B2B Research is often the starting point for many entrepreneurs no matter the industry they are in. Every day the landscape and environment in business is changing and one must adapt to keep pace with the new and dynamic economy. One day a situation can arise as an external factor to your business and in turn have direct impact into your operations or your clients. These are situations that are difficult to prepare for (e.g., Coronavirus, new laws enacted by government, etc.). You must focus on the factors that you can control and influence through your own actions. One of the more important factors for any business is knowing who your customer base is or which markets you wish to target. Here are a few sales B2B research tips to consider:
Identifying your target Market
When you are trying to identify your target market, the ideal question you should ask is will my product or service act as a solution to a problem the consumer may currently be experiencing? Another question is what value will my product or service offer these consumers? The answers to these questions should be the goal of the research you are about to conduct. You may want to begin with public information from business publications (Forbes.com) and websites to get information on trends in the market.
Tools for B2B Research
Social Media tools such as LinkedIn Navigator will be one of the most powerful and effective tools at your disposal for conducting B2B research. With the advanced search filters in Navigator, you will be able to fine tune your search towards a specific industry or in a more targeted geographic area. If you are looking to do some cross reference research on a company or contact from a company, Navigator will be your go to tool for quick B2B research.
Determining Contact Information
One easy way to conduct quick B2B research is to visit a company’s website and look for a section that explains what the company does, usually this is labelled as the “About” section. Once you have gained some initial information on the company, the next thing you will want is contact information so you can reach out to a representative from the company. Phone or email will be the most common forms of communication. Most of the time only a generic email will be posted on a company’s website. if you were looking to reach out to a more direct contact at a company there are some tools you can use. Hunter.io is a tool that allows you to determine a company’s email format. So in theory, if you had the name of the representative you wanted to contact, you should be able to have their actual work email address. Remember these key guidelines to consider when send out cold emails to prospects. When searching for email formats for clients, you want to ensure you have the correct format. Once you have the domain name of the email address, check that the domain is associated with the company you wish to research. An easy way to confirm is to copy the domain name and paste it in your internet browsers search bar. If it takes you to that company’s official website, then you are on the right track.
Remember the Goal of Your B2B Research
The goal of conducting any form of B2B research is to find a good match between your product or service to the needs or wants of the market you wish to enter. If you know you are a good match, the better your sales pitch will be. It will flow more naturally into the normal conversation since you have the knowledge beforehand that your product fits their industry. In turn, the prospect will be more open to hear more about your pitch and hopefully want to hear more about it in greater detail.
If you need help with your business research you can always reach out to me for a conversation.
