The Sales Ace
Remove the barriers on the pathway to a sale
Julie Futcher Founder The Sales Ace
Let me ask you a question. How easy is it for someone to buy from you? It should be a simple enough question to answer,
but when was the last time you, as a business owner or manager, stopped and looked at the processes in place for when a customer is looking to buy? If you haven’t done that for a while, you’re probably overdue a review because a customer centric sales strategy is fundamental to success. A sales process isn’t about your procedures. It’s really a
pathway. In an ideal world, it should eff ortlessly walk the customer from their initial inquiry through to the sale. T at sale may be a product, but it could also be something just as important – a contract of engagement, for example, or an appointment booking. Whatever the goal is, the process should support the customer journey. T e last thing you want are unintentional barriers that make it diffi cult for them. Sadly, barriers do appear and often it is because the sales process has become about making things easier for the business, not the customer. Let’s take a common example of this in action. T e potential buyer is talking to the sales team and
agrees to a purchase. Your sales process from that point is to send a written quote for them to agree and return. T ere is nothing wrong with sending a quote, (in fact, it is part of the sales process) but what happens after you send it in this scenario? T e issue here is that the customer had already agreed
to buy. You then eff ectively refused to agree to the sale by insisting you send the quote before the sales process continued. You inserted the possibility that the quote will
not be followed up properly and gave the client time to talk to a competitor or fi nd 50 other reasons not to fi nalise the sale. By not confi rming at the earliest opportunity, you unwittingly sabotaged an agreed sale so you can follow your processes. A strong, customer-focused, sales process should be
about the buyer at every touchpoint. It maps the entire journey from first contact to repeat buy and its main purpose is to make the buying decision easier and quicker. When the path from contact to sale works well, your
sales team can focus on closing sales. T e sales process should enable them to quickly identify the customer’s needs, provide the solution, and close the sale. You clearly cannot have an eff ective sales team if they are fi ghting their own sales processes. T e fact is that if you don’t have a clearly defi ned sales
process, it doesn’t just impact immediate sales, it also ruins your reputation and puts up a barrier to repeat business. Negative experiences cost sales. T ink about the last time you faced a diffi cult sales process as a customer and ask, ‘would I buy again?’. Business sales process is the wrong term. Really, we
should think of them as customer sales processes. So, try revisiting your customer journey with fresh eyes. Are there unnecessary steps to eliminate or simplify and are there bottlenecks causing delays? Is it all about the customer? A customer-focused sales process ensures that every
step of their journey is a positive experience and that leads naturally towards eff ortlessly closing a sale.
T e Sales Ace off ers a free 30-minute sales review. Find out more on 01604 532004 or visit
www.thesalesace.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
