We Need to Sell More
Selling to Yacht Clubs
The territory of yacht clubs is fertile soil for B2B sales. Product quality, price and customer service are all important considerations – so businesses that sell to yacht clubs need to demand excellence from their team.
Technology and technique are important. But in a B2B sales environment, they may be less important than other critical resources.
The process of moving yacht clubs from prospects to satisfied customers isn't random. It takes intentionality from owners and managers to create a strategy that connects your products to your customer base.
Benefits of Networking
Networking broadens your prospect pool. In addition to raising your company's profile, it increases your credibility with yacht clubs.
But more importantly, a strategy that emphasizes networking can be a lead generation machine. Sometimes the leads you generate through solid networking will be leads that are completely off your competition's radar.
Reaching Prospective Customers
Prospecting transforms contacts into qualified leads.
Networking can fine tunes prospecting performance and conversion ratios. However, it's important to make sure your sales force isn't so focused on conversation that they miss the point of prospecting, i.e. the identification of likely buyers, key decision makers and high value industry contacts. In other words, the type of people you meet is just as important as the number of people you meet when prospecting for yacht clubs.
Lead lists are useful because they narrow the field for your team. Third-party lists from reputable vendors (e.g. Experian Business Services) arm your sales force with good leads, making it easier for your company to balance the quantity and quality demands that are prerequisites for effective prospecting.
How to Sell to Yacht Clubs
After you have established contact with a prospect, how do you close the sale?
Like many of us, yacht club business owners are have no patience for extended pitches and sales cycles. As a rule, be respectful of your customers' time constraints and adjust your pitches to accommodate their schedules.
In some instances, your initial contact at yacht clubs you call on may not even be the decision maker, so you'll need to quickly identify key staff and be prepared to sell to office managers or others in the organization.
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