Week 4 - Target Market

Target Market Choice:  I've decided to choose a new business leads service going forward.  This is something I've been thinking about for several years now.  As an outside sales rep, cold calling door to door, I've used different ways to work smarter, trying to improve my productivity in a more efficient manner, to attain better results  Utilizing networking circles, developing relationships with other sales reps and purchasing lead sources were several ways to "fill my pipeline" and reach my goal and beyond.

The purchase of sales leads garnered me good results but often times purchasing them can be quite expensive and time wasters.  Some of the leads were not quite so new and fresh as advertised.  I wouldn't mind so much if I was made aware that mixed in with these fresh lead were some that was old as dirt.  And I couldn't tell if they were operating out of a home or a PO Box.  

Over the years I thought I could do a better job and for less in that field and so the idea of being a new business lead list provider was ricocheting around in my noggin all these years.  I've found different ways of obtaining these new leads for myself and now I'd like to get to the next step and provide them for others.


Target Market:  California Business Leads aka New business list CA  is a new business list service provider for companies and individuals that have products and services that they wish to sell to other companies (B to B) or individual entrepreneurs working out of home.

Sales managers in medium to large companies with a sales force in multiple markets would be my secondary point of focus in developing a relationship to acquire my lead listing to help their sales force increase their company's sales and help each sales member meet and exceed their company's sales quota and short and long term goals.

Mom and Pop type of establishments would be my primary focus as they would be trying to find their niche and compete with larger organization.  They would do well with a customized lead list where they're not in multiple markets.  Their market may only be in a single county, few cities or just a single zip code.  California Business Leads would customized the leads list to accommodate the smaller business owner.  

Individual sales reps in any size organization would also do well with the list to help them meet and exceed their company's goals.  This group would also be a primary focus to market the list to. 


Product Benefits: Whether they are established and have been around for a long time or a brand new start up operating out of a garage or home office, and have products and/or services to market, most will need a steady supply of new customers to grow.  

It's not enough for businesses to just retain what customers they have as they will lose those established clientele year over year for various reason such as: Poor service and/or bad treatment.  Dissatisfied with a product or service.  Trying out the competition.  Move or pass away. 

Having a steady pipeline of lead opportunities to convert to prospects and adding new customers which leads to sustained growth.  I've search the web and found several sources that cite reasons and percentages as to why customers leave a business.  After doing a Google search on whey customers leave a business and how to get new customers, here are some stats I've found.

Reasons why customers leave a company (Source: Average of multiple sources from a Google search) 1%  Died 3%  Moved away 5%  Seek alternatives 9%  Begin doing business with the competition 14%  Dissatisfied with a company's product or service 68%  Leave because of the treatment they received 8 ways to get new customers  - Now! (Source: Steve Strauss's Blog - Microsoft Business for Small & Midsize Companies) Go to Steve's blog for more details as the list below is just a summary. 1.  Try a new marketing technique 2.  Launch or offer a new product 3.  Get more clicks 4.  Launch a PR campaign 5.  Ask for referrals 6.  Smile and dial 7.  Revamp your Web site 8.  Get (social) networking    • 72% of respondents checked out a company’s        reputation on chat boards before buying.    • 81% thought that blogs, online rating systems        and discussion boards gave them valuable feedback.   • 74% based their buying decisions, at least partially, on what they read. Demographics:  Any size business from corporations with multiple locations to mom & pop storefronts and home based business types in the state of California. Psychographic: Not a factor in this case with the type of service I will have. Behavioristically: Attaining a steady supply of fresh new leads is a goal of most if not all businesses.  The type of service I would present would be scrutinized for several things focused primarily on four of them in no particular order as each company's expectations will differ from one another. 1.Quality, how fresh and new are the leads and 2. Competitive pricing and 3. Market customization for those who don't need a large area such as a county to market to and 4. Value overall, what they would get for their money and results = Return on Investment (R.O.I.). I believe I can attain all 4 along with value added features that other list brokers may not have or do as well such as a • single click option to view the location of the lead  •  address split component for a more efficient street canvass for the individual rep or sales teams and  • Business-Residential-PO Box indicator to further determine if a lead address is a home, store or PO Box as well as • market customization for those who only need a smaller piece of the geographic pie. Below is a recap of my target market and reach (Major markets in blue.  Other markets also available)