You’ve got a list, now what?
Before getting a new list, it’s a great idea to understand what you already have by doing a data analysis. Because if you’ve been in business for more than five minutes you probably have a list. Some list, maybe a list of your customers, maybe a pile of business cards from networking events. Whatever the case is, you have something at hand.
Data Analysis is a process which helps you to get an understanding of who your customers are and recognise your market share, so you can make better decisions for the future.
What exactly does your list represent?
Let’s face it – your current list might be a bit eclectic, especially after you’ve been in business for a few years, or maybe a few decades.
And if you don’t know anything about this list other than the fact that it’s come from various sources, it’s not very helpful. You might not even have customers separated from prospects for example.
What if you could know the size, the industry and the type of clients buying from you most? Having this understanding of your clients will make a difference for your next outbound activities.
Why does size matter?
When in business, you either offer something that can be used by almost anyone, like computers, stationery, cleaning services or products, accounting services etc.
Or you could be offering something highly specialised like baking equipment or CNC machines.
While for the latter it’s pretty obvious your market is limited by the potential users, like only bakeries for baking equipment and engineering manufacturers for CNC machines, even in the mass market there may be companies in a particular industry or of a particular size that are more likely to become your customers based on the quality of your product, pricing, location and other factors.
Becoming inquisitive and curious about who your current contacts/customers are will help you to find more prospects which are like your current customers. The results might surprise you.
For example you might discover that your mass market product is mostly bought by slightly larger companies and you are missing smaller businesses (could be an indication of perception you only sell to large businesses).
Or you could discover that baking equipment is also purchased by colleges and tertiary educators for training purposes.
What else can you do?
So after your data analysis is completed, this is where the fun begins because now you can actually map and compare your “kingdom” with the “universe” of all businesses within your reach. It might be locally or nationwide or maybe even globally – depends on what your business goals are.
Bottom line: when you know what you own and who you are in touch with, you can compare your list with everyone else who fits the same criteria (location, industries, number of staff).
The ultimate benefit of this comparison is to gain an understanding of your market potential.
Imagine if you are servicing 10% of the market – you can aim to double, can’t you?
What if you are servicing 57% of the market – there is some room for growth but not much, and you definitely cannot double this market, right?
Being able to compare your list with the market list (which whoiswhere can offer), you can develop a much better sales and marketing strategy. Being armed with facts and figures your growth strategy becomes more realistic, hence, more achievable.
Get in touch with us on enquiries@whoiswhere.co.nz or 04 977 7877 if you’d like a hand analysing you list.