How to get customers is one of the biggest concerns of every entrepreneur. The limit on how to get customers in companies that sell to other companies and those that sell to the final consumer are becoming more diffuse, and marketing experts know it. Let us look at the example of a company that sells beauty products. It can sell to barbershops, beauty salons, and aesthetic clinics and sell to people who want to use the products in their homes.
So, How Do We Develop Strategies to Get Wholesale Customers and Final Consumers?
The basis is to define and understand who those customers are who are (or could be) interested in what you offer and then adapt your message correctly so that you do not waste your efforts. You must separate people who come to you by mistake, interest, or need. Once you have a classification system of potential clients, you must adapt your strategy to each of them.
Let us go step by step:
How Do You Get Clients?
We often forget that those who make purchasing decisions in the wholesale or distribution companies are also people. Like a final consumer, the decision to buy depends greatly on how we make them feel something (in this case, confidence and security of a good investment).
So, my first recommendation is to get clients no matter what type of company you are selling to people, not forgetting that you are selling to human beings.
Define your business model
It seems silly, but the first thing you should be noticeably clear about is your business model. If you do not have it clear, I will help you quickly with these pictures:
Mark an X in the place where your company is located:
For example
Some companies sell shirts for large companies (B2B – business to business) and have a store to sell shirts to those who will use them (B2C – business to consumer). In the case of products and services, the best example is that of Google, which offers search services on the web and products such as cell phones, etc.
For example
Some companies sell physical products such as computers (physical products) and software for those computers (digital products). Do you have your business model ready? Well, then, let us get right into the matter.
How do you want to be seen?
Some books call it “brand positioning,” but in this case, you should only know how you want to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
And this has a reason: if you are a company that wants to be seen as synonymous with quality, prestige, and luxury, your clients and your strategies on how to get clients will be different if you are a company that wants to be seen as the cheapest and most accessible from the market.
Do You Need More Help?
I will show you an example of how a magazine can be positioned according to its type of audience:
You can take your own company and sector to create your positioning chart, like this one:
In this table of two (2) characteristics, you can define:
- Feature 1 (price)
- Feature 2 (quality)
Yes now. Let us go to the advice I promised you on how to get clients according to your type of company.
How to Get Customers to Your Business?
The best way to start is by answering this question:
Who do you sell to?
Before designing a strategy for getting clients, you need to know how they are.
In Miriam’s example, a girl who is looking for a boyfriend should know which boys are interested in her and who might be interested in her.
If you want to expand Miriam’s example, you can see the following video (Marketing, an easy explanation):
How do you do that?
I recommend choosing criteria to better classify the clients you think are more likely to buy.
These data should be helpful and general. For example, it is better to know what city/country they are in and how much money they are willing to spend.
In this case, the name does not tell you anything because your company does not sell only the people named Pedro and María. You will use this information later when you want to personalize your offer.
With these criteria, you can create a simple table to identify the possible combinations of clients that interest you. Now, to make things easier for you, I leave you with a graphic that summarizes in a general way how these customers are companies and individuals:
As you can see, end customers and intermediaries have different needs and priorities. So, to avoid wasting your energies, you must give them what each needs, or they will run to the next business.
I will give you some examples of how to get clients with all this information at hand.
How to Get Clients for B2C Businesses
Remember that most buying decisions are impulsive and depend on the emotions you make them feel.
You do not know if these customers will buy from you again, so you should make them feel they are part of something bigger. For example, Apple does not sell only phones; it sells the feeling that its users are updated and concerned about security and exclusivity (for example).
How to Get Clients for B2B Businesses
If your business model is based on how to get client companies, you should remember that many people intervene in the purchase decision. So, any action to get them should show them concrete benefits that help them determine if your business is a good investment for them.
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