STEP – 1
PROSPECTING
STEP – 2
INITIAL CONTACT
STEP – 3
APPROACH
STEP – 4
PRESENTATION
STEP – 5
HANDLE OBJECTIONS
STEP – 6
NEGATITATION
STEP – 7
TRIAL CLOSE
STEP – 8
FOLLOW UP
STEP – 9
ORDER CLOSURE
STEP – 10
IMPLEMENT CRM
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
& DIGITAL MARKETING AUDIT
According to research by the Sales Management Association,
“90% of all companies that use a formal, guided sales process were ranked as the highest performing”
A sales process is nothing but a set of repeatable actions and steps that the salesperson takes to convert a prospect to a closed deal.
Know in this Blog how applying a defined sales process with practical solutions in business is more than just a good idea.
- Prospect means a customer who has the potential to buy your product or service.
- Prospecting is the primary and most crucial stage.
- to find the prospects.
- to determine if they need you product/service and
- if they can afford your offer or not?
A lead is simply someone of whom we have the contact information.
A lead becomes a prospect when they have:
- Buying Power
- Desire to Buy
- Authority to Buy
How to Find Prospects ?
1. Primary Source to find prospects
The primary sources to find the prospects are Social Media Channels like:
- Step -1- Share your Brand Story with the audience.
- Step-2-Try to address the customer’s problems.
- Step-3-Align your solution with the stated problem.
- Step-4-Give them the irresistible Offer which they can’t resist.
Example of an Irresistible Offer-
A real Estate Company selling apartments made an offer that every person who purchases an apartment from them will get a free assured Car.
2. Other Sources to find prospects
- Exhibitions
- Events
- Webinars
- Local Industry Meetings
- Referrals
- Magazine/ Blog Subscription Lists
- YouTube etc.
Note- Remember to collect contact details like the name, contact number, and email id of your prospects whenever or wherever you meet them.
Hand over the details to your digital marketing team who will add these contacts to your database and start showing them your Company ads from the very next day.
Imagine meeting your prospect today and the day after he is seeing you and your brand everywhere- be it Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google, etc.
Your one step can mark your presence digitally all over. This is the magic game.
- Second step is to make a initial contact with the prospect.
- Know How to make a initial contact with the prospect?
- Need to clear their why so that the prospect can believe you?
- Learn How to connect with the Prospect?
How to make an Initial Contact?
Consider the following points while making an initial contact:
- Step-1- Make a Robust and detailed sales pitch.
- Step-2- Tailor it to your potential client’s particular needs.
- Step-3- Target the pain points of the customers.
- Step-4- Provide the solution to address the pain points.
Step-5- Explain why your product or service is the right solution to meet his/her needs.
Clear Their Why?
As per a report, 80% of people buy only after their whys are cleared. There may be various whys for your customer which can be cleared if you follow the below-mentioned points.
- Highlight the number of experience you and your Team have.
- Mention the awards and Recognitions received.
- Share about certifications and special honors received.
- Showcase your client names whom you have worked for.
- Talk in numbers- Give proper specifications about your products.
Example-ABC is a 30 years old wealth management company that is serving more than 2000 families and is handling a portfolio of 5000 crores.
Such description and facts build trust and add credibility to buyer’s eyes.
How to Connect?
As discussed in Point 1, share your prospect’s data with the digital marketing team, who run your company ads and
- Connect with your prospects through social media platforms.
- Set up email automation and connect through regular email series.
- Make a connection through WhatsApp.
- Before a sales meeting call and understand their issues better.
- Align your products and solutions according to their needs.
- Give them the irresistible Offer which they can’t resist.
- In this stage, the salesperson approaches the buyer and understands their needs and requirements.
Broadly categorized into 4 categories:
- Premium Sales Approach.
- Prescriptive sales approach.
- Product approach.
- Network sales approach.
1. Premium Sales Approach – Build excitement and awareness about your brand by giving free gift or promotional item (known as a premium) to the prospect.
