Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9 pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with @CorporateAgent. Having successfully navigated the corporate procurement process from both sides of the buying table, Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR, is The Corporate Agent and she teaches small business owners how to stop chasing cash-strapped clients and instead land lucrative corporate contracts. http://www.thecorporateagent.com and http://www.insideedge2013.com
SmallBizLady: Why do you think it is so important for small business owners to go after corporate clients?
Angelique Rewers: The life-blood of any small business is its clients. And when those clients can afford to pay top dollar for your services it puts you in a position of strength. For many small business owners, selling to Corporate America is a game changer. Within 2 years of adding the 1st corporate client to their small biz, women entrepreneurs experience a revenue increase of 266.4 percent. Sixty percent of all the large companies in the United States are actively looking to increase their spending with small business owners. They are particularly looking to spend with those that are certified as women-, minority- and veteran-owned enterprises.
SmallBizLady: What kind of plan is necessary for a small business owner to approach and appeal to a Fortune 500 corporation?
Angelique Rewers: Develop a clear marketing plan and then work the plan. It can take up to 12 touch points with a prospect before getting to a meaningful sales conversation. Map out the companies you’ll target & when & how those 12 touch points will occur. Your persistence will pay off in spades.
SmallBizLady: Where should small business owners first direct their focus when searching for corporate clients?
Angelique Rewers: Focus locally first. It reduces the time it takes to reach your desired point of contact. “Proximity is power.” – Tony Robbins. It’s a lot easier to get face to face with key decision makers located in the same city as you. It’s also much more likely that you’ll know someone who knows someone at the companies you’re trying to penetrate. In fact, a recent study showed that corporate decision makers put considerable weight on an outside vendor’s proximity to their office location when making a buying decision. Also, don’t underestimate the power of the warm introduction. Get referred in – it humanizes you, so you’re no longer a pestering “sales” person. Now, you’re a friend of so-and-so.
SmallBizLady: How important is it to corporate clients that small business owners establish a personal brand?
Angelique Rewers: Focus first and foremost on your personal brand versus your company brand. The more you establish yourself as a thought leader in your field, the more likely a corporate client will be to buy from you. When it comes to hiring outside experts, these types of sales are typically closed on relationships and reputation. So get out there – write, speak and land media to build your brand.
SmallBizLady: How does a small business owner stand out to corporate clients in an oversaturated market?
Angelique Rewers: Take the road less traveled. Sometimes the best door into a corporate client is the one that no one else considers. Pretend for a moment that you’re a health and wellness expert, and you’d like to sell your services to a large company. Who at the company would you contact? Common sense might say the human resources department. But guess what? A hundred other wellness experts are thinking the very same thing. The road less traveled might lead you to the head of the company’s customer service department.
SmallBizLady: What could be considered the “right” way to sell to corporations?
Angelique Rewers: Break the rules. There is no one right way to sell to corporate clients. There are certainly some very wrong ways. But at the end of the day, you have to follow your gut instinct. If a door opens, walk through it. If you have a creative idea, give it a whirl. The only thing that’s for certain is that if you don’t put yourself into the game, you stand no chance of winning.
SmallBizLady: What are the best places to find corporate clients that are ready, willing & able to buy from you?
Angelique Rewers: Professional trade and industry association conferences and awards banquets— You can find over 7,800 associations listed in the National Trade & Professional Associations Directory. Attend, speak and exhibit. Live events designed especially to bring small business owners together with big business are also good bets. Check out events put on by organizations like American Express Open, Startup America Partnership, SCORE, etc. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) are also good resources for small businesses who hold those certifications.
SmallBizLady: What are some of the best online resources for finding corporate clients?
Angelique Rewers: LinkedIn groups — still the No. 1 social media site for finding corporate people College Alumni networks — most nowadays offer both live events, as well as online directories and databases Supplier-Connection.net – a consortium of over large companies led by IBM committed to buying from small business owners
SmallBizLady: Corporate clients can be notoriously hard to pin down. How does a #smallbiz owner close a contract?
Angelique Rewers: Set a clear next step in every single phone conversation, face-to-face meeting and email exchange. Offer them a ticket to something that has a deadline – a webinar, a conference. Your client will feel obligated to respond, which opens the door for a quick conversation.
SmallBizLady: What should a small business owner do if a corporate client’s project gets stalled?
Angelique Rewers: If your project gets stalled, that probably means something about it isn’t quite hitting the spot. Back the bus up & have a new needs discovery conversation w/ the client to uncover what the biggest priority or urgency really is.
SmallBizLady: Corporate clients can also be demanding. What are some questions to ask when a corporate client calls with an “Emergency?”
Angelique Rewers: First you want to ask “What triggered this project to come up now?” Then inquire “What is driving the short deadline?”
“Who is driving the short deadline?”
“What’s your end goal? What are you trying to accomplish?”
“Why do you believe that this solution or approach will give you the result that you’re looking for?”
SmallBizLady: What are some ways to keep the lines of communication open with a corporate client?
Angelique Rewers: Train clients from the start to communicate with you frequently and openly. In a rut? Force the issue. Tell them flat out that, in your experience with past opportunities, when a client goes silent for this long, it’s not a good sign…At a certain point, be okay with walking away. Chasing dead deals preoccupies your mind, which means you’re not as focused & committed on bringing other REAL deals to fruition.
Don’t get attached. Leave gracefully. But remember, no means no. Don’t say it unless you mean it!
If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9 pm ET; follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter. Here’s how to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/S797e
For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.
….what one does in one’s businesst is an extension, a translation of your brain / vision, ideas
I am soooo excited about this post! Printing it off right now to study as part of my next Business Development day.