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Selling to Utilities Businesses

As the clouds dissipate, utilities businesses are slowly emerging from the market slowdown and are starting to reinvest. If you're tired of underdelivering on your sales numbers, maybe it's time to start selling to utilities businesses.

Despite robust demand for products sold to utilities businesses, breaking into the market can be daunting.

Frequently, successful businesses reach their goals through the consistent application of proven selling concepts. That's especially true in the utilities business industry where small oversights can translate into losses in market share.

Research the Market

Start with good market research, which is a prerequisite for profitability in this industry. High volume sales teams conduct thorough research on market demand, pricing and niche opportunities.

More importantly, they conduct research on the specific utilities businesses that they want to add to their customer roster.

Since relationships can be critical in closing sales, meetings with utilities businesses leaders and their staff can establish a basis for the sales cycle. These meetings can also provide information that can give your business a competitive edge.

Effective Marketing Strategies

Many sales strategies begin with marketing, and the marketing strategies for utilities businesses run the gamut.

Yet in this industry, marketing effectiveness is rooted in the ability to target key decision makers. From traditional marketing to cutting-edge Internet strategies, any initiative that fails to reach decision makers is a waste of time and resources.

Since your sales revenues hang in the balance, you can't afford to rely on stale or inaccurate sales leads. Third-party lead lists may be the best bet for making sure your team is equipped with the most up-to-date information possible. If you aren't happy with your current lead list provider, you may want to consider Experian -- a third-party lead list vendor with a reputation for providing regularly updated and sorted utilities business leads.

Strategies for Selling to Utilities Businesses

Although there are exceptions, utilities businesses are always interested in products that help them improve the level of service to their customers.

Cost is a constant concern, but if utilities businesses believe a new product or line of products can substantially improve their customers' experience, price takes a backseat to quality.

Businesses that sell to utilities businesses need to also recognize the fact that utilities businesses aren't necessarily the end-users, so strategies that focus on enhancing customer experiences are frequently well-received by buyers.

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