Selling to an Industry
Selling to Charities
As the market recovers, charities are gradually bouncing back from the Great Recession and are starting to reinvest. Here is the information that will help you get started selling to this market.
Over the past several years, charities have become high value targets in the B2B sector.
Young businesses need to develop a comprehensive sales plan that leverages the lessons that have been learned by the most successful players in the industry.
How to Find Charity Leads
Leads drive sales cycles. The first step in lead generation is to analyze the local market. From there, you can broaden your net to include the yellow pages, Internet searches and trade listings.
The names of charities you obtain through your own efforts need to be qualified through phone calls, emails, and face-to-face conversations.
But the most accurate source of qualified sales leads is often a third-party lead list provider. For consistently high quality lead lists, we recommend Experian Business Services to our business partners. Experian has a reputation for providing accurate and filtered lead lists that can be used for direct mail and other marketing efforts directed toward charities.
Sales Strategy Tips
Effective charity sales strategies are concerned about both sales techniques and ROI. Some sales techniques are more capable than others and the ones that maximize ROI need to be prioritized.
Also, it's important to avoid a silo approach to charity sales. Companies that strictly segment their sales units fall behind in the marketplace, especially when they face companies that encourage cooperation between sales, marketing and other units.
Networking Tips
The charity industry is relationship-based. Businesses that sell in the industry routinely use networking to advance the sales cycle.
Lead lists are helpful in expanding your network, but only if your sales force is willing to develop list contacts into long-term business relationships. As an owner or manager, you need to prioritize networking strategies and proactively model relational sales techniques.
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