How to Command Your Current Customer Knowledge
This is the second in a two-part series on customer knowledge and how to organize valuable customer information.
Before beginning the outbound sales prospecting process, tap into the wealth of customer knowledge you already have. In Part 1 of this series we shared how to unite, combine and share customer data among departments.
In part two of our series we’ll explore the second half of the process. Find out how to collect customer data, concentrating on the ideal buyer audience and buyer traits.
The next step in the process of using your customer knowledge looks at the ideal buyer audience. It is important to gather data to help define the ideal buyer, who is most likely to purchase your product or service. Your ideal buyer audiences depends on your product or services. We’ll use an example from the medical field, expanding on the list begun in Part 1.
Examples of Ideal Buyer Audiences for Medical Products and Services:
Researchers
Professors
Physicians
Nurses/Assistants
Technicians
Surgeons
Specialists (oncologists, radiologists, anesthesiologists)
Administrators
Chief Medical Officers
Chief Scientific Officers
Drug Discovery Professionals
Regulatory Affairs Professionals
Quality Care Professionals
Research & Development Professionals
Sales & Marketing Professionals
Licensing & Business Development Professionals
Product Professionals
Human Resource Professionals
Financial Professionals
Legal Professionals
Technology Professionals
Compliance Professionals
In addition to your ideal buyer audience, gather data to help define the ideal buyer traits of your ideal buyer audience.
It is important to understand your ideal buyer audience’s pain points and goals:
- Understand the pain points and pleasure goals of your ideal buyer audience.
- Help your ideal buyer audience achieve their goals better than they could with any other solution.
The final step in the data gathering process is to create your ideal Buyer/Customer Profile
- Develop an ideal buyer profile that best represents the type of customer you want to work with and will work best with you and your firm.
- Validate your profile: Meet again to validate your ideal buyer market, ideal buyer audience, ideal buyer traits, buyer pain points /pleasure goals and ideal buyer/customer profile.
- Understand your company solution as well competitive solutions. Find out why the customer or prospect decided to work or not work with your company.
- Develop Messaging:Develop relevant messaging that addresses and solves each ideal buyer audience pain point or pleasure goal.
- Get Customer Feedback: Customer case studies and successes as well as engaged, focused conversations with prospects and customers are key input data for this strategy component.
- Implement/Test/Refine.
In summary, having a well thought process to consolidate and share customer data is great source of data for a sales outbound prospecting initiative.