While being able to bring in leads from your marketing is great, in order to earn money for your your business, you need to go even further and convert these leads to real paying customers.

Therefore we need to make sure every enquiry that comes in is handled in a professional manner leading to a face-to-face meeting after which you will get the business.

By having a good sales process, you will be able to ensure that all of your team can repeat best practices to ensure success. You will also have a record of what went wrong with those sales or leads you failed to win.

Sometimes it is good to base your sales process on a proven template. However, it is important to remember that you know your products best. The key elements you need to incorporate are those we have already discussed when creating your marketing messages:

• Who is your target market?
• What problems does your product solve or what needs and desires does it fulfil?
• How do customers generally put a value on these capabilities?
• Who is the final decision maker within your potential customers?
• Who are the influencers of a buying decision within your customers?
• How do customers evaluate your products?
• Do your customers have a budget in place?
• Who is your competition, how do you deal with them?

Even though you may have designed the best sales process in the world, too often there is a disconnect between sales, marketing and customers, which leads to disharmony and many prospects turning to your competitors.

You probably know already that if you can get the whole sales team to consistently follow best practices, your sales revenue will increase dramatically.

The one common trait that all successful sales people seem to share is that they seem to hate and are particularly bad about paperwork, but who cares anyway? You care and so do your customers. If sales people find it easier to prepare a proposal and mange their time based on a system that you give them, they will use it.

However, the most important factor of all in getting sales people buy-in to any new sales process or system is to ask them to help you design it. If they feel they have created a process that makes their life easier, and enables them to earn more money – they will use it. And you all win.

Now think what needs to be done to have the process you’ve just designed introduced in your company. Outline your plan.

You can use the following hints:

• Ask sales people what they are doing currently
• Ask customers what could be improved  from their point of view
• Search for an online/offline sales software that would make it all transparent and easy to use
• Start paying commissions to sales people based on the data they enter into the system
• Etc.

Good sales people are naturals. They just get on with the job, their customers love them and they keep bringing home the bacon. But what is it that they are doing right? Do you know? Can you pass on those lessons to other members in the team? If you can get the whole sales team to consistently follow best practices, your sales revenue will increase dramatically.

Why bother with a sales process?

Click here to learn more about Sales Process in Ireland.

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What is the most important reason that sales fail to close on time or even close at all? When you get a mismatch by sellers selling forward and buyers buying backwards! Sounds like double Dutch? Well this article discusses how to position your proposition in line with the prospect to make them an eager buyer.

Do you remember the last time you bought something that you were really looking forward to owning? What did it feel like when you finally got it, were you excited?

Click here to learn more about Overcoming Sales Objections in Ireland.

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Part I discussed the three main types of sales objections. This part will highlight the 10 most common objections, and how to handle them to close the sale. The most important thing through out the sales cycle, that you can do, is to ensure that your customer appreciates the value of your offering. Most if not all of the 10 Objections can be avoided by continual qualification and value verification. “What benefit, in addition to those that we have discussed will that bring?”

To recap briefly, in part I, we saw that potential customers generally raise objections for three specific reasons.

Click here to learn more about Handling Sales Objections in Ireland.

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A Sale is considered closed when the buyer and seller reach agreement on terms for the buyer to take ownership of a product or service. To get to this stage, the seller normally has to “close” the sale, by asking the buyer for their business. This is where the buyer raises “objections”. Objections generally fall into three main types. This article will explore the types of objection, how they arise and how to overcome and avoid them. Part II will then discuss the 10 most common objections, and how to handle them to close the sale. You must get the customer to reiterate the value that they are getting first and foremost.

Potential customers generally raise objections for three specific reasons. Two of these are easily handled. The third however, normally points to a fundamental breakdown in the sales process. All is not however lost, and while most of these can be overcome, it is important to understand why they arose, and ensure future sales do not fall into the same trap.

Click here to learn more about Handling Sales Objections in Ireland.

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The answer is hidden in the acronym: RAISE. Read more on how referrals, if you develop and implement a decent strategy, will boost your sales. However, this is not going to happen over a night, unless you…

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