How to Sell to Niche Markets

Selling to Evangelical Churches

To be sure, Evangelical churches are major players in a growth industry -- and that presents an opportunity to sellers who want to improve bottomline profits. We've got knowledge you need to boost sales to Evangelical churches around the country.

Not surprisingly, Evangelical churches play by the same rules as any other type of business; they respond to businesses that offer solid, affordable products.

The process of moving Evangelical churches from prospects to satisfied customers isn't random. It takes a deliberate approach from owners and managers to create a strategy that connects your products to your customer base.

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 research and evaluate the specific Evangelical churches that they want to add to their customer roster.

Since relationships are an important part of the selling process, meetings with Evangelical churches leaders and their staff often form the backbone of the sales cycle. These meetings can also provide information that can improve your competitive position.

How to Evaluate Sales Staff

Frequent employee evaluations are a must for companies that sell in this industry. Businesses that achieve significant market share recruit the cream of the crop and routinely evaluate them against performance goals and benchmarks.

Although annual reviews may be enough for other business units, sales units should be evaluated quarterly with monthly or weekly reviews of sales totals. Training, coaching and sales incentives can be useful for improving performance and revenues. In some instances, it may be appropriate to team underperforming sales reps with reps that have more experience selling to Evangelical churches.

Reaching Prospective Customers

Prospecting turns names into promising 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 adding names to their contact list 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 Evangelical churches.

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.

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