Knowledge
How to open new B2B clients without spending on marketing?
Several times we have observed the surprise of business owners when, during a conversation, they realized that in order to open new B2B clients they do not need to have well-developed marketing. You can simply “go out” after B2B clients and effectively open them cold. Even if your company spends nothing on inbound. If the outsourced marketing activities are not bringing results, maybe it is worth trying something new? How do you open new clients without marketing?
B2B sales like a car without fuel?
You run a company and believe you can sell, but have nobody to sell to? It is like having a great car but no fuel: you will not get far. The basis of success in B2B sales, especially in the outbound model, is having a solid database of potential clients. It is precisely these clients that are the necessary “fuel” for your business.
The advantage of outbound over traditional marketing methods is that you choose yourself which clients you want to reach. You can precisely define with whom you want to establish cooperation and on what terms. You do not have to wait for clients to find you on their own: you decide whom you want to win.
Define your ideal client
Before you start building a database of potential clients, you must first define the ideal customer profile. This step is absolutely crucial and often decides the later success of the whole outbound campaign.
Start by precisely defining what exactly your company sells. If you have a broad offer, for the purposes of the outbound campaign choose one specific product or service. Communication will be more effective when you focus on solving one specific problem of potential clients.
Then define the criteria that will help you recognize the ideal client:
- A specific industry that needs your solutions
- The scale of the organization’s operations
- Location or geographic reach
- Technologies used
- Business goals or activities undertaken
It is equally important to define who is definitely not your ideal client. These may be companies that:
- Operate under the public procurement law
- Are too small or too large for your offer
- Represent industries in which you have no experience
Segmentation for more effective communication
Once you have defined the ideal customer profile, it will probably turn out that there are a great many potential recipients of your offer. The challenge will be to effectively manage such a large number of contacts. That is why the next step should be customer segmentation into smaller, more homogeneous groups.
A good customer segment is one that:
- Has an optimal size (300 to 500 organizations)
- Is justified from a business standpoint (winning the clients is profitable)
- Is reachable through communication (the possibility of making contact in at least one channel)
Such a sample allows a statistical analysis of the effectiveness of activities, and at the same time is small enough for one person to carry out effective prospecting within a few weeks.
Find the right decision-makers
In B2B sales it is crucial to reach specific people in the organization’s structures. Before you start communicating, you need to know whom you should talk to. Define that person’s role in the organization and build their profile (persona).
Remember that you will prepare different communication for a financial director than for the head of the HR department. Tailoring the message to a specific persona increases the chances of a positive response.
Build a solid infrastructure for managing data
Before you start collecting data on potential clients, prepare a suitable infrastructure for storing and managing it. Spreadsheets are enough to begin with, but over time, as the scale of activities grows, you may need more advanced tools.
A well-designed database structure should take into account challenges such as:
- Duplicate control
- Managing errors and typos
- Tracking lead sources
- Keeping control over contact sequences
- The possibility of reusing the database in the future
Effective sources of B2B client data
There are many ways to build databases of potential B2B clients. Here are the most effective ones:
LinkedIn as a goldmine of contacts
LinkedIn is currently one of the best sources of data on potential B2B clients. Using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can create lists of companies and search for specific people in those organizations.
This process can be automated with tools such as LinkedHelper, which simulate human actions and build a list of potential clients even while you sleep. With good configuration you can obtain data on as many as 150 companies a day.
Company directories and registers
Other valuable data sources are:
- Industry directories
- Websites of chambers of commerce and associations
- Conference and trade fair websites
- Public registers (in Poland e.g. KRS, CEIDG)
It is also worth using search engines and aggregators that allow filtering companies by various criteria. One of the best services of this type in Poland is BizRaport.pl.
Data enrichment tools
Once you have a list of companies, the next step is obtaining contact details of specific people. Data enrichment tools serve this purpose, such as:
Thanks to them you can obtain named email addresses, social media profiles and direct mobile phone numbers.
Quality over quantity
Remember that in outbound the quality of the communication is key. The quantity of activities is important, but it is quality that makes the difference and gives a chance of sales success.
You can and should contact potential clients only when you have a conviction bordering on certainty that your company is able to really help them solve the problems they struggle with. Otherwise you will be just another salesperson trying to “push” something.
Summary
Opening new B2B clients without spending on marketing is entirely possible. The key to success is:
- Precisely defining the ideal customer profile
- Segmenting potential recipients
- Building a solid infrastructure for managing data
- Using the right tools to obtain contacts
- Preparing tailored communication for specific personas
Outbound activities bring spectacular results when they are well prepared and carried out. Many entrepreneurs regularly cold-open owners and board members of companies with billions in turnover. You can do it too; all you need to do is start acting strategically and systematically, using the available tools and methods.
