18 basic steps to succeed in sales, or 3, or 10, but plan your steps, because we all sell and with good planning we will do better. I speak from experience, believe me.
Following my latest course for small business owners, organised by EOI in Guadalajara, we went through a series of key steps to increase our success rate in sales.
As I was saying, practically all of us need to sell: to keep our company afloat if we are one of the founders, and to keep our job when we work for someone else, since more and more companies are introducing a variable part into salaries. If you are a good salesperson, you can earn a lot of money.
Let’s get started:
1- Who am I? An SME, a startup, a multinational, a non-profit organisation (NGO, foundation, association). Depending on who I am and which sector I work in, I will have a very different pitch and a very different target audience.
- If I am a startup, selling means attracting talent, clients, investors, partners…
- If I am an NGO, selling means attracting members, collaborators, trustees…
- If I am an SME, selling means attracting clients, and also talent, partners…
2- Blow your own trumpet. You have to believe it: you are good and you know it. Identify what you are best at, what your value proposition is, what sets you apart from the rest (quality, price, service, technology, patent, size…) and then shout it from the rooftops wherever you go.
3- The manager is the best salesperson. You have to set an example for your team, if you have one, be a role model for them, nail it, always pursue excellence, and if someone sells more and better than you, pay them well without a doubt; don’t let them get away.
4- I can be a chameleon: I change my pitch (sales speech) depending on my client. I need to know what my counterpart’s main need is and focus my pitch on it. For example: with my company you will save €100,000 a year (if they are in finance), with my company your team will be more motivated (if they are in human resources), with my company you will have fewer technical problems (if they are in IT), etc.
5 – I am going to be your partner, your ally, I am going to help you achieve your goals. This is the ideal situation: breaking through the barrier of being just another supplier of products and services and getting involved in helping your client achieve their goals, helping them grow. To reach this level they need to open up and trust you.
6- Where are my clients? Where do they go after work? Are they on LinkedIn? Do they belong to a professional association or chamber of commerce? Then you will have to go there to meet them and catch them in an environment that is more comfortable for them, without the day-to-day distractions of their office. Look for events where you can network with them.
7- Who can connect me with my clients? You can always get to know someone who is well connected in the sector you operate in or are targeting. Someone experienced, with a good network of contacts, who doesn’t mind introducing you to your potential client. Here you have to be grateful and, above all, not let them down or make them look bad. On LinkedIn, for example, look at their connections and how much trust they have with them.
8- How do I follow up on my potential and current clients? I need a CRM! You can’t rely on your memory or a simple Excel sheet, so record all your pre-sales and sales activity in a CRM. There are lots of them, free or very cheap, and in the cloud so you can carry it on your mobile. Here is one of my posts on the subject.
9- Gathering information. A good briefing. This is something I have been doing for years: by gathering good information in the first meeting or meetings, you will fine-tune the proposal you present to your client. Find out who their competitors are, what sets them apart, a little about their history, milestones and most important executives. The more information you have, the better.
10- Response time: 24 hours or less. I have lost several clients even when replying to a request in under 3 hours. If someone is interested in you, your products or your services, reply right away. Make it easy: keep several template proposals and template emails for a faster reply, in which you change their name and adjust the proposal to their needs.
11 – Train your team in the perfect sale. Write your standard sales pitch. It will take you some time, but it is worth it and it lasts for ever. Prepare a short but powerful pitch that highlights the main advantages of your product or service and that can be adapted depending on who is on the other end of the phone or the computer. Train your team so that they practically memorise it, keep it to hand and don’t improvise.
12- Prepare the “perfect tour” if your client is coming to see you at your business. I learnt this in the 6 years I worked in business centres, where getting your client to visit you substantially increases the closing rate. You need to have everything organised so that their visit is perfect and pleasant, so that it makes an impression. Let your team know well in advance, even welcome your client at the door, don’t keep them waiting, and invite them for a coffee or whatever suits the occasion.
13- Look after every communication element: business cards, flyers, brochures, presentations, proposals, YOUR WEBSITE… All of these elements will shape your image in the minds of your potential clients. Take care of the design, the quality of the materials, the images and the typefaces; in short, make sure there is consistency in everything you do. You have to convey professionalism across every medium.
14- Look your best and win your client over when you go to see them. Bear in mind that, as the saying goes, first impressions are what count. Things like hygiene, being clean, well groomed, shaved, made up, wearing perfume or cologne, to make a good impression on all 5 senses. Everything adds up, so take this aspect seriously.
15- Do your ABC of clients. Once you have a client portfolio, distinguish between A, B and C clients, or Gold, Silver and Bronze, according to the volume of business they generate for you. The bigger the volume, the more attention or exclusivity to keep them. But on the other hand, look after the B and C clients so they move up a level. Depending on your clients’ level, you may even have to assign them a specific salesperson or contact person to improve and increase your turnover with them.
16- Send a groundbreaking, unique proposal. You need to be an ACE at PowerPoint, PDF proposals or whatever format you choose to impress your client. Take care over every page without overdoing the text: quality images, simple, direct, understandable content, and don’t go beyond 10 pages; I’m sure you can say it in fewer. If you send the proposal online, make it invite action, the next step.
17 – Follow-up and loyalty actions. The sale doesn’t end when they pay or sign the contract. Many salespeople get comfortable once they have closed the sale, but this is the best opportunity to keep getting to know your client. Call them from time to time to see how they are getting on, whether they are satisfied, how else you can help them. Find an excuse to see them, invite them to an event you know they will like, send them an interesting article, or arrange to meet them well in advance if it is a contract renewed every year. Send them a little something at Christmas or another suitable time of year; taking an interest in their family or hobbies will earn you points. …
18 – Find ambassadors for your brand or heavy users. This is the absolute best. If you have clients or users who are in love with your brand, your product or your company and speak well of you, send them a ham. Seriously though, identify them and give them something extra: exclusive advantages, being the first to hear about new things, being your beta testers, invitations to events… whatever it takes for them to keep being one more salesperson in your company.
And now…
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