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Article:
Ready, Aim, Fire...Oops...Where's The Target? by: Patty Baldwin Everywhere you go on the Internet you find the words, "target market." What do they mean? What does it have to do with you? Well it has everything to do with your success in sales. Let me give you an example. A few weeks ago an online entrepreneur asked me to review a direct sales presentation for him. Let's call him "Joe". His product and service is excellent. Top quality and performance, excellent customer service and support. The product will produce desired results for any business advertising online. In this particular case, Joe's potential customer is in the furniture manufacturing business. The company owns a small chain of outlet stores and advertises on the Internet. Basically, an excellent candidate for Joe's offer. Well, Joe sent me his package. In the offline world, it would have required UPS to deliver it with a hand truck! Now, that is an overstatement, but it consisted of a three-page cover letter, with four separate attachments and a CD presentation that he was going to mail as a follow-up. Here's my response to Joe: "What a tremendous amount of work you have put into this presentation. Having been on the receiving end of proposals such as this, I must tell you that it would be the recipient of the "delete" key. Why? Too much to wade through. Too much for me to absorb. Too much for me to do. Nothing to compel me to read on. Having said that, let's pretend for a moment that I am Mr. Jones. Where are the needs development questions? What tells me that you have done your homework and know about my industry? What are my problems and how will you solve them? How much does the average household spend on furnishings annually? (In the US it's about $'1
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