.
Not only can you improve ARPU and reduce churn by upselling and cross selling into your existing base, but it can also help you to win new customers. For example, if an existing customer operates in an industry sector (healthcare, finance, legal, media etc.) they could help by introducing you to similar companies, directly or indirectly sharing knowledge of well-attended networking events and well-read publications. This inside information combined with personal recommendations from similar businesses can help you win new business quicker and with less investment.
Jola supplies internet connectivity, hosted telephony and mobile solutions to IT and Telecoms companies servicing UK SMEs. We help our partners to develop a marketing strategy and win their first deal as a springboard to winning new business. To find out more…
