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Big Businesses Can Present Big Opportunities
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 businesspeople 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.
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