Smaller businesses are often hesitant to market themselves to much larger firms, especially if they’re in the same industry, but big businesses do provide opportunities for smaller businesses that are willing to become a bit flexible in their marketing and in their search for new customers.
Selling or subcontracting to larger businesses can be a lucrative way to grow for a small business that is seeking to expand its customer base. The two avenues aren’t mutually exclusive, although they usually require separate channels of communication and supply.
Selling directly to big corporations as a supplier or vendor can be either on the basis of a once-only sale or as part of an ongoing relationship. Subcontracting involves working for a specified time with a company that has a contract for a specific project. You have to decide which role suits your company best before making the initial approach.
Is Your Business Ready?
Start by assessing your company’s position. How long has it been in business and how has it grown in that time? You need to be honest with yourself and see your own firm through the eyes of a much bigger organization. It’s best if your business has grown steadily along with an increase in the size of your customers.
You’ll need to have a solid financial position. Your credit rating will also have to be beyond reproach. Large firms don’t want to find themselves in the position of having to bankroll a supplier that runs out of money, or to be dependent on a supplier that can’t complete an order because they can’t get the necessary finance.
Get references from respected business people that know you. It’s important that you can demonstrate a previous track record of providing your goods or services to other businesses; it’s even better if your referees are in the same line of business as the firms you’re approaching.
If you have an idea of what a large company might be looking for — perhaps an item in a trade journal or business contact has mentioned that they need what you feel you can supply, be sure you can handle the requirements. If you can’t they’ll soon find out, and it can mean the end of a relationship before it begins.
For this reason it’s probably a better approach to determine exactly what your business can provide — including of course satisfying your existing customers’ needs, and then matching your capacity with likely buyers chosen from large businesses that require what it is that you sell.
Know Your Target Well
This highlights the importance of acquiring a thorough understanding of your targeted businesses. Only by having this can you hope to be able to demonstrate your value to them. You’ll have to be a good fit in both pricing and quality with what they need.
It’s probably not possible to present yourself to a number of large companies using a single presentation. Develop one that incorporates all the important facts and figures but can be modified to highlight key areas of appeal to a particular business. Spend some time — and probably money, to get it done right or you’ll risk looking amateurish when compared with other competitors.
You need to create the right impression from many angles and one of the most important to create is an image of dependability. That’s why it doesn’t hurt to include some information about your business that at might first seem unrelated to the other company — your investment in training, in equipment and in quality control.
Make your presentation as broad as possible when you outline your capabilities. The larger firm might not decide to use you after your initial contact, but could well need another product or service you could provide to them six months from now.
First Impressions from the Internet
Also, be sure to get your website up to date and looking like it represents a successful, prosperous and well-managed company. The Internet is one of the first places a prospective customer will go to get an impression of your business if they haven’t already heard of you.
Once you have succeeded in acquiring a large company as your new customer be sure to keep working on the relationship. Management responsibilities can change quickly in large businesses and if you only know one person there you may find that they change jobs and you’ve lost your connection to the company.
Whatever course of action you choose to sell to big firms, there is one other thing to keep in mind: Your presentation skills and selling ability may get your foot in the door, but only by providing high quality products, outstanding service and competitive pricing will you be able to get and keep the business.
Copyright 2005, RAN ONE Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from www.ranone.com.