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Posts Tagged ‘Better Business’

These calls come from a variety of sources. They can be via advertising, recommendations, websites, PR, directories and mailshots. It is therefore important to know that your customers have choice and that their call to you may be one of a number of enquiries that they are making. Statistically, 85 percent of calls coming into a business are customer related. The others are a mixture of personal calls and calls from supply companies. Therefore, it is essential to answer the phone quickly, ideally by the third ring.

The greeting should be welcoming. Answer the phone with your company’s name. Smile when you answer the phone, as this alters your tone of voice. A smile can be heard over the phone. Enquire as to the person’s name, but please don’t say ‘Who’s calling?’ It is far better to say ‘May I have your name, please?’ Best of all, if the call is from an existing customer, is to recognise the voice and use the customer’s name immediately.Once you have the person’s name, introduce yourself. It is so much easier and nicer for customers to have the name of the person that they are talking to. Do listen carefully to the enquiry.

If you are in any doubt, ask again, for example ‘Do I understand correctly? Are you looking for…?’ If you then have to pass callers to someone else, always give the name of the person you are putting them through to and make sure that they are connected. If there is any difficulty in connecting callers, get their telephone number, promise to call back and state when the return call will be made. Now if you are able to handle the enquiry yourself and can complete the sale over the phone it is just as important and in many cases more so to offer the add-on, as described in the previous section on retail selling. In many cases customers can be so focused on the one product that they forget or are not aware of the add-ons. There are of course occasions when there is an opportunity to ‘up-sell’. This basically means offering a better product than the one the customer was enquiring about. There also may be an opportunity to cross-sell by offering a new or different product that you may have available. For example, ‘Mr/Ms Customer, you may or may not be aware that we also do…’

The proposal therefore should be a stand-alone document that, when picked up and read, follows the classic sales presentation format and also the mnemonic AIDA. So right at the beginning there should be a section putting your neck on the line by stating and declaring the result of your product or service if the prospect should proceed and you should win the business. Thecustomer is buying the result.

The ‘how to’ will be explained in the proposal, in other words what you will be doing or supplying that will enable your company to give the customer the result that the customer is seeking. Let me again remind you, you are the solution specialist, and in this instance you do not start with the problem but give the solution first and then present the problem and the detail.

It is of course quite right and proper to supply and to present your suitability and your credibility. This can be at the end of the proposal. The majority of the proposal should be very logical. The logic must be convincing and justify the buyer’s decision to proceed, even though that decision may have subconsciously been emotional.Whenever you have had an estimate or quotation, what have you looked for first? No doubt you are exactly the same as me and have looked at the price. Some people try to hide the price (no doubt because they are embarrassed). Some people attempt to make it complicated. Therefore, make it easy for customers. If they are going to look for the price first without reading the document, I suggest that you put the price in at the beginning as well as at the end. If you follow what I am saying, you should put the price immediately after the section where you have put your neck on the line and stated the result of what your product or service will deliver to the customer.

The sales person should be able to converse with clients or customers on all aspects of the business climate and marketing trends. This information is of course gleaned from the world’s press and media.

• Industry knowledge

To be effective, sellers must be familiar with their industry and with their competitors’ products, prices and positioning. They should be aware of people and personalities within their industry and trade bodies. They must be aware of their competitors’ main selling points and new product releases. This information is readily available in the trade press.

• Company knowledge

Sales people should be aware of company policy and people.They should be informed about their company’s marketing and advertising and should know the right departments and people to go to for advice and support.

• Product knowledge

Now this is really crucial in today’s marketplace. Sales people must be able to give excellent and accurate information on their product portfolio. They must be credible, and their job is to impart to prospective customers answers to questions and concerns.

• Sales skills

It is essential to have the sales skills of this millennium and not the last. These will need continuing refreshment.

• Attitude

This is of course the ultimate characteristic that distinguishes the superstars from the also-rans. A positive and enthusiastic attitude will become the major ingredient not only in developing relationships but also in winning a great deal of new business and earning your clients’ trust, which will lead to recommendations and referrals. A positive attitude is the single most desired attribute of a successful sales person. So, once again, can you sell? Yes, of course you can if you really want to and are willing to spend a little time developing the skills.

It’s a world of opportunity out there for businesses smart enough to take advantage of it. Businesses are learning how to make money online, consumers are receptive to doing business online, and technology is making life easier as well as less expensive to accomplish what would have seemed like a dream only a couple years ago.

Businesses are using the Internet to get leads, sell their wares, provide customer service, market their business, and more. A recent study by wellknown hosting company Interland (http://www.interland.com/) uncovered that 69 percent of small businesses defined the Internet as critical in driving business. In that same study, almost all companies said the Internet is very or somewhat important to driving business.We are at a stage now where having an online presence is a necessity for businesses to compete today. Businesses are making money online and are not just spending it on SuperBowl ads.

E-mail and the internet are a vital element of business and a brilliant sales tool. It must be accepted that e-mail enquiries can happen 24 hours a day. But the rule of thumb is to respond quickly with the information requested. If customers place an order – and put yourself in their shoes here – they will want confirmation that the order has been received, and they will want dispatch information as well.

May I remind you that every enquiry could lead to a customer becoming a brand ambassador? If you are unable to meet their request, how about:

1. Offering an alternative or even ?
2. Recommending a competitor ?

It is fascinating where this can lead you in the future. I personally recommend, as we do in our office, that on the back of an e-mail enquiry you always endeavour to speak to the customer. This does prove that in many cases business can be won as one gleans more information from customers as to the problem they have that they need to solve. Most sales result from a customer problem. Remember, as I stated in the Introduction, you are a solutions specialist.

The emphasis of modern selling is to develop what is known as relationship and consultative selling. Both of those adjectives will be explained in more detail in the following chapters. Suffice to say at this stage that it is much easier to win new business from a person who you have developed a relationship with rather than a complete stranger.

We have all heard sales people brag that they do business with X, Y and Z company. I have tried over the years to sell to companies, to the private sector and the public sector, to government bodies and institutions, to homes and flats, and I have never achieved a sale. I have only ever made a sale to another person. So your marketplace is no different from mine.Selling is about relationships, trust and earning respect. In building relationships you must become a good ambassador of your product or your company, and to do this you will need six vital ingredients:

1. Business knowledge
2. Industry knowledge
3. Company knowledge
4. Product knowledge
5. Sales skills
6. Attitude