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Thread: Sales advice.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    627

    Sales advice.

    Hello,

    When starting out you can target small business to get customers. What happens when you get a bit bigger and it isn't worth your time targeting these customers for five pound a month? Would like some tips on finding customers who need dedicated servers and how you go about contacting them. Will be grateful for any sales tips in general!

  2. #2
    Make contacts. Go to big boards and make a lot of contacts. Be nice to every one and potential clients will reach you

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    235
    I once found a client in a work at home moms forum when they discussed about creating a website of their own. Local forums are good place to spot potential clients.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    778
    Quote Originally Posted by HintonHost View Post
    Will be grateful for any sales tips in general!
    It's important to remember that your relationships are everything. There's a concept in sales called "mining", in which you work through your existing customers in order to find new ones. For example, let's say you have a coffee shop who hosts their website with you on a shared hosting plan. By mining that customer, you might discover that their friend, a website developer, is looking for a new dedicated server.

    How you "mine" customers is tricky. This is where tact and experience come in. Some people prefer a cold-call technique, where you call / email / mail all your customers and ask for referrals. Personally, I find this to be offensive because it leaves the customers with the impression that you're only after them for more sales.

    In my experience, mining is a lot easier to do if you maintain a solid relationship with your customers. In the above case, I'd make sure I'm at that coffee shop at least 2-3 times a week for my morning cup of joe. At first glance, this might appear as little more than a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" approach. But in reality, each visit builds a little more rapport with that business owner. I'll chat for a few minutes, pick up the occasional danish, and make sure I "like" their Facebook page. Sometimes (but not too often) I'll even make sure our chats drift towards the topic of web hosting. At the very least, I'll ask them how their site is performing and if there's anything I can help out with. Some days they might be busy, so I'll just wave to the owner and be on my way -- but I'l also make a point of stopping back for a second cup during their downtime.

    Next thing you know, I'm their "web hosting guy". Not only am I a good customer of theirs, but I've established myself as "the authority" on web hosting. So when a friend of theirs remarks that they need a new web host, I'll be first in their mind.

    This can work with any business. Are you hosting a mechanic? Then make sure you're taking your car there for oil changes and general repairs. Are you hosting a grocer? Make sure you're buying your groceries from there. Are you hosting a bookstore? Make sure you stop in and shop. Are you hosting a boutique store whose products are out of your price range and/or have no use for you? Give them a shout out on your blog or Facebook page. Are you hosting a general contractor? Make sure that when someone asks you about finding a plumber, you drop that contractor's name. An email like "Hey John, One of my friends was asking for some plumbing work. I wasn't sure if you handled plumbing, but I gave him your card anyway" is a nice touch.

    Sincerity is key, because it takes real work to build these relationships. But once they're in place, they become powerful tools for as long as you work to maintain them. It may be a lot easier to just call up and beg for referrals, but as with all else in life, you get out what you put in.

    Finally, I understand what you're saying about a $5 customer "not being worth it". Be careful with that mentality. Those $5 customers can form a solid bedrock for your company, and should never be overlooked or treated as second-class customers. And just as importantly, you never know when that $5 customer is going to refer a $2500 customer who needs a rack of fully-managed Xeons. It's healthy to adopt the idea that all of your customers and potential customers are equally valuable, regardless of actual or potential income.

    Good luck!
    The world would be a better place if people drank better coffee.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    627
    Quote Originally Posted by floor9 View Post
    It's important to remember that your relationships are everything. There's a concept in sales called "mining", in which you work through your existing customers in order to find new ones. For example, let's say you have a coffee shop who hosts their website with you on a shared hosting plan. By mining that customer, you might discover that their friend, a website developer, is looking for a new dedicated server.

    How you "mine" customers is tricky. This is where tact and experience come in. Some people prefer a cold-call technique, where you call / email / mail all your customers and ask for referrals. Personally, I find this to be offensive because it leaves the customers with the impression that you're only after them for more sales.

    In my experience, mining is a lot easier to do if you maintain a solid relationship with your customers. In the above case, I'd make sure I'm at that coffee shop at least 2-3 times a week for my morning cup of joe. At first glance, this might appear as little more than a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" approach. But in reality, each visit builds a little more rapport with that business owner. I'll chat for a few minutes, pick up the occasional danish, and make sure I "like" their Facebook page. Sometimes (but not too often) I'll even make sure our chats drift towards the topic of web hosting. At the very least, I'll ask them how their site is performing and if there's anything I can help out with. Some days they might be busy, so I'll just wave to the owner and be on my way -- but I'l also make a point of stopping back for a second cup during their downtime.

    Next thing you know, I'm their "web hosting guy". Not only am I a good customer of theirs, but I've established myself as "the authority" on web hosting. So when a friend of theirs remarks that they need a new web host, I'll be first in their mind.

    This can work with any business. Are you hosting a mechanic? Then make sure you're taking your car there for oil changes and general repairs. Are you hosting a grocer? Make sure you're buying your groceries from there. Are you hosting a bookstore? Make sure you stop in and shop. Are you hosting a boutique store whose products are out of your price range and/or have no use for you? Give them a shout out on your blog or Facebook page. Are you hosting a general contractor? Make sure that when someone asks you about finding a plumber, you drop that contractor's name. An email like "Hey John, One of my friends was asking for some plumbing work. I wasn't sure if you handled plumbing, but I gave him your card anyway" is a nice touch.

    Sincerity is key, because it takes real work to build these relationships. But once they're in place, they become powerful tools for as long as you work to maintain them. It may be a lot easier to just call up and beg for referrals, but as with all else in life, you get out what you put in.

    Finally, I understand what you're saying about a $5 customer "not being worth it". Be careful with that mentality. Those $5 customers can form a solid bedrock for your company, and should never be overlooked or treated as second-class customers. And just as importantly, you never know when that $5 customer is going to refer a $2500 customer who needs a rack of fully-managed Xeons. It's healthy to adopt the idea that all of your customers and potential customers are equally valuable, regardless of actual or potential income.

    Good luck!
    Thank you for that superb response! I understand completely what you mean. To me, my £5 customer should be treated like my £500 customers. You never know where they might lead! That little bit you wrote there was good! Thanks again.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Kalamazoo, MI
    Posts
    1,145
    This is an issue I think a lot of smaller hosting companies struggle with. They have out grown their local market; however, still not big enough to go full blown on the advertising. In many cases, without volume on advertising the numbers don't add up.

    As an individual person, you can only take this so far, no matter how many leads, no matter how many customers want to buy, you can only sign up so many with the time you have. Instead of looking for sales tips, I would really look at how to market more efficiently. For a $5.00 per month account, you are looking to limit the amount of time it takes to sign them up. I would look at creating good content daily that reaches hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of people. Due to the fact it takes someone seeing your brand 7 times before they'll remember it, you'll want to make sure to generate consistent content.

    If you are interested in doing the low cost or budget game, then work on marketing to the masses. That is the only way you'll win.

    If you are interested in having individual connections with each customer and taking a sales approach, then you might need to revise your business model so you can spend more time with each customer selling them and working with them.
    Synersis Media | Boutique Technology Marketing Agency

  7. #7
    Good day:

    Floor9 makes excellent points; if there was a way to favorite or +1 the post, I would do so.

    Another thing to consider is the lifetime value of a customer.

    We are blessed with an annual turnover rate of 0.80%.

    Most of our client base are with us year after year after year.

    Look at the total value of a customer over the life span of a customer along with referrals the customer brings to the table and even the customer paying the least has extremely high value.

    Than you.
    ---
    Peter M. Abraham
    LinkedIn Profile

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