2. Prescriptive sales approach – Share maximum information about the product and service to the prospect to help the buyer make a well-informed decision. To spread the word.
i. Use Social media platforms
ii. Use Email Automation.
iii. Use WhatsApp Marketing
3. Product approach – Give your prospect a sample or a free trial to review and evaluate your service to show the value and establish credibility for your brand.
- In this stage salesperson presents the detailed strategy to the prospect.
- Either you meet him virtually online via zoom meeting or plan a physical meeting.
- Know How to Build a Strategy ?
- What should be the Action Plan thereafter?
How to Build a Sales Presentation?
While drafting a sales presentation keep in mind the following things:
- Whom you are talking to?
- The Problem you are solving?
- What Solution you are providing?
- Why should people believe you?
- The Procedure of Sales you are following?
- What offer you are giving?
- Make sure you close the meeting either by taking an advance payment cheque or the next meeting date.
After drafting a well-detailed strategy
- Give your prospect complete knowledge about the features, advantages, and benefits so that the buyer can make a well-informed decision.
- Instill positive beliefs about you and your product/service.
- Create a desire and a strong need for the product.
- Convince him that your product/service is the best-suited to fulfill the buyer’s need.
- Once the buyer is completely convinced, attempt for a trial close.
- It is very natural for the customer to have certain hesitations and objections.
- Salespeople need to ascertain and manage these objections throughout the sales process.
- Reframe your Pitch accordingly.
- Always welcome questions and objections from Prospects.
- Don’t get defensive when confronted with objections.
- Understand the objection in detail.
- Listen patiently to what the client has to say and let them know you understand their concerns.
- Calm the prospect down and reframe your pitch to acknowledge and overcome those concerns.
Example
- The buyer objected that your Bicycle price (worth Rs.5,000) is too high as compared to the competitor who is offering it at Rs.3,000/-
Explain to him the concept of cost and Price.
Your Product
- Price – 6000
- Life-6 Years
- After-sales service included
Per year cost of the cycle is 1000/- only.
Competitor’s Product
- Cost-3000
- Life-1 year
- No after-sales service
Per year cost is Rs.3000/- which is much higher than your product.
- A sales negotiation is series of discussion between the seller and the prospect to reach an agreement that’s acceptable to both parties.
- Fruitful Negotiation often leads to closing a deal.
- This is a skill that needs to be mastered by the salespeople.
How to Conduct Negotiation with the Prospect?
- Research Well- Before you begin the process, always do your research to figure-out what your prospect is most likely to want and what you’re in a position to offer.
- Let the prospect go first- After giving your sales pitch, do not be in a hurry to offer a discount unless you listen to the prospect. Let him go first and then make your move.
- Have your Limits Defined- Don’t offer something in excitement which your company might not be able to deliver. Be clear regarding discounts, freebies, or other add-ons.
- Always be specific in your offers- Do not give a range of an offer. Be specific with your offers.
Example: Salesperson offering 10-20% discount. This range does not work as everybody would avail 20% instead of 10%.
- Keep the conversation light – Even after giving your best attempt the prospect is not accepting your proposal, don’t be afraid to walk away from a deal.
- Know when to walk away- Even after giving your best attempt the prospect is not accepting your proposal, don’t be afraid to walk away from a deal.
How to Conduct Negotiation with the Prospect?
Research Well- Before you begin the process, always do your research to figure-out what your prospect is most likely to want and what you’re in a position to offer.
- Let the prospect go first- After giving your sales pitch, do not be in a hurry to offer a discount unless you listen to the prospect. Let him go first and then make your move.
- Have your Limits Defined- Don’t offer something in excitement which your company might not be able to deliver. Be clear regarding discounts, freebies, or other add-ons.
- Always be specific in your offers- Do not give a range of an offer. Be specific with your offers.
Example: Salesperson offering 10-20% discount. This range does not work as everybody would avail 20% instead of 10%.
- Keep the conversation light- Always keep the conversation light and healthy and avoid aggressive tones
- Know when to walk away- Even after giving your best attempt the prospect is not accepting your proposal, don’t be afraid to walk away from a deal.
- A trial close is not the same as asking for a sale.
