1. 30
GOLDEN
RULES FOR
GETTING THE
EARLY
CUSTOMERS

2. 1
Write to all your contacts from the past without any expectations

3. 2
Build a prototype, actually keep building them all your life – show them off proudly to whoever comes your way. The world likes a toy

4. 3
Buy a database of prospective customers, send them a Power Point or a PDF document explaining what you do, not just an introduction

5. 4
Call on your larger competitor’s installed client base in person – do not just push your products and services, ask if there is anything else you could do for them given your capability and willingness. Ask for a small opportunity, a pilot project

6. 5
Always ask your existing customers to give you new leads

7. 6
Always go back to people who disqualified you in a bidding round for some business you were competing for and update them on what is new and different at your end

8. 7
Keep your banker periodically posted on what you do, ask him for leads

9. 8
Visit trade shows regularly and talk to people at the exhibition stalls about what you do. Specially make it a point to attend vertically-focused, industry-specific trade shows

10. 9
Seek alliances with industry leaders-these are typically product and service companies that always need new partners to make their sale happen. Have someone exclusively focus on alliance building. Seek low-cost, co-branding opportunities for events along with them

11. 10
Become a member of the right industry bodies. Attend their events and seek opportunities for participation through speaking engagements in their seminars and conferences

12. 11
Write generic articles for the business press aligned to your area of work

13. 12
Regularly seek out industry analysts, brief them on your work, get some of them to visit you. They love tracking upcoming companies, so seek out a few analysts and personally focus on them over time

14. 13
Build a relationship with a few academic and research institutions, do some exploratory work with them, involve them with internal projects and events

15. 14
Co-locate your senior most people in geographies where your customers are located. Some founders must be physically based where customers are

16. 15
Locate mutual opportunities with similarly situated, similarly sized companies

17. 16
Brief the commercial attaches of the embassies of countries with whom you want to establish a business relationship, invite them over. Though they are usually focused on the established players, remember, everyone loves an underdog

18. 17
Track new investments coming up in various fields through venture funding and private equity. This is publicly available information. Write to them and follow up with a phone call

19. 18
Call on your investor’s other investment companies, periodically nag your investor for a business lead. Do not feel disheartened if nothing comes up, though

20. 19
Call on your customer’s suppliers and see who else they are selling to. Go along with them and make sales calls

21. 20
Have a great website with search optimization done so that website-generated leads can come in

22. 21
When hiring senior people, seek business leads. Be careful about their non-compete agreements with previous employers and do not get them to violate other people’s intellectual property in the process

23. 22
Invite trade and educational delegations to visit your premises

24. 23
Speak to a few very large competitors and see if there is an alliance possibility

25. 24
Personally build a relationship with select journalists who track your industry

26. Build a relationship with local government officials who promote your industry25

27. 26
When a new sales person is appointed, go along with the person and make calls with her, discuss her rolodex and see if there is an opportunity

28. 27
Periodically attend learning conferences and network with speakers and attendees

29. 28
Do not fall into the Tender Loving Call trap of repeatedly pitching to a sympathetic person who has no capability to give you any business but is always very nice to you. Save that energy and without fear of rejection, make real sales calls on wooden-faced tough-talking prospects

30. 29
Speak to the person seated next to you-in an airplane, a business lounge, a dentist’s waiting area or an industry even and ask him what he does

31. 30
Make cold calls, accompany your sales folks often and without being tired

32. Please visit my blog on various management topics :
Source of Reference:
“The High - Performance Entrepreneur ”
by Subroto Bagchi
Thank You !
Please visit my blog on various management topics :