Prospect, lead, consumer, user, the list goes on and on for what the field service industry calls potential clients. No matter what you title them, they are still out there and if you aren’t already, you should be working towards getting their business. For the purpose of keeping things consistent, we decided to use Mike Ratchford’s definition and terminology of prospects. Ratchford is a marketing expert and you can watch his entire discussion on prospects on HVACChannel.tv’s “Marketing Your Services Correctly.”
What is a prospect?
Most companies think prospects are really anyone out in the world willing to buy their products or services. In all actuality, prospects are a more defined group of people. A prospect is someone who matches a set of criteria you have that fit who you would like to have as a client (Note: we just posted a blog defining what a client is. You can check it out here).
How do you find prospects?
Our simplest answer: Look at your current clients and find those that are similar. Clients are usually your main source of revenue. You have built a relationship with them and they have proven to be consistent and reliable customers. Now you need to look at their friends, colleagues, family members, anyone who is in a similar status as them. Chances are their neighbors or colleagues are in the same financial state as they are, so you know they will be okay with your prices. Add because you can potentially use that client as a reference to get these prospects on board, you have a pretty good chance at getting some new customers.
We suggest you write down all of your clients. From here, choose a list of ten or so key clients. These could be the ones who provide you the most revenue, ones who purchase on a consistent basis, or whatever else you consider in a client. Now you have a “type” to market to. Knowing who you are marketing to makes all the difference and narrowing down your prospect list to a key group can help you decide who and how you will market.
No matter what you decide to call them, it is important to define who is in your “prospect pool” in your field service industry. These will be key people to classify and decide if they are in fact potential clients. Don’t try to market to every person in your city or state. This is an unrealistic goal to reach and you will set yourself up for a low return rate on your efforts to gain new clients.
Key Takeaways
- Define your prospect pool
- Compare the prospect pool to your client list
- Make a new, more defined list of prospects that match your clients
- Market to this list to try and gain new business. Use clients as references to help with the process.