By Bruce  Heberle

With limited travel, due to Covid-19 concerns, where does a company go to reach new customers? Many in sales are trying to figure out what is the best way to sell in this changing work environment. A situation where they cannot travel to meet customers face to face. With goals to be met in 2021 how does a sales professional reach those targets?

I have found contacting new customers by email is not effective enough. Trying to get remote workers, most who communicate only with cell phones, is daunting at best. Setting up teleconferences, webinars, and zoom calls to reach our target customer is very difficult. It seems with clients, out of sight, is out of mind. I have talked to many sales professionals, in numerous industries, and none have come up with a good way to reach the customers they are required to reach. What might work in one market does not work in another. With national companies serving all markets, but with different state and local regulations for each locality, a one size marketing plan will not work during this crisis.

Here are a few suggestions you might not have considered.

If you are a HVAC distributor, one of the best places to go to reach a target audience is the HVAC Insider. The Alabama, Gulf Coast of Florida edition reaches over 4100 industry professionals. The Alabama Insider is the only paper that serves YOUR market exclusively. You can place ads on-line. You can place ads in the paper. Your job openings are free. Your industry news is gladly accepted. The HVAC Insider is sent to your customers, free of charge and research has shown it stays around and is read numerous times. Why not give the Alabama HVAC Insider a chance in 2021?

Have you thought of Pinterest? Sign up for a business account. Pinterest is a female-centered platform. It is also highly popular with millennials with high annual household incomes. Some facts about Pinterest:

• There are over 200 BILLION Pins on Pinterest. That is a lot of interest in products.
•  72% of Pinterest Users are women. As I mentioned, a female centered platform.
•  83% of Pinterest users make a purchase after seeing a brands content on Pinterest.
• 86% of Pinterest users use it to plan life moments big and small. Their doing an event, they look on Pinterest. They need remote AC for a wedding, they look on Pinterest.
• 63% of Pinterest users state they discover new brands or new products to buy. If they are concerned about Covid-19 contamination in their home, they look for solutions on Pinterest.
• 50% of Pinterest users have annual income of $75000 or more. They have the money to buy your products. They simply need to know about them.

What about using You Tube?

• People prefer to watch visual content over reading text.
• 80% of users would rather watch a live video from a brand than read a blog.
• 82% of users prefer live video from a brand over social posts.
•  87% of users would prefer to watch video on-line if it meant more behind the scene content.

In my opinion, the three opportunities above will give you the best bang for your buck in 2021. Now is the time to place an ad in the Alabama HVAC Insider, get a business account at Pinterest and start posting informative videos about your products to attract new customers to your business in 2021.