Sales & Marketing

When communicating with existing or potential customers, it is important to recognize what makes each customer unique.
It may seem easier and more cost-effective to produce only one communication piece to try to attract everyone, but is it really? While it may be easier in the short run, it is definitely not more cost-effective in the long-run. If you are not communicating so that a particular customer can relate to your message, he or she is probably not going to respond to it, which means that you are not capitalizing on your profit potential.

In order to communicate effectively, business owners and managers need to do four things: define your target market, understand the needs of your target market, develop your message and choose the message channel to reach your target market.

It is important to start your target market definition process by defining potential market segments for your company and/or product.

Just because a large group of people or businesses may be able to use your products does not mean that they are in the same market segment. Since you cannot reach all of these groups with the same message, it is important to break down the overall market into homogenous groups that can be reached using the same message and message channel.

In order to choose a target market, you need to start segmenting the overall market. Business markets, such as those in the janitorial sanitary supply industry, can be segmented using a number of bases — geography, size of business, type of business, product use, and/or benefits sought.

• Geography can be broken down into countries, regions, states, counties, zip codes or even neighborhoods. The goal is to determine what geographic areas are homogenous in their need for your product.

For instance, can you provide same-day delivery within a particular radius of your warehouse? If so, the customers in this radius may be separated from other markets, because you can offer them an additional benefit — one that you will want to communicate.

• Business size can be especially useful in the sanitary supply industry, because you can break the market down into components that are pertinent to the products you’re selling. For instance, when selling carpet cleaning products, you may use the square footage of the customer’s facility. If you are distributing hand soap, you may look at the number of sinks or soap dispensers.

Other ways to look at segmenting your market using the size of business are: sales volume, number of employees, overall square footage and number of buildings.

• Type of business will be very useful when it comes to communication. What types of businesses use the products you distribute? You may be able to break your segments into entities such as: schools, government agencies, nursing homes, retailers, hospitals, restaurants or contract cleaners. Each of these entities has different needs when it comes to janitorial products. By segmenting the market this way, you will be able to communicate directly to your target market that you understand their needs and that you can benefit their business.

• Product use is another way to define your market segments.

How or how often do the various segments use your products? If you are an equipment distributor, you may look at how often a market is scrubbing their floors or vacuuming the carpet. If you distribute floor stripping chemicals, how often are they stripping the floors? If you distribute hand soap, is it being used to clean or to disinfect?

This may be especially relevant if you are looking at a market segment that includes businesses dealing with food preparation.

• The benefits sought by the customers is the final way to segment your market.

Does a particular market want a deep shine on the floor when burnishing? How about a paper towel dispenser that alleviates excess use?

Knowing the benefits a market is seeking can help you communicate to them that you can provide what they are looking for.

When you follow this segmentation process, you will notice that you come up with multiple market segments — that’s great! The idea, again, is to create homogenous groups that all can be reached with the same communication message. But what if you want to reach all of the market segments that you’ve created? You may be able to do this, but it will increase your costs — both monetarily and in the time you or your employees spend.

It is important to realize that although your product may be suited for each of these market segments, you probably don’t have the resources necessary to adequately market your product to all of them. This is not to say that businesses in each of these markets cannot purchase your product. (They can.) It is just a matter of where you choose to use your resources.

Once you have chosen the market(s) that want to pursue, you need to have a good understanding of what the businesses in these markets need from you.

“The first thing is to find out what the customers want. Not what you want to sell, but what they want to buy,” says Rick Kean, executive director of the Business Marketing Association, located in Chicago.

However, how and where can jan/san distributors find this information?

“Ask the customers directly what they’re looking for or what they need. This is a great way to match the customer with products or services that you provide,” according to Debbie Schumacher from Belson Co., Green Bay, Wis.
Besides talking to end users, there are all additional ways to find out what customers are looking for. Other sources to consider are trade journals, trade associations and manufacturers.

“Some manufacturers are really good at providing information,” adds Schumacher. This opens up another avenue to gather resources.

This process may seem overwhelming, but it is crucial in developing effective communication pieces to reach your target market.

If your time is limited, outside agencies and organizations can help with this process. The Business Marketing Association offers referral services, as well as books, studies, and article archives to help with target market development and marketing research, says Kean.

So, what kind of information are you looking for? You want any information that will help you develop communication pieces to which your target market can relate.

For instance, let’s say you are targeting school districts in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, with at least 10 educational buildings that are made up of at least 80 percent hard floor surfaces.

You may look for information such as: What does this market need when it comes to janitorial supplies? What time of the year do they plan their annual maintenance budgets? Do they strip the floors in the summer or over a holiday break? Who makes the purchasing decisions? How does this person get information on janitorial products? What publications does this person read?

All of this information can be used for developing your message and choosing your message channel.

Now that you have your target market defined, and you’ve gathered information about this market, you are ready to put together your message.

Consider what you want to say to your target market? In order to decide your message, you need to first look at the research you did when trying to understand the needs and wants of your target market — specifically, what does this market need?

Distributors will benefit once they decide how they can meet the needs of their customers and focus their message on how they can benefit their target market(s).

Remember that you need to be concise in the message you present. You may be able to offer 15 different floor scrubbers, but unless they all fit your target market’s needs, it does not help to mention all of them. In fact, by presenting additional information that doesn’t pertain to the market, you will adversely affect the recall and understanding of the message you are sending.

The key to effectively communicate with your customer is to stay focused on that customer’s needs. Ideally, choose one or two main points that will differentiate you from your competition.

“The customer views everyone as the same — you need to determine what differentiates you,” Kean concurs.

If the products are similar, you may need to look at the service(s) that you offer and what sets you apart.

Also, remember that graphic images convey a message. If you are targeting the school market mentioned before, showing your products in a hospital environment will not help to draw attention or show that you are knowledgeable about what the schools need.

Finally, you need to determine your message channel. This means if you are aiming at a regional or local market and want to advertise, you may opt for direct mail or local publications.

However, at the national level, you can look to trade journals or other publications your target market reads that are distributed nationally.

You may also choose to rely on your sales force to convey your message on sales calls.

Regardless of the tactic or the message channel you use, the message must remain consistent in order to be effective.

Whatever message you choose to put into an advertisement should be the same as the one you use for a direct mail piece or a sales call. The wording may change slightly, but the overall message should be the same.

Communicating with your target market doesn’t need to be difficult. In fact, by the time you start developing your message, you should have a firm handle on the needs of the market, which makes the job of communication much simpler.

Barbara Barney owns Marketing Avenue, a consulting business that specializes in creating and revising marketing plans and strategies for small businesses. She also teaches marketing at Davenport University and UCLA Extension. You can reach her at 616-672-2364.