"Whoever Doesn't Know What They're Looking For Won't Recognize What They Find" — Where to Find Customer Data

My weekly newsletters talk about sustainable export and international sales as connected topics. I look at how a system for sustainable export should be built inside companies.

I have written about the sales pyramid we developed with my colleagues at ODS Consulting Group and how we run sustainable export.

Last week we started at the bottom step of this pyramid: market research.

While doing market research we had two questions:

1. How do we identify priority target countries for our products?
2. Where do we find potential customer information?

I answered the first question last week.

This week we are looking for the answer to the second question. Where do we find potential customer information?

01"Whoever doesn't know what they're looking for won't recognize what they find"

To find our potential customers, first we need to know what we are looking for. To put it technically, we have to define our sales channels.

If we are a company that makes vehicle-mounted equipment, where could our export sales channels be?

• End consumers who will buy our product (municipalities)
• Companies selling similar products
• Companies producing engineering solutions in vehicle-mounted equipment

If we are a company that makes water pumps, where could our export sales channels be?

• Brands we could make OEM or ODM products for
• Wholesalers

We have defined our target countries and who our potential customers in each target country are. Now our goal should be to identify 70-90% of our potential customers within this filter in each country. To put it visually:

The steps of market research

Market research is like a three-level pyramid: at the top, identifying target countries; in the middle, identifying the sales channels within each country; at the bottom, identifying potential customer information.

02Which Databases Work for Finding Potential Customer Information?

What kinds of information can we find about potential customer companies?

• names
• websites
• employee counts
• revenues
• news about new investments or the company
• social media accounts, etc.

We can evaluate all of it. We should collect this information systematically, and the smartest approach is to record it in a CRM software (I recommend reading my posts on CRM use).

Today there are many different data sources for finding our potential customers' contact information. Over the years I have seen my teammates find contact information in very original ways.

So first, we should not forget that the sources for finding potential customer information can be extremely diverse.

1. LinkedIn (especially the paid Sales Navigator interface)
2. Apollo.io
3. Lusha
4. Dun & Bradstreet Hoovers

These are the main data sources, and the useful ones we use frequently.

Finally, let me remind you of something. There is a common misperception that a database subscription will solve everything and sales will rise immediately. If you do not have a sustainable system, searching for a magic or secret solution is futile.