Getting the Information on Your Potential Client

Now that your phone is ringing off the hook with prospective clients, it is time to do some initial research to find out how they operate. The more information you have about their operations, the better prepared you will be for closing a deal and help increase their bottom line.

The first step is to pick up the phone and give them a call. Call the general number for the business and see how they answer the phone. You may be surprised how many businesses don't answer the phone at all. Ask questions as if you were a potential customer and see how the handle it. Do they have the answers to your questions or do they know where to direct your call? Be sure to pay attention to see if they inquire if you are an existing customer and ask for your name or customer number. This can be a really good clue to whether they have a customer relationship management (CRM) program in place. Implementing a CRM application can be a great way to increase customer satisfaction and can be part of your service offering.

Next visit the place of business to get a feel for their operations. Depending on the type of business, this could be a retail store, restaurants, or a small office type environment. If it is a retail store, make a small purchase and see if you are offered any upsells at checkout. Are they capturing you customer information at checkout? Look to see if they have a customer loyalty program. This is one of the best ways to increase their sales and very easy for you to implement with a simple autoresponder account. Just remember to think like a marketer and see if they are doing everything they can to maximize their customers purchases.

After you have the real world evaluated, it is time to look at their web presence. The first and most obvious thing to check is whether or not they have a website at all. There are still plenty of independent businesses that don't have a website. They think it is too costly and takes a lot of time to maintain. This is where you can show them how easy it is and how it is all part of your services. If they have a website, do a search and see how they rank compared to their competitors. Check to see if they are listed in the local business directories for their industry. Now move on to their website and evaluate it for overall design, ease of use and most importantly lead capture. Many websites don't even have a lead capture form and have no way to follow up with potential customers. Look to see if there is a call to action on the site, something that tells the person to take action like "pick up the phone and call us for your free evaluation" or "enter your email to get a discount on your first order."

Now that you have all the information about their current marketing operations you are ready to meet with the business owner and find out about their internal operations. Coming up next we will give you the exact questions to ask, so that you know the client will be a perfect fit for your services.