- It is a technique used in the selling process to access the buyer’s readiness to make a purchase decision.
- It is about taking the buyer’s opinion regarding what they have heard so far.
The purpose of a trial close is to make sure that the prospect knows all the conditions for purchase and to see if the prospect is serious about this process.
Trial closing helps you know two important things:
- Where you are in the sales process
- When is the right time to ask for the sale
- Observe the customer’s behavior and assess what type of open-ended question they may respond best to.
- Ask an appropriate open-ended question like:
- How do you feel about the product and what we’ve discussed so far today?
- What do you think about the solutions I’ve presented?
Step-3- Understand Customer Opinion and draw conclusions
- After delivering a perfect sales pitch and handling all buyer’s objections it’s not the time to sit back and relax.
- This is the mistake which most of the salespeople often make.
- It is time to follow up, not once or twice but multiple times. Just don’t give up!
What Should Be The Follow-Up Technique?
- Use multiple methods to follow-up like- email, WhatsApp, social media platforms, etc.
2. However, make sure to provide some value to your prospect with every follow-up you make.
Example-
- Give an irresistible Offer which may be a limited period offer.
- Share a link of a relevant article, video, or blog post via email follow-up.
- Give them access to a tool or a Book for free.
- Offer special discounts and concessions.
- Centre on the solution to their pain point.
- Always draft your subject line of an email well.
Example:
- Read this Blog and thought of you” or “thought this video might be useful to you” demonstrates value.
- There may be different approaches to close the deal depending upon the entire sales process.
- Closing a sale occurs when the seller and the prospect agree to the terms and conditions of the sale and the prospect makes a firm commitment to the transaction.
After knowing the response to an open-ended questions in trial close and dealing with the objections if any, it’s time to attempt for a final close.
- Step-1- Understand Customer Opinion and draw conclusions on the basis of the trial close.
- Step-2- Adjust your strategy to foster the customer’s needs and tell them more features.
- Step-3- Give them the exciting offers and attempt a final close.
Example : –
Salesperson: How do you feel about everything we have discussed so far?
Prospect: Everything sounds pretty good so far.
Salesperson: That sounds great. I can apply my seller code and give you a 10% instant discount, if you are willing to make a purchase within 24 hours.
Prospect: Okay great, But I need to discuss with my partner and can let you know in a couple of hours.
Salesperson: Shall I call and confirm by 6 p.m. today?
Prospect: That would be great.
Result: Salesperson connects and prospect confirms the order and make a purchase. And the deal gets closed.
Explain
- 75% of sales managers say that using a CRM helps to drive and increase sales.
- Implement a good CRM system and boost your sales.
If adopted and used correctly, CRM has the ability to boost the performance of any sales team, and will help salespeople to excel in their area.
- Business Owners can keep an eye if the sales process is being followed properly or not?
- The sales team can stop searching and start targeting the qualified leads;
- They can generate sales reports as and when required.
- They can follow up on sales opportunities without missing any lead
- They can prioritize and rationalize follow up and promotional activities; and
- They can achieve their target rates faster.
- Building and maintaining strong client relationship is imperative for sustainable business growth.
- Fostering strong professional and personal relationships with your clients is now the norm.
Many salespeople believe it is a time-consuming process, but it has got huge benefits.
Below are the tips to help you build strong client relationships and increase your sales multifold.
- Frequent Reach Outs- Reach out to your clients frequently not for sales but to check on their health, business and just to stay in touch.
- Exceed Expectations- One of the great ways to help build strong client relationships is to deliver more than expected.
- Use Professional Tools to Deliver Quality Work- Make use of professional tools for sending a proposal, invoices, reports, and statistics to clients.
- Make it about them-Throughout and even after the sales process, keep learning more about the customer’s needs and wants so that you can serve them better.
- Prioritize Client Issues- Always reach out to your clients and let them know you are always there to help and would be more than happy to assist them anytime.
STEP-11 MAINTAIN LONG-TERM
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
- 30 + years of Corporate Experience.
- 200+ Businesses Coached.
- 15000+ Professionals Trained.
Hope you found this Blog interesting!
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