Customer relationship management is a strategy to manage the interaction with prospects, leads and customers. That is the simple definition. The term consists of three parts: Customer, relationship and management. Relationship marketing is the building and maintaining of good relationships with customers. A prospect is a potential customer. A prospect becomes ‘lead’ if he gets identified as a potential customer and steps into the influence sphere of a business.
Certainly in B2B, leads are passed to sales when, after the necessary lead nurturing, they are “ready” to become a “customer”. A relationship begins with a connection and a customer begins as a prospect. Always. Finally, a loyal customer is a source for new customers.
These are a number of simple definitions and terms that are traditionally used in CRM. Jot down the clear link between CRM, relationship marketing and lead nurturing. Take also notice that you can apply the definition of CRM, in a slightly different form, on marketing automation. So a prospect is a potential customer. That is quite a large definition. The broader the range of products and solutions that you offer and the larger your “target groups” are, the more potential customers.
A prospect is a human being but one with a potential need that our company could fulfil. We suspect that someone could be a potential lead by focusing on a range of targeting options, segmentation, etc. We prospect based on lists and potential.
In cold-calling, we call people and companies which we think they are a prospect. Because in the end we can never be sure.
Prospecting the social customer is listening: was it ever different?
I still remember what I learned twenty years ago in Professional Selling Skills training: level for needs through open questions during the exploration phase (so listen), ask closed questions if you are looking for a specific answer and confirm thus identified needs by repeating them. Only when those needs are confirmed, sum up the benefits of how you can meet those needs. Those advantages are important. And they must be defined according to the needs of the customer, not a function of the product or service. Our content is focussed on needs and the ways we can respond to them.
Twenty years later we speak of the “Social customer”: he is connected, listens to the advice of strangers (influencers, opinion leaders, bloggers, …) and known peers (family, friends, business associates, …). He actively looks for the products or services that might suit his needs and increasingly controls the buying process.
Does this mean that we can no longer go prospecting and selling? Not at all. Although the shift in control of the sale transaction to the buyer is clear, we must do more prospecting than before!
Thanks to the wide range of interaction channels, the power of word or mouth, the ability to listen to the needs of people on the social Web and the digitization of interactions between people and businesses we have more opportunities than ever before to do it.
We just need to know WHERE, WHEN and HOW to do it.
Prospecting in the social media era: listening and influence spheres
People want less intrusive forms of communication and sales but for those who know how to identify needs in the digital reality, there are great opportunities.
Identifying and listening is a must but not enough. You also need to be where the needs are expressed to get the prospect within the sphere of your business and thus make a prospect a lead.
That influence sphere can be wider than ever for those who integrate social media marketing in their communication and cross-channel marketing strategy. Social media marketing is ultimately a connected web of hubs and spokes that strengthen each other (and other forms of marketing) and helps companies to participate and interact where their customers are.
Human interaction, listening and providing relevant information at the right time (advantages) is crucial.
And that was always the case in sales. The needs are still the same. Just like the ways to generate the leads. Only the range, scale and connectedness of interactions, feedback, expressed needs and possibilities to highlight our value and advantages (content,…) is far greater, as is the possibility to invite people in your sphere of influence.
The basic requirements: deliver value, listen, be customer-oriented and participate.
Has nothing changed? A lot has changed. But the basic principles remained the same.
About J-P De Clerck
