Capitalizing on Niche Markets

Selling to Personal Services Businesses

The territory of personal services businesses is fertile ground for B2B sales. To succeed in the personal services business industry, you'll need to pay attention to the basics.

Although there is a strong market for products geared toward personal services businesses, penetrating the market can be daunting.

Don't be intimidated by the speed of the marketplace. Although speed is important, solid business principles and common sense will make the biggest difference in the success or failure of your selling efforts.

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 personal services businesses.

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 Evaluate Sales Staff

Periodic staff assessment is essential 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 increasing sales volumes and individual achievement. In some instances, it may be appropriate to team underperforming sales reps with reps that have more experience selling to personal services businesses.

Create a Plan

There is nothing haphazard about effective personal services business sales. The industry is filled with educated buyers who know their way around the marketplace.

As a result, top B2B sellers know better than to leave anything to chance. Before they initiate contact with prospects, they create sales plans that address factors like market demand, competitive pressures, industry trends, pricing structures and more. Although you might be able to get away with a skeletal strategy in some industries, the personal services business industry will crush your business dreams unless you go into it with a carefully crafted blueprint.

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