By Ahmed al-Akber/Manama
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Someone in the audience at one of my workshops recently asked me what it takes to enter a new geographic market. If you are in the professional service business (selling anything from advertising to legal services), you will have two priorities in acquiring clients in a new market: the first is credibility – that is, proving that you can do what you say you do, and the second is getting in front of potential buyers. Here are four things to do to that will help you achieve these two goals as effectively as possible: |
1) Ask for referrals. Most online shoppers read reviews before buying and studies show that customers say that referrals are of the utmost importance in determining who they buy from. There is nothing more powerful than having someone who knows you well introduce you to a prospect. This lowers the perceived risk of doing business with you and significantly increases the chances of converting the prospect into a client. Ask everyone you know in the target market for introductions to potential buyers.
2) Join business associations. Networking at business associations can be a low-cost way to get in front of multiple prospects within a short period of time. My advice is to have a game plan for networking at such events – target speaking to at least three or four strong leads and ensure they have a clear idea of what you do, along with some type of call to action.
This could be you sending them some helpful information (such as a free report, article, or something else that could help them) or even better suggesting a meeting to discuss ways of working together.
3) Public speaking. Public speaking is an excellent way to establish yourself as a recognised authority in your field. And the great thing is that most associations are eager for someone with something beneficial to say. All it takes is to ask. Google a list of business associations in your target market and ask for their event manager or co-ordinator.
Send them a one page write-up on your speech with clear benefits and who it is for. There is something appealing about a speaker flying in from another country. Think through how you want to position yourself during your speech so you demonstrate your capabilities and at the same time avoid making it a sales pitch. Have a call to action at the end where you invite audience members to speak with you one-on-one to discuss their issues, so you can offer free advice.
4) Publish articles. Publishers are also eager to have good content grace the presence of their publications. Once you publish an article in a publication in your target market, you can send it to prospects or subtly mention that you are published in that market. It’s a good way of establishing credibility and is so easy to do.
Send examples of your articles to 10 or 15 relevant publications and chances are one or two of them will take you on for a regular column.
Getting these four elements done will help you get moving quickly to establishing credibility and getting in front of buyers in your target market.
♦ Ahmed al-Akber is the managing director of ACK Solutions, a firm that helps companies to improve their marketing and sales results by offering more effective ways attracting customers and significantly better products and services. Ahmed has worked internationally in marketing, sales, and strategic planning at companies such as the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International and Dell. Questions or comments can be sent to Ahmed on [email protected]
