The Breakfast Club: New Business Generation

Headspace`s first ever ‘Breakfast Club’ set off the new year in style by talking about ‘New Business Generation’. Now, new business is hardly a new concept, but it is that good old` topic which always stays relevant. Check out a few of the key challenges highlighted in this month`s event.

Approaching your target

Whilst we can all largely agree that a higher output contacting targets will result in a better conversation rate, you can`t just go in with your pitch blind. Don’t forget the quality of your pitch and do your research. Top tip is to find any publications or articles written about or by your prospect. This will help you to navigate where your solution may be beneficial to them.

Speaking to the right person

You can spend a long part of the sales cycle navigating your way around your prospect`s business, attempting to find the person to speak with. Who are the people who are the influences or decision makers that will become advocates for you. Gaining an understanding their company infrastructure is vital. It is inevitable that you’ll need to bring on board people from different departments, as you may find a budget is split between them or may not even exist yet.

Getting your message right

Tempting Trap: Having too broad a message. Although you may want your services to appeal to everyone, believing your solution can apply to all, means your initial message may lack direction and focus. More successful advice seems to be getting into the door with one (potentially smaller) problem, then illustrating how you may solve more issues once you have a better understanding of your client`s needs.

Serendipity

Getting the precise timing of your pitch right will have an impact on how successful it is. When proposing your solution to a company who already uses one of your competitors, you may find people only seek to switch if something has gone wrong e.g. service issue, price increase, relationship breakdown. Though you can’t always know about this in advance or control it, you can make you own luck by approaching a large number of prospects.

Social Media

For smaller companies or smaller budgets, social media is your perfect PR tool and it does not have to cost a fortune! Gone are the days when all video content would come from a top of the range camera, you’ll find that a good chunk of content is quite often shot using phones. Depending on your business, you may find the place for you isn`t on the front of a magazine, but actually some well placed blogs and an illustration of your message online.

I found The Breakfast Club a refreshing experience. It’s a great forum to speak with people from varying organisation/sectors and realise that whilst we all share some of the same challenge, our approaches to resolve them can vary.

Interested in being part of the discussions in The Breakfast Club? We welcome all of our members to come join us. Email dmt@headspacegroup.co.uk to book your place.