Locating new businesses can be a great way to land new accounts. And every day, there are new companies coming to your area. Sure, many companies don’t have needs for truckloads of pallets or lumber. But in any given year, you may have dozens of companies that are either starting new or opening up a branch in your area that could be a good boost to your business.
You can never rest on being content with the accounts that you already have. You have to be adding new ones because you will lose some from time to time. These proven strategies will help you identify possibly new accounts before others jump on them.
The first thing to do is to scan local business publications or city-wide/community newspapers that cover zoning issues and new companies that are relocating. These may help you identify trends in your area as well as discover those companies looking to move into your local market. Some of these publications have online versions, and you can setup a Google Alert to use keywords to do the scanning for you. For information on setting up a Google Alert, visit http://www.google.com/alerts/
In addition to searching the business or metro sections of papers, you may want to look for help wanted notices. New employers will often use these avenues to attract job applicants.
Besides locating new customers, keeping tabs on who is moving into town will also alert you to know if a big competitor is about to make the market a little more competitive,
The local zoning planning department or county clerk’s office will have potential plans of companies looking to open new facilities. And it will know about businesses that are about to open before the general public or newspapers hear about it. In most cases, those are public records and are open for public review. There are different types of documents to look for including building permits, business license records, or “Doing Business As” applications.
Having a good relationship with the local chamber of commerce is always good for business, and it could help if you have a connection there who could advice you on changes to the economic landscape as well as any new major employers moving into the area.
There are some online databases that can be helpful too, such as Infofree.com has a database of
businesses that is updated a weekly basis. Their similar services are www.InfoUSA.com or www.publicrecordfinder.com.
If a new company is moving into town, chances are it is hiring building contractors, truck drivers for moving goods and other services. These companies that serve you can be a good source for the latest business gossip if you develop a good relationship with them. And of course if you belong to local business or social clubs, these places are great for finding out what is getting ready to happen in your market.
Also, many companies will post press releases. You can search websites, such as PR Web (prweb.com) or PR Newswire (prnewswire.com) to find out about the latest press releases posted online. Ultimately, you have to make this something you do periodically. Your sales staff or another key person should check quarterly to help keep you informed. The most important thing is to make this business research a practice that you do on a regular basis. That way you will be less likely to miss something when you really need to know it